Book Reviews
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
"Nine Books to Prepare for the World After COVID 19"
Iain Whitaker
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As national economies emerge from whatever turmoil lays ahead, those in power would do well to digest Linda Scott’s examination of women’s empowerment. The Oxford University professor and activist describes the historic structures that have placed women into an almost entirely separate and restricted economic sphere, then demonstrates how this arrangement tangibly limits growth, widens inequality, and fosters instability.
Financial Times
Financial Times and McKinsey Book of the Year Award 2020
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Linda Scott is adamant that the only effective way to make fundamental and lasting improvements for women is through economic empowerment—an idea that she argues has been neglected by many feminists, and largely ignored or dismissed by the men who dominate economic policy and practice at every level of the global economy, from company directors in G7 countries to farmers in Africa and Asia.
Financial Times
“The Pandemic and Economic Downturn are Hitting Women Hardest”
Andrew Hill
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Despite the data- and research-based evidence that Prof Scott marshals to support her argument that women are being held back, she remains hopeful about the prospects for, and potential of, the Double X Economy. . . . What distinguishes her book. . . she believes, is that she cites abundant evidence for her case, outlines practical steps that individuals, companies, and global organisations should take, and includes an open invitation to men to join what she describes as “one of the most important causes of our time, perhaps in history.”
The Guardian
“The Double X Economy by Linda Scott Review—How to Solve Economic Sexism”
Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
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Above all, Scott is practical and pragmatic. She has little time for hand-wringers of any variety, preferring to focus on briskly Getting Things Done. Fittingly, this is how she closes: with a step-by-step plan of tangible and precise goals we should – and most importantly, could – achieve. Which is what makes The Double X Economy a breath of fresh, if infuriating, air. In a world where so many of us stick safely to criticising the status quo, it’s heartening to read someone willing to offer viable solutions. The question is, will any of us listen?”
Irish Independent
“The Double X Economy: Devastating Cost of Women’s Economic Exclusion Laid Bare”
David Chance
Linda Scott's new book on the costs of gender inequality pulls no punches...Welcome to The Double X Economy, a book in which the Oxford academic seeks to enumerate the costs of keeping women as second-class economic citizens and exposes the way in which half the world's population is being failed.
Times Literary Supplement
“Out in the Cold: The Wasteful Exclusion of Women from Roles in the Global Economy"
Jane Robinson
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[The Double X Economy] combines a searing analysis of gender bias in the economy with an agenda for reform. The book’s title is a term Scott coined some years ago to describe the systemic misogyny woven into the world’s financial fabric, and the latent force implicit in the productivity and spending power of more than half the human race. Her argument is that women are a squandered resource; investment in their individual and collective futures will bring peace and prosperity for us all, but it has to happen now.
The Guardian
“The Double X Economy Review — The Need to Empower Women”
Gaby Hinsliff
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Scott’s central case is that the same pattern of female economic equality, coupled with the threat of male violence, is identifiable all over the planet; is it really likely that women everywhere would have made the same self-defeating choices over and over again, or more likely that something is holding them back?
The Observer
“Childcare is Infrastructure: Linda Scott’s Model for Economic Growth Relies on Women”
Jasmine Loeb
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Linda Scott is a social scientist and activist whose new book, The Double X Economy: The Epic Potential of Women’s Empowerment, sounds the alarm on the systematic economic exclusion of women and their jaw-dropping subjugation throughout history.
The New York Times
“Why is Women’s Work Still Undervalued and Unacknowledged?”
Heather Boushey
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Linda Scott forcefully makes the case that “equal economic treatment for women would put a stop to some of the world’s costliest evils, while building prosperity for everyone.”
Kirkus Reviews
Book Review: “The Double X Economy”
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A precise, eye-opening account that shows what needs to change to make the world a more equitable environment for all.
Financial Times
FT Book Essay: “Why Feminist Battles are Still Being Fought”
Rebecca Abrahms
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The author challenges the presumption that [national] economic wealth leads to gender equality, arguing that causation works in the opposite direction: gender equality leads to wealth. Equal and gender-mixed societies are less violent, more prosperous and more stable.
Publisher's Weekly
Nonfiction Book Review: “The Double X Economy: The Epic Potential of Women’s Empowerment”
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...Scott delivers a persuasive call to action enriched by hard data and personal experience. Feminists, economists, and policy makers should consider this impressive and impassioned account required reading.
New Statesman
Tom Gattway
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Professor Linda Scott describes how empowering women economically could not only resolve gender inequality but also help address “many of humankind’s most pressing problems”.
Literary Review
“When Mortgages Were Just For Men”
Vicki Pryce, author of Women Vs. Capitalism: Why We Can't Have It All in a Free Market Economy
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Scott, a professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Oxford, uses the research she has carried out in Africa to provide many examples of discrimination, but her book also touches on the over and covert discrimination that is prevalent in the developed world, too.
Five Books
The Best Science Books of 2020: The Royal Society Book Prize
Recommended by Anne Osbourn
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Last year’s winner, Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez, was about the gender gap. The Double X Economy is a rigorous presentation and analysis of data to show that women are excluded at great cost to society as a whole. It’s an important, relevant and timely topic. Linda Scott has an enormous amount of hands-on experience working with communities in developing countries, researching women’s economic exclusion in various fora, and advising at the highest international levels.
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The book contrasts the villages of Africa and the slums of Asia right through to boardrooms in the US and other rich countries. It’s a very thorough book with lots of graphs and charts to illustrate key points, but they’re presented in a very simplified, accessible way so the reader can take them or leave them depending on how much detail they want to go into.