Manning Up: How The Rise of Women

Despite a late and fitful start, democracy in Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe has recently shown promising growth. Kathleen M. Fallon discusses the role of women and women's advocacy groups in furthering the democratic transformation of formerly autocratic states.

Real news traveled fast, even in the days before internet connections. During the New Deal and World War II, Washington elites turned to Hope Ridings Miller’s column in the Washington Post to see what was really going on in town. Cocktail parties, embassy receptions and formal dinners were her beat as society editor. “I went as a guest,” said Miller, “and hoped that they’d forget I was a reporter.”

Following right behind the Boomers are their children, the Baby Boom Echo, or Net Generation (N-Gen). This population is nearly 90 million strong and is the first generation to grow up surrounded by digital media. Tapscott (The Digital Economy, LJ 11/15/96) interviewed 300 N-Geners who participate in online chat groups such as FreeZone to identify the characteristics and learning styles of this already influential segment of society. Anticipating that over 40 percent of U.S. households will be on the net by the year 2000, Tapscott predicts how the N-Geners, many of whom are already expert net users, will be the catalyst for change in education, recreation, commerce, the workplace, the family, and government. His immediate advice is to listen to our children because we can learn from them.

In the first Arab Human Development Report (AHDR), gender inequality was identified as one of the main obstacles to development in the Arab Region, along with the deficits of knowledge and freedom that were addressed in the consequent AHDRs. Written by an independent group of Arab scholars, policy makers, and practitioners, the current volume focuses on the history and contemporary dynamics of Arab women's economic, political, and social empowerment in the region. It details the processes in which gender impacts Arab development while suggesting means of overcoming some of the challenges and building more equitable societies.
This is the fourth installment in the series that was created to provide the Arab region with a needed neutral forum for initiating dialogues and structuring debates to build a reform agenda from within. These reports build on the wealth of Arab knowledge and insight, and present a vision of self-determined change based on a commitment to internal social reform and frank self-assessment. Forging an Arab renaissance is one of the key objectives of the Arab Human Development Series, and to chart the signposts along these routes, the series is a beacon. The reports in this series have proven to be an invaluable resource to scholars and policy makers around the world, and have been well received by the general public and specialized groups.