The Future of Women's Rights identifies the emergence of various trends threatening the advance of gender equality, women's human rights and sustainable human development. These phenomena include the impacts of globalization and neoliberal economics, developments in biotechnology, the neo-conservative backlash against women's rights, monopolistic ownership patterns over information technologies, the rise of identity politics marginalizing women's issues, and the increase in violent conflict and war. The contributors to this volume are united in seeing a pressing need for women's movements to evaluate their methods, with a view to making their future political work more effective. They identify current issues and trends in the world, thinking through how these may impact women and the work of women's movements.

Female offenders experience very different treatment from male offenders at the hands of the courts and welfare agencies. In Offending Women, former probation officer Anne Worrall draws on detailed empirical research to examine why this is, how the situation is perpetuated, and what the implications are for women. The author looks at the wholly inadequate categorizations applied to women who offend and the inappropriate solutions offered to their ill-defined problems. In acknowledging the State's powerlessness to categorize them, Worrall builds up a fascinating concept of the 'nondescriptiveness' of certain women offenders. By defying description they are largely neglected by (and elude the control of) professional expertise. The author then examines the relevance of the concept to a broader sociology of women's experiences. Offending Women provides an interesting and useful theoretical analysis of the discourse surrounding women's deviancy. Based on interviews with probation officers, magistrates, solicitors, psychiatrists, and female lawbreakers themselves, the book will be essential reading for practitioners in the field as well as academics in criminology and women's studies.

Roddy Doyle's Booker Prize-winning novel describes the world of ten-year-old Paddy Clarke, growing up in Barrytown, north Dublin. From fun and adventure on the streets, boredom in the classroom to increasing isolation at home, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha is the story of a boy who sees everything but understands less and less.

Catherine Grey, a young novelist, accepts an invitation to visit her aunt at a plantation in Guatemala and is surprised to see how well her relatives have adjusted to life in the jungle