Gender, Agency, and Coercion tackles the theoretical and empirical interplay between agency and coercion by examining the successes and pitfalls of the promotion of contemporary gender equality. Women's capacity for agency has been at the core of feminist theory and feminist research. While there is general agreement in feminist studies that women have capacity for agency, the forms, boundaries, and dynamics of that agency still foster rich and necessary debates. As Sumi Madhok, Anne Phillips, and Kalpana Wilson emphasize in their introduction, “agency is now widely invoked in ways that sometimes make it synonymous with individual choice, coercion is barely addressed, and the way in which agency continues to be gendered and racialised are insufficiently appreciated” (2). The authors argue in favor of moving away from a simplistic assumption that the absence of coercion automatically indicates the presence of full capacity to exert agency, and the other way around. Individuals, namely women in this context, cannot simply be dichotomized into “choosers” or “losers,” “agents” or “victims,” which holds true for women and men in the global North and in the global South. While definitively shifting away from this simplistic dichotomization between agents and victims is salutary for feminist research, it raises lots of questions about how to comprehend the multifaceted relationship between gender, agency, autonomy, and coercion.

This edited volume of 13 chapters provides us with dense and challenging reflections on apprehending agency in contemporary structures of inequalities. While theoretically oriented, the first four contributions are not meant to provide an overarching theoretical framework for the book. On the contrary, these chapters challenge the reader with rich and contrasting accounts that explore the meaning, relevance, and challenges in crafting and refining the concept of feminist autonomy (Chapter 2 by Kimberly Hutchings); the effects of the different uses of autonomy to reflect on conditions of inequality (Chapter 3 by Claire Hemmings and Amal Treacher Kabsh); the often unspoken values and meanings linked to the uses of the concept of agency across the global South (Chapter 4 by Mary Evans) and a critical discussion on the treatment—or nontreatment—of agency in Chantal Mouffe's theory of radical democracy (Chapter 5 by Lois McNay).

A second series of contributions adopt an empirical focus to discuss the relationship between agency, autonomy, and coercion in the context of development and the global South. Kaplana Wilson uncovers the gendered and racialized features of the characterization (or instrumentalization) of women from the global South as entrepreneurial agents in gender and development neoliberal discourses (Chapter 6). Sumi Madhok and Marsha Henry provide illuminating empirical illustrations about agency within oppressive contexts, such as the work of female development workers from low social class in North Western India and prostitution on sites of UN Peacekeeping missions (Chapters 7 and 8).

A third collection of essays tackles the coexistence of agency and coercion regarding the recurrent feminist issue of bodily autonomy. While the abortion issue has placed the principle of “our body, our choice” to the political forefront, older issues like prostitution or more recent issues like reproductive technology question this principle and force us to rethink, to think differently, or at least more carefully about what agency means in body politics. The contrasted positions adopted in these essays all emphasize that even in situations where women have formal autonomy over their bodies, this autonomy is nevertheless exerted in particular contexts or conditions of inequalities. These contexts shape the ways and the extent to which women exert their capacity for decisions over their own bodies. Anne Phillips argues, for instance, that even if women enjoy bodily autonomy, in order to fully grasp women's decisions to work as sex workers or as gestational mothers, overarching structures of inequality must be taken into account, most notably the coercive power of economic remuneration (Chapter 9). Heather Widdows points out the limitations in relying on the autonomous consent as the prime criteria in assessing the ethical acceptability of practices such as prostitution and egg sale or donation. She argues that the content of the choice and the conditions of inequalities from which the choice is made should be integrated into the ethical assessment as well (Chapter 10). In a contrasting discussion, Emily Jackson assesses the circumstances where regulated economic compensation for egg donation is justified and preserves women's autonomy through informed decision making (Chapter 11). Samantha Ashenden draws on a series of recent court decisions on surrogacy arrangements to reflect on the ways courts and the general public address women's autonomy regarding surrogacy (Chapter 12).

The last series of chapters investigates representations of agency in postfeminist popular culture. Sadie Wearing examines how the constructions of gender and socioeconomic class interact in teen television shows (Chapter 13); Rosalind Gill and Ngaire Donaghue question the implications of a feminist focus on agency in the context of neoliberal popular culture that places individual autonomy at the core of the narrative (Chapter 14).

Although it does not provide all the answers, Gender, Agency, and Coercion raises the right questions and contributes rich and diverse applied theoretical discussions on the multidimensionality of agency and its related concept of autonomy. It calls for further discussion about alternative standpoints to those of women. While the development of assisted reproductive technology has undoubtedly raised concerns about women's autonomy and freedom of choice, the technologization of reproduction has created additional groups of individuals with varying levels of agency and autonomy, most notably sexual orientation minorities. In the case of surrogacy, there is much to learn about the coexistence and even direct interaction of these multiple groups of agents whose capacity for reproductive choice, autonomy, and agency is constantly shaped, put into question, and challenged. By opening up new avenues for reflection, this book goes beyond a dialogue among political philosophers and theorists and articulates a number of questions that should interest empirical scholars of gender and politics as well. Gender, Agency, and Coercion highlights the importance of finely tuned and thorough reflections on agency, autonomy, and coercion embedded in socioeconomic and cultural contexts that shape not only the agents' capacity, but also the researcher's own conception of agency and autonomy.