Books by Ann Brooks

Women, Politics and the Public Sphere focuses intellectually on the legacy of eighteenth century women thinkers, writers and political philosophers in understanding the emergence of women public intellectuals in the US and UK and highlights how women public intellectuals now reflect much more social and cultural diversity.

In 'Consumption, Cities and States: Comparing Singapore with Asian and Western Cities', Ann Brooks and Lionel Wee focus on the interrelationship of consumption, citizenship and the state in the context of globalization, calling for greater emphasis to be placed on the citizen as consumer. While it is widely recognized that citizenship is increasingly defined by 'gradations of esteem', where different kinds of rights and responsibilities accrue to different categories and subcategories of 'citizens', not enough analytical focus has been given to how the status of being a citizen impacts the individual's consumption. The interface between citizen status and consumer activity is a crucial point of analysis in light of the neoliberal assertion that individuals and institutions perform at their best within a free market economy, and because of the state's expectations regarding citizens' rights and responsibilities as consumers not just as producers. In this remarkable comparative study, the authors examine these relationships across a number of cities in both Asia and the West.

Through popular culture, we can define, explore and experiment with our identities. This vibrant text provides an understanding of popular culture in a globalized world through the intersection of sociology and cultural studies, combining cultural theory with a wide range of examples from everyday life, including fashion, social networking and music, drawn from the United States, the UK and the Asia-Pacific.

Do the Asian economies encourage gender equality? This book provides an insight into this question, by assessing the impact of the economy and the changing labour market on women in Asia. Theoretical debates around globalization, gender and social change are combined with research on professional women in two cities: Hong Kong and Singapore.

Philosophical debates around individualization and the implications for intimacy, reflexivity and identity have occupied a central part of social and cultural theorizing in the West. This book analyses the relevance of these debates in the context of contemporary Asia. It provides analysis of the debates on Asian culture and society.

In this clear exposition of some of the major debates, theorists and practitioners, Ann Brooks shows how feminism is being redefined for the twenty-first century.