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7 Burnside Feminist Studies- World Feminism
1 Hawthorne Politics- International Studies

This title in other formats:

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide Cover

ISBN13: 9780307267146
ISBN10: 0307267148
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
All Product Details

Staff Pick

In this thought-provoking and profoundly inspiring book, Kristof and WuDunn reveal the cruel and maddening reality faced by women who experience violence and oppression. Half the Sky will stir feelings of admiration and discomfort, and hopefully sow the seeds of humanitarian activism.
Recommended by Michal D., Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

From two of our most fiercely moral voices, a passionate call to arms against our era's most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.

With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold into sex slavery and an Ethiopian woman who suffered devastating injuries in childbirth. Drawing on the breadth of their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger, sadness, clarity, and, ultimately, hope.

They show how a little help can transform the lives of women and girls abroad. That Cambodian girl eventually escaped from her brothel and, with assistance from an aid group, built a thriving retail business that supports her family. The Ethiopian woman had her injuries repaired and in time became a surgeon. A Zimbabwean mother of five, counseled to return to school, earned her doctorate and became an expert on AIDS.

Through these stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women's potential. They make clear how so many people have helped to do just that, and how we can each do our part. Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because they emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it's also the best strategy for fighting poverty.

Deeply felt, pragmatic, and inspirational, Half the Sky is essential reading for every global citizen.

Review:

"New York Times columnist Kristof and his wife, WuDunn, a former Times reporter, make a brilliantly argued case for investing in the health and autonomy of women worldwide. 'More girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the wars of the twentieth century,' they write, detailing the rampant 'gendercide' in the developing world, particularly in India and Pakistan. Far from merely making moral appeals, the authors posit that it is impossible for countries to climb out of poverty if only a fraction of women (9% in Pakistan, for example) participate in the labor force. China's meteoric rise was due to women's economic empowerment: 80% of the factory workers in the Guangdong province are female; six of the 10 richest self-made women in the world are Chinese. The authors reveal local women to be the most effective change agents: 'The best role for Americans... isn't holding the microphone at the front of the rally but writing the checks,' an assertion they contradict in their unnecessary profiles of American volunteers finding 'compensations for the lack of shopping malls and Netflix movies' in making a difference abroad. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"[T]his gripping call to conscience...tackles atrocities and indignities.... But the poignant portraits of survivors humanize the issues, divulging facts that moral outrage might otherwise eclipse." New York Times

Review:

"Kristof and WuDunn forcefully contend that improving the lot of girls and women benefits everyone.... Intelligent, revealing and important." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"Kristof and WuDunn reinforce the truth behind the terrible statistics with passionately reported personal stories...including a final chapter suggesting how readers can help." Booklist

Synopsis:

Two Pulitzer Prize winners issue a call to arms against our era's most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women in the developing world.

Synopsis:

A call to arms against our era's most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women in the developing world.

With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake a journey through Africa and Asia to meet an extraordinary array of women struggling under profoundly dire circumstances: a Cambodian teenager sold into sex slavery; an Ethiopian woman left for dead after a difficult birth; an Afghan wife beaten ruthlessly by her husband and mother-in-law. But we meet, as well, those who have triumphed — a formerly illiterate fistula patient who became a surgeon in Addis Ababa; an Indian woman who saved herself and her children from prostitution — and those who make it their work to provide hope and help to other women: the victim of gang rape who galvanized the international community and created schools in rural Pakistan; the former Peace Corps volunteer who founded an organization that educates and campaigns for women's rights in Senegal. Through their stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to progress lies in unleashing women's potential — and they make clear how each of us can help make that happen.

Fiercely moral, pragmatic, and inspirational, Half the Sky is essential reading for every global citizen.

Video

About the Author

Sheryl WuDunn is married to Nicholas D. Kristof and they were the first married couple to win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism. As longtime foreign correspondents for the New York Times, they won the prize for their coverage of the Tiananmen student movement in China and its bloody suppression. Mr. Kristof won a second Pulitzer for his op-ed columns in the Times. He has also served as bureau chief in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo, and as associate managing editor. At the Times, Ms. WuDunn worked as a business editor and as a foreign correspondent in Tokyo and Beijing. They live near New York City.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 7 comments:
olygrrl, January 26, 2010 (view all comments by olygrrl)
This book has inspired me to make any effort I can to improve the conditions that women and girls live in throughout the world. I'm a student living on loans but this book gives you options to give wisely to do the most good. A fantastic read for anyone who is appalled by the millions of missing girls and women in this world!
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star.adrian, January 1, 2010 (view all comments by star.adrian)
This book changed the way that I view the world around me and inspired me to try to make a difference! I love that at the end it lists references to aid in your charity efforts! There are some graphic passages, but I think that it needs to be that way because it realistically tells the experiences of these incredible women. Please read this!
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(3 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
Edye, January 1, 2010 (view all comments by Edye)
Not only do Kristof and WuDan brilliantly expose issues that women face all over the world...but they leave the reader with the feeling that something can be done to change the future. I myself felt as if I could make a difference after each and every chapter!
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(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
View all 7 comments

Product Details

ISBN:
9780307267146
Subtitle:
Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
Author:
Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Author:
WuDunn, Sheryl
Author:
Kristof, Nicholas D.
Publisher:
Knopf Publishing Group
Subject:
Political Freedom & Security - Human Rights
Subject:
Political Advocacy
Subject:
Women's Studies - General
Subject:
Women -- Developing countries.
Subject:
Women's rights -- Developing countries.
Copyright:
Publication Date:
September 2009
Binding:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
294
Dimensions:
9.20x6.66x1.17 in. 1.43 lbs.

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