Compiled by Vanita Nayak-Mukherjee, this 1991 annotated bibliography emerged from the Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) research project on Alternative Economic Frameworks, co-coordinated by feminist scholar Gita Sen, in collaboration with the Asian and Pacific Development Centre (APDC). The publication synthesises late-1980s literature on women’s economic participation across the Asia-Pacific region.

Organising the research by economic sectors—including agriculture, manufacturing, and the informal and self-employed economy—the volume surveys the diverse socio-economic realities of women workers. The compiled literature highlights how a rigid gender division of labour and systemic “limited options” shape women’s economic participation, documenting studies that examine how macroeconomic policies and export-led industrialisation frequently rely on the undervaluing of women’s labour. By addressing themes such as the statistical invisibility of women’s work, the impacts of agrarian transformations, and the circumstances of female-headed households, the bibliography identifies key areas of research and debate. Bringing together studies from across the region, the publication provides an overview of scholarship on women’s work, economic participation, and development in the Asia-Pacific context.