Product Description In this important study, Shirin Rai provides a comprehensive assessment of how gender politics has emerged and developed in post-colonial states. In chapters on key issues of nationalism and nation-building, the third wave of democratization, and globalization and governance, Rai argues that the gendered way in which nationalist state-building occurred created deep fissures and pressures for development. She goes on to show how women have engaged with institutions of governance in developing countries, looking at political participation, democracy, representation, leadership and state feminism. Through this engagement, Rai claims, vital new political spaces have been created. Though Rai focuses on India, the book s argument is highly relevant for politics across the developing world. This is a unique and compelling synthesis of gender politics with ideas about development from an authoritative figure in the field Review In this proof of her powerful scholarship, Shirin Rai combines discussions of key concepts in feminist and development studies, with studies of actual gender politics of development, from grass roots to global institutions. --Drude Dahlerup, Stockholm University Lucidly written, Shirin Rai s essays are insightful contributions to recent feminist debates on democratization and globalization. --Bina Agarwal, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi University