RAHILA GUPTA

In 1995, the UN vowed to advance 'equality, development and peace for all women, everywhere.' Instead, in the Beijing Declaration's thirtieth anniversary year, the world is lurching dangerously away from such democratic and progressive ideals--reinventing nationalist identities based on toxic-masculine values, and embracing economic policies against women's interests. This reality exists in every type of country. Why does oppression, rather than feminism, still dominate our world? This book reveals patriarchy's many faces in the age of globalisation, exploring the political systems and cultures of eight very different societies. It takes readers from the extraordinary anti-capitalist women's revolution in Kurdistan to the theocracies of Islamic State and Saudi Arabia; from China's one-party state to Iceland's democracy; and to South Africa, Russia and El Salvador--all radically changed since the fall of apartheid, communism and military dictatorship respectively. Despite patriarchy's remarkable shapeshifting powers to undermine feminist solidarity, Planet Patriarchy is equally a story of sisterhood and resistance, interviewing defenders of women's rights about their cause and their country. Gender inequality endures, everywhere--but so does feminism. Campbell and Gupta's fascinating discoveries show us how this timeless showdown is taking shape in, and being shaped by, the systems we live under today.

Don’t Wake Me: The Ballad Of Nihal Armstrong is the unforgettable true story of a mother and her disabled son; a dramatic and poetic testimony of one woman’s tireless battles in the struggle for her son’s rights. Translating the raw experience of motherhood into a powerful verse monologue, Rahila Gupta reveals the challenges, impediments and frustrations of being repeatedly misunderstood – and of battles won against all the odds.

KIRANJIT AHLUWALIA S STORY IS HARROWING AND SHOCKING, BUT ULTIMATELY TRIUMPHANT. IT IS A STORY OF SURVIVAL AND HOPE IN THE FACE OF ALMOST INSURMOUNTABLE ODDS. BORN INTO A WELL-OFF FAMILY IN INDIA, KIRANJIT AHLUWALIA CAME TO ENGLAND IN 1979 TO BE MARRIED TO A MAN SHE HARDLY KNEW. SHE WAS A CHEERFUL, OPTIMISTIC YOUNG WOMAN, FULL OF HOPE FOR A HAPPY MARRIED LIFE, BUT LITERALLY FROM THE DAY OF THE WEDDING IT WAS CLEAR THAT ALL WAS NOT WELL. THE NEXT TEN YEARS WERE TO BE A NIGHTMARE OF CONSTANT PHYSICAL AND MENTAL ABUSE AT THE HANDS OF HER VIOLENT HUSBAND. THERE WAS NO ONE SHE COULD TURN TO FOR HELP AND SUPPORT, AS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS VIRTUALLY A TABOO SUBJECT FOR MANY ASIANS IN BRITAIN, AND FAMILY HONOUR- IZZAT - IS THE SUPREME CONSIDERATION. IN 1989, EXHAUSTED, CONFUSED AND DRIVEN BEYOND ENDURANCE BY THE SUFFERING SHE HAD UNDERGONE, KIRANJIT KILLED THE MAN WHO HAD MADE HER LIFE A MISERY. AT HER TRIAL, THE PROCEEDINGS OF WHICH SHE BARELY UNDERSTOOD, KIRANJIT WAS FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER, AND SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT. AS THE DETAILS OF HER CASE EMERGED FOLLOWING A CAMPAIGN CO-ORDINATED BY SOUTHALL BLACK SISTERS, A WOMEN S CENTRE OPERATING ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET, NATIONWIDE ATTENTION FOCUSED ON HER PLIGHT, AND SHE WAS SET FREE IN 1992. AFTER HER RELEASE, KIRANJIT MET THE PRINCESS OF WALES, WHO URGED HER TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT HER EXPERIENCES. CIRCLE OF LIGHT IS THAT BOOK. IT IS A REMARKABLE FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT OF ONE OF THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL AND TROUBLING ISSUES OF RECENT YEARS. KIRANJIT AHLUWALIA S CASE IS UNIQUE, BUT IT REVEALS THE DISTURBING HIDDEN TRUTH ABOUT MANY WOMEN S LIVES IN BRITAIN TODAY.