WOMEN IN SOCIETIES

This comparative overview of change in women's social positions consid ers some of the theoretical issues among feminist social scientists an d sociologists of gender, such as the dialogue between sociological th eory and feminist theory; debates pertaining to women's employment, po litical power, and patriarchy as a system; gender and its interaction with class, the state, collective action, and the world system; macro- micro links; and those factors that best explain women's changing soci al positions around the world. Empirical data on trends in women's sta tus around the world are also presented. It is argued that women's soc ial positions have been significantly affected by urbanization; indust rialization, and proletarianization, as well as by the expansion of ed ucation, legal reforms, and women's movements. In turn, women, whether through conscious women's movements or through their growing presence in the public sphere, have contributed towards changes in key societa l institutions, notably the labour market, the political-legal structu re, and the family. These changes are sometimes met by backlashes (suc h as the anti-abortion and 'fundamentalist' movements), with the resul t that gender issues, and women, are central to many contemporary move ments and discourses. Although sociology more than other social scienc es is relatively receptive to gender, the dialogue between feminists a nd sociologists should continue.