After reading recent discussion by some Iraq bloggers re future implications for women in Iraq, i have done some other reading and found this A Thermodynamic Interpretation of History; Chapter 4 The Liberation of Women which is an interesting read if you take the time.

Notes; The article fails to mention that the point of stasis desired by the nation state is the point at which all adults are independent enough to have their own incomes and so be able to consume sufficiently to keep the economy afloat, but to also be dependent enough on each other to raise children, for children are both future consumers and also current valuable pressure points for marketers of consumable goods.

The article also fails to mention that once women have attained their happy autonomy and are working and dating as "free floating sharks" they have less time to reproduce. So, the population begins to decline, in turn meaning there are less consumers, in turn meaning less is consumed, in turn threatening profits, in turn threatening the survival of capitalism/ the nation state. So, capitalism/ the nation state develops into a sequence of fluctuating degrees of freedom, where freedom is let out on a leash where desirable and pulled back to the kennel when not.

But, the future need not be grim, so long as people become aware of the forces that are shaping their lives there is also the chance to in turn shape those forces to ones own advantage.