Review by Choice Review
In Agrarian Feminism, Carbert provides a comprehensive analysis of the political force of farm women in one region of Ontario. However, she takes readers far beyond Huron and Grey counties by including an expertly researched framework of national women's agrarian movements, most notably those originating in the West. A discussion of the Women's Institutes, which are predominantly local in orientation, completes her presentation of the context of farm women's involvement in politics. Carbert's empirical analysis is based on in-depth interviews drawing on elements of both political science and sociology. She is particularly interested in the degree to which gender relations within marriage affect farm women's involvement in community organizations. Such involvement is further explored to determine the extent to which it influences political attitudes and political activism. This study, with its multiple levels of analysis, provides very good insight into the diversity of agrarian women's experiences with feminism. It is of particular importance because it allows access to the world of rural farm women, a world that is all too frequently hidden from the view of a predominantly urban society. Upper-division undergraduates and above. S. Wurtele; Trent University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
