Career: Shireen Hassim is Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa and a widely published author in the field of gender politics in South Africa. She has been Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Humanities since July 2007. Dr Hassim has worked on the South African women's movement for several years, and has lectured and published in this field. During 1999 she was a member of the Gender and Elections Reference Group of the Electoral Institute of South Africa, and co-edited the Elections bulletin. Shireen Hassim is a member of the Advisory Board of Womensnet, a website for women, and of the Editorial Committee of the journal African Studies (see url below).

Publications include: numerous articles in professional journals

Contact details: Address: Department of Political Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, PO WITS, Central Block, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Braamfontein, Gauteng 2050, South Africa; Tel: +27 (0)11 717-4364; Fax: +27 (0)11 717-4059; Fax: +27 (0)11 403-7482; Email: hassims@social.wits.ac.za ; Website: http://www.wits.ac.za/Humanities/SocialSciences/politicals.htm ; Website: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/00020184.asp/ .