The Unfinished Revolution: The Status of Women in Twelve Countries

Patricia Morley is a professor of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University, an associate fellow of the Simone de Beauvoir
Institute, and author of Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Home.

Anderson, who has devoted much of her working life to the women’s
movement, writes that her current study of how things stand for women
grew out of curiosity and frustration. She examines 12 Western
democracies: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway,
Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Her
range is extended by the fact that their actions and policies have
profound implications for the Third World.

Interviews figured heavily in Anderson’s research method. In talking
with women in each country she used five indicators to gauge what has
been accomplished there, including conditions for women who have
children and work outside the home; the degree of acceptance shown in
the workforce regarding the different needs of women; and the percentage
of women in the power elites. She discusses such problems as
regionalism, language, class, and race as they affect women. Of course
conditions vary, but Anderson concludes that gains are “fragile.”

The women’s revolution is unique in world history, and nonviolent.
Anderson’s comparative analysis includes a substantial body of
information and many insights.