How and to what degree are women worldwide gaining and using power? This book offers the first genuinely comparative assessment of this key question by exploring the conditions, actions, and accomplishments of women in Latin America and Asia. Encompassing 60 percent of the world's population and experiencing far-reaching transformations, these two regions offer a vital window into our understanding of the experiences of women globally. Revealing both basic similarities and fundamental differences, this volume offers thoughtful insights about the changing conditions of women, on the one hand, and, on the other, about patterns of social change throughout Asia and Latin America.