American Political Science Associations

International Studies Association

Culture, Rights, and Norms: Women’s Rights Reform in Muslim Countries

Miami Dade’s Cuban-American Voters in the 2008 Election

What to Expect from the Cuban-American Electorate

Thinking Inside the Box: A Closer Look at Democracy and Human Rights

South Ossetia—Georgia

Two conventional wisdoms dominate debates about why women's rights advance in some places but not others. While culture and religion are understood to be the primary barriers to gender equality, efforts by international institutions and women's groups to change social norms are often seen as the most effective way to reduce discrimination. This book introduces a third, often overlooked explanation - the core rights framework - to account for how, where, and why women's rights advance. It argues that female labor force participation and education serve as building blocks, or core rights, for the advancement of other women's rights. Cultivating core rights is believed to spur group consciousness, ease collective action problems, and render women in a politically relevant group, thereby increasing the prospects that women's rights are represented in the polity. In examining the advancement of women's rights across four major areas - political, nationality, reproductive, and property rights - this book shows that the conventional wisdom about the role of international norms and culture is usually overstated and often incomplete. It also presents systematic evidence evaluating the effectiveness of different prescriptions for improving women's lives across a broad range of rights.

Myths about Women's Rights: How, Where, and Why Rights Advance

Loyola Marymount University is a top-ranked national university by U.S. News and World Report, which places LMU among the top six Jesuit universities in the country and in the top six private universities in California. Founded in 1911, LMU is a Catholic, Jesuit, and Marymount university with more than 7,100 undergraduate students and more than 3,000 graduate and law students. LMU offers 56 undergraduate majors and 56 minor programs, along with 46 master’s degree programs, three doctorate programs and 12 credential/authorization programs. LMU’s intercollegiate athletics teams compete in the West Coast Conference with 14 Division I varsity sports.

LMU news and events are found at: www.lmu.edu/news.

Loyola Marymount University

Gender and Politics

International Relations

Politics of Authoritarianism

Politics in the Middle East

Politics of the Middle East through Film

Theories of International Relations

Feryal Cherif is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Loyola Marymount University. She is also the Director of International Relations Program.

Gender and Human Rights

Politics of Middle East

Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations

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