This volume investigates the complex, often contradictory relationship between women, the state, and the construction of national identity. Editors Mary Ann Tetreault and Sita Ranchod-Nilsson compile a series of scholarly essays that examine how nationalist projects frequently utilize gendered roles to define citizenship and belonging. By analyzing diverse geographical contexts, the authors argue that women are often positioned as symbolic markers of the nation while simultaneously being excluded from the formal political processes that define it.

Scholars in the fields of political science and gender studies frequently cite this work as a foundational text for understanding the gendered dimensions of nationalism. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous examination of state power and social identity.