10:10 a.m., March 27, 2009----The publication of Women and Politics around the World in February marks the sixth book produced from the collaboration of Marian Lief Palley, University of Delaware professor of political science and international relations, and Joyce Gelb, a professor of political science at the City College of New York. Palley and Gelb are co-authors of the unique two-volume book.

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Women and Politics around the World provides the reader with “an exploration of the role of women in political systems worldwide, as well as an examination of how government actions in various countries impact the lives of the female population.”

“The first volume was written assuming there are universal issues,” Palley said. “The second volume examines issues in 22 different countries.”

Volume one examines general issues, such as reproductive rights and political development, as well as trafficking and violence against women. The second volume is comprised of a series of chapters, each chapter contains specific information for one of 22 nations across the globe.

“The book has a different spin,” Palley said. “Women are the focus. The framing is in terms of politics.”

Palley and Gelb compiled and edited the second volume from contributions by a variety of authors, some from the United States and others by authors that live in the countries about which they write.

“We wrote the introduction together, Marian drafted and I revised,” Gelb said. “Because the scope is international, coordination of all the articles was often difficult. A number of contributors were not English speakers and their work needed editing. We needed to be certain that chapters contained parallel content.”

Both Palley and Gelb are well-traveled, and have used their experience to co-author books together in the past. The two have known one another for almost 40 years; both attended NYU to pursue doctorates in political science. The pair's first project together was a reader, The Politics of Social Change, published in the 1970s.

“Probably our major work together was Women and Public Policy, a book which was the first to cover this topic ever,” Gelb said. “We then did an anthology on Women of Japan and Korea, and this is our most recent collaborative effort.”

Palley and Gelb have no immediate plans to co-author another book in the near future. “One has to take a break,” Palley said. “Maybe next year, but not right now.”

Article by Quentin Coleman