238 Book Reviews

(Rose Brewer), Home Economics (Patricia Thompson), Sport (Carole Oglesby and Chris t ine Shelton), Law (Jocelynne Scutt), Nursing (Joan Milligan), Architecture (Leslie Weismau), History (Jane Lewis), Sociology (Liz Stanley), and Philosophy (Marilyn Frye). The format for all of these contributions was determined by a set of 10 ques- tions devised by the editors to gauge the pattern of develop- ments over the past 20 years. The authors document the achievements of feminists working to effect change and the resistance of academic men to their initiatives. In some of the disciplines (Mathematics and Physics/Robyn Arianrhod, Religious Studies/Carol Christ) the impact of feminist ideas has been slight; in others (among them Law/Jocelynne Scutt, Economics/Marilyn Waling, Medicine/Joan Alketruse and Sue Rosser, Gcography/Joni Seager) feminist critiques of the malestream have started to gain ground or, at least, have sold a lot of books (History/Jane Lewis). In Peace Studies (Elsie Boulding) feminist work has been coopted into the mainstream, its impact blunted and women margin- alised. In Sociology (Liz Stanley), Cultural Studies (Jennifer Craik), Psychology (Mary Roth Walsh), and Education (Dale Spender) feminist ideas have had a radical and continued influence. Overall Dale Spender and Cberis Kramarue conclude that feminists have disturbed rather than dislodged the power of patriarchal strongholds within the subject areas reviewed. Nonetheless, there is cause to cele- brate the achievements made.

The Debates in Part II of the book open with The Personal Cost of the Feminist Knowledge Explosion, a moving account by Susan Arpad of her experience as a Women's Studies tutor subjected to classroom harassment from politically resistant students. This should be compul- sory reading for all those unreconstructed colleagues who assert that teaching Women's Studies is a doddle. The Debates cover both familiar and, to me, less familiar issues and concepts. There are chapters on sexual violence/Jane Caputi, pomography/Susanne Kappeler, reproductive tech- nology/Renate Klein, feminist research/Shulamit Reinharz, the family/Maxinne Zinn, patriarchy/Cheris Kramarae, sis- terhood and friendship/Maria Lugones and Pat Rosezelle, and sex/Jacquelyn Zi ta Some of the recent developments covered are eco-feminism/Irene Diamond, men's studies/ Lillian Robinson, and the underrepresentation of feminist ideas in information technology/Suzanne Damarin. The debates are clearly argued, accessible yet stimulating.

Like other anthologies, The Knowledge Explosion will probably be one of those books which sits on the shelf to be dipped into for a burst of inspiration. For teaching and learning purposes, I think that the bibliographies and guid- ance on how to find out more are incredibly useful.

LORRAINE RADFORD DEPARTMENTS OF SOCIAL POLICY AND WOMEN'S STUDIES

ROEHAMPTON INSTITUTE LONDON, UK

G~NI~n~, FMmLIr~ AND CLOSE RELA~O~SHn'S: l~M~'~ts'r RESEARCH JOURNEYS, edited by Donna L. Sollie and Leigh A. Leslie, 300 pages. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, London, and New Delhi.

This edited collection can be read in two ways. For those interested in the field of families and close relationships, it can be read as a number of discussions of the themes and debates within the area. For those interested in feminist

methodology, it can be read as a series of reflections and explorations of issues in this area. Of course, the two may overlap - - as they clearly do for the editors and contributors.

Substantively, the book is divided into three main sections covering intimacy, the role of work, and the expe- rience of violence. Within these, the topics include love, sexuality, caregiving, friendship, division of labour, and violence. The contributors have tackled the editors' request that they provide an overview of their area of research dif- ferently. Some refer only to their own work, detailing find- ings and themes across several pieces of research. Others draw more widely, situating their own work within the context of research conducted on the topic in general. So, I presume readers pursuing this avenue will find the book more or less satisfactory according to their interests.

I was more interested in the second avenue-the con- tributors' reflections on and evaluations of their own prac- tice as feminist researchers. A strong theme running across the accounts is the tension between being a researcher in the field of family and relationship studies and being a feminist researcher. Again and again authors recount how, although they may have been feminists for years in terms of their personal perspectives, their feminism has only recently begun to directly influence and be integrated into their academic research. This does not appear to be the result of tunnel vision on the part of the women and the man whose accounts make up the book. Many do refer to their training as researchers leaving them unable to envi- sion feminist research as "valid." But, once the scales have fallen from the eyes, other issues come into play. To explicitly undertake feminist research is not a "good" career move, leads to academic marginalisation and allega- tions of bias, and is a step that can only be taken with con- fidence once an academic has become established and tenured. It is also difficult to get explicitly feminist re- search funded. This says something about the state of U.S. family and relationship studies, but others may well find it resonates in other disciplinary areas and countries.

Nevertheless, despite their relatively recent integration of feminism, for the most part the contributors are able to trace seamlessly cumulative accounts of their research inter- ests as these have developed over time. Only one contributor (Kristine Baber) reflects on how, making sense of her past from her present position, she could have taken another per- spective on her research career, to present a picture of frag- mentation rather than common and logical themes.

Another tension discussed by many of the contributors, and partly related to the disciplinary/feminism tension, is that between quantitative and qualitative methods. Several refer to the (now somewhat tired) debates over which is the more feminist approach, defending quantitative methods. But they also note bow quantitative data are regarded as more acceptable and rigorous within the discipline. In this context, it is qualitative methods that have to be defended. Interestingly, none of the authors, or the editors in their introduction and conclusion, seem to question the division between the two. The mixing of methods within research and examinations of the way quantification is intimately linked to qualitative judgments are largely left aside..

In their final chapter, the editors pull together the issues and themes emerging from the contributors' accounts. I don' t know how other people go about the process of reviewing books, but I tend to make notes as I wad, jotting down key points authors are making and my own com- ments as these occur to me. It surely is a good sign that many of the points I wanted to raise were addressed in

Book Reviews 239

Donna Sollie and Leigh Leslie’s concluding piece. For example, they note the way that race, class, age, sexuality, family forms, and children’s experiences need more atten- tion paid to them in family and relationship studies. In fact, I was quite astounded at the amount of research that draws on the undergraduate population for a sample.

In their conclusion, Sollie and Leslie use Linda Thompson’s analysis of the three crucial aspects of femi- nist research methodology (agenda, epistemology, and ethics) to organise their overview, as well as Marcia Westcott’s arguments about feminist researchers’ position as outsiders/insiders. As they also introduce and utilise these frameworks within their introductory chapter, and as several of the contributing authors also explain and draw upon them in their pieces, I found this repetition a little tiresome. Active editing could have remedied this. Indeed, where applicable, the book would have benefited from ref- erences to each others’ work being drawn across chapters. As it is, it feels as if there is no dialogue to hold tbe collec- tion together other than this final chapter.

Soliie and Leslie also take us through summaries of the contributions, organ&d around the three sections that make up the book (a structuring rationale they do not address in their introduction). This has a perverse usefulness, having just mad them all, but is not without value. I recommend potential readers to start at the end -read the conclusion to find out if this is a book that wig interest you.

R~MLIND EDWARDS SOCIAL SclENm REZXARCH m

SOUTH BANK UNMZRSITY LONDON, UK

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CART~RICET RETORT? edited by Sandra Coney, 192 pages. Women’s Health Action, Auckland, New Zealand, 1993. Soft cover, NZS24.95.

In 1988 the New Zealand Government established a Committee of Inquiry into the Treatment of Cervical Cancer at National Women’s Hospital in Auckland follow- ing the publication of an article by two New Zealand femi- nists, Sandra Coney and Phyllida Bunkle, in the New Zealand current affairs magazine, Merro. In the article the authors alleged that there was a failure to treat cervical car- cinoma in situ (CIS) at National Women’s Hospital and that research involving an experimental control group had been conducted from 1966 to 1987 into the natural history of CIS of the genital tract without the full and informed consent of the participants.

The terms of reference of the Inquiry included an examination of the steps necessary to improve the protec- tion of patients involved in research and/or treatment pro- grams at National Women’s Hospital; if patients were properly informed of the treatment and options available to them and, if not, what steps needed to be taken to see that they were. Significantly. the Inquiry also raised questions concerning the nature and quality of training provided to medical students in relation to CIS. Perhaps most impor- tantly, under its final term of reference, the Inquiry was required to examine any other matter which was relevant to the detection and treatment of precancerous conditions of the genital tract, giving the Inquiry the power to examine so many other critical, complex, and subtle issues that had previously been trivialised.

llnfinishcd Business documents the experiences and insights of many women who participated in the “‘reform processes” following the Inquiry and is an important resource for scholars of public health administration and biomedical ethics as well as women’s and consumer health activists. It is a powerful account of the barriers consumers have encountered to the implementation of the rccommen- dations of the Cartwright Cervical Cancer Inquiry into the events surrounding the “Unfortunate Experiment” at National Women’s Hospital in New Zealand.

Sandra Coney’s edited collection begins by offering a useful summary and clear record of the sequence of events surrounding the Cartwright Inquiry. The title essay is writ- ten in Sandra’s usual insightful, critical, and incisive man- ner demonstrating her extraordinary ability to identify the most salient aspects of the process and expose the weak links in the chain of reform.

The Chapters written by Phyllida Bunkle and Helen Clark are also particularly interesting. Helen Clark, who had been the Minister of Health for much of the period of the implementation of the Cartwright recommendations exhibits a clear case of 2Q!20 hindsight vision in her recol- lection of the events. Helen Clark’s account of the Cartwright aftermath also evoked a strong impression of “‘Yes Minister” scenarios punctuated by bureaucratic manip ulation and misrepresentation about the progress of the implementation of the Cattwright report recommendations.

Phyllida Bunkle, who, along with Sandra Coney au- thored the original magazine article which led to the estab- lishment of the Inquiry, now writes from the perspective of an aspiring politician. Phyllida Bunkle’s focus is therefore now clearly on the failure of the past and current NZ Governments to implement the systemic reforms recom- mended by Judge Cartwright

The chapters written by Linda I&ye. legal counsel for the women involved in the “Unfortunate Experiment,” and Lynda Williams, the first patient advocate at National Women’s Hospital, left a profound impression of the ardour and integrity of their struggle to preserve and obtain some justice for health consumers. Fach of these women in their recollections of the process and events are testimony to the necessity for vigilance in monitoring the activities of institutional and political structures which may seek to undermine the reform process and those who participate in it.

The discussions of the operations of ethics committees by Pauline Ringi and Judy Strid are an important reminder of the benefits bought to consumers from the Cattwright Inquiry. Issues such as monitoring the decision making processes and performance of the ethics committees and ensuring public access to the proceedings of the commit- tees are highlighted in a reasonable and considered manner. These two chapters are evidence of the political sophistica- tion and achievements of the NZ consumer health rights movement, which has provided an inspiration to consumer health movements internationally.

Joy Bickley, writing on the response of Nurses to the Cartwright Report, provides an astute and analytical insight to the practice of nurses protecting their patients by ‘Qealth” and the personal and professional consequences they face in adopting this “watchdog” role in the health care system. Bickley has a clear understanding of the pro- found consequences of economic rationalism and new managerialism in the health care arena and at one point in her essay notes with irony that ‘five years on, the ‘unfortu- nate experiment’ is not restricted to the practices in one