Out of the Ivory Tower

...the editors helpfully organize the contributions under a shared topic of "women's relationships to their bodies, history, public and private spaces and new technologies" (12), and identify recovering histories and meanings; "negotiating" the female body; shaping equity for women; and negotiating the new technologies of cyberspace...

The book covers a diverse terrain of disciplines, methodology, histories and geographies. Individual essays offer much that would be of use to scholars and activists engaged in the particular fields and contexts to which they are directed... The introduction to the four research themes is a means to link the research with political agendas beyond the academy"

... Each essay will find its own contexts for engagement; and, those who engage with this text as a whole in contexts of learning and activism may find it a resource for their own conversations and analysis of how consolidations of feminist research in such texts contributes to anti-racist agendas, to challenging essentialist thought and to building links with academic and broader communities.

... Out of the Ivory Tower, edited by Andrea Martin and Meryn Stuart, focuses on women's studies in action. Martinez and Stuart's goal was to consolidate feminist research at the University of Ottawa and promote the dissemination of feminist knowledge to a wider audience with the hope of bridging the gap between the academy and the broader feminist community. Tina O'Toole's "Moving into the Spaces," which points to the importance of history as a basis for lesbian activism, Michelle Mullen's "Feminist Bioethics and Empirical research," which argues that "a concern with the (mal)distribution of power and opportunity within society is central to a feminist bioethics," Carol Andrew's "Women in the Urban Landscape," which looks at gender as a constitutive element in the analysis of Canadian urban space, and many other essays in this collection make clear the relevance of feminist research to women's political and social activism...

This collection of 14 essays presents research encompassing subjects as diverse as feminist bioethics, the experiences of female First Nations chiefs, and Austrian women's literature. Editors Andrea Martinez and Meryn Stuart state that they put out a call for papers without specifying their theme any further than focusing on feminist research, resulting in an extensive collection of academic disciplines, methodologies, and presentation styles.

The majority of the contributors are associated with the Institute of Women's Studies (IWS) at the University of Ottawa, which formed in 1999 (although a women's studies degree was established there in 1983). The relatively short period of time in which formalized feminist scholarship has been underway at the university belies the explosion of feminist research and publishing in Canada that has taken place in the last 20 years. Even though it is a comparatively young discipline, the editors note that many of the researchers at the IWS 'were not aware of the feminist work being done within our university nor how this work could be linked to the wider political agendas we wished to support.'

The book's demonstration of the range of feminist scholarship within a single institution is remarkable. Women's studies is by its very nature interdisciplinary, which is underscored by the papers included. Notable works include Aoua Bocar LY-Tall's essay on female genital mutilation (FGM). The author deconstructs the perception that only sub-Saharan African peoples perform FGM (historically, Europeans have as well) while at the same time documenting global anti-FGM efforts. Caroline Andrew's paper on women in the urban landscape investigates women's formal involvement (or lack of involvement) in urban policymaking and grassroots organization around urban safety. Andrea Martinez and Elizabeth Turcotte present their research on Aboriginal women's connection to and presence on the World Wide Web. Further essays on women in prison and their construction as 'wicked bodies' (Sylvie Frigon) and a series of historical works demonstrate the evolution and potential of women's studies.

Anchored to the realities of women's lives, this collection presents research that can support the various movements towards women's equality in our culture.