<i>Toward a Compassionate Society</i>

Edited with an Introduction By: Mahnaz Afkhami

(March 2002)

Toward a Compassionate Society is an anthology focusing on women’s roles in conflict resolution, peace building, and democracy in a culturally and politically diverse world. It addresses the importance of cultural pluralism and women’s role in promoting peace in the rapidly globalizing world of the 21st century. The issues are examined from a variety of gender-focused cultural and inter-disciplinary perspectives including sociology, anthropology, human rights, philosophy, and religion. (65 pages)

“As a gender specialist working within the UN system, for the first time in my life I have found a book that elaborates on peace with a gender perspective. Toward a Compassionate Society strengthened my conviction that women are agents of change.” -Isabella Waterschoot, Gender Advisor for Knowledge Management, UNDP

Contributing Authors Include:

  • Elise Boulding, author of Cultures of Peace: The Hidden Side of History

  • Charlotte Bunch, executive director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership

  • Mahbub ul Haq, chief architect of UNDP's Human Development Reports

  • Uma Narayan, professor of philosophy at Vassar College

  • Arati Rao, scholar of feminist political theory and women's rights

  • Aruna Rao, president of the Association for Women's Rights in Development

  • Arvind Sharma, professor of comparative religion at McGill University

Toward a Compassionate Society is also available as a free download.


Toward a Compassionate Society 0-9710922-6-5$12.95