Women and the Environment

Book excerpt: This thirteenth volume in the series addresses an increasingly salient worldwide research, design, and policy issue-women and physical environments. We live in an era of worldwide social change. Some nation-states are fracturing or disintegrating, migrations are resulting from political up heavals and economic opportunities, some ethnic and national animosi ties are resurfacing, and global and national economic systems are under stress. Furthermore, the variability of interpersonal and familial forms is increasing, and cultural subgroups-minorities, women, the physically challenged, gays, and lesbians-are vigorously demanding their rights in societies and are becoming significant economic and political forces. Although these social-system changes affect many people, their im pact on women is especially salient. Women are at the center of most forms of family life. Whether in traditional or contemporary cultures, women's roles in child rearing, home management, and community relations have and will continue to be central, regardless of emerging and changing family structures. And, because of necessity and oppor tunity, women are increasingly engaged in paid work in and outside the home (women in most cultures have historically always worked, but often not for pay). Their influence in cultures and societies is also mounting in the social, political, and economic spheres. In technological societies, women are playing higher-level roles, though still in small numbers, in economic and policy domains. This trend is likely to acceler ate in the twenty-first century.