Everywhere and Nowhere
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$24.95 (06)Description
The women's movement and feminism has been responsible for profound changes in American society, from greater access to education and jobs to increased choices in health and parenting. Its ideas and goals have largely become a part of everyday beliefs and norms. At the same time, obituaries of the women's movement appear regularly in the news and the current movement is criticized for being apolitical or ineffectual. In this sense, feminism today can be said to be at once "nowhere," no longer visible, and "everywhere," diffused into the culture.Through an extended case study of three communities, Jo Reger explores this paradox with a systematic and empirically-based look at the contemporary women's movement. She investigates some of the most debated topics about and between feminists in the 21st century, including the relationship of contemporary and second-wave generation feminists, the influence of identity politics on gender and sexuality, and the stubborn legacies of racism and classism. Where, with all these changes, is feminism today? The answers, she finds, are myriad and specific to each community. It is precisely the variations and convergences of feminist activism within particular communities, Reger reveals, that define the women's movement today.
Reviews
"Jo Reger asks the big questions: Is feminism in paradox or peril? Does its diffusion signal success or decline? Marked by intellectual rigor, peppered with up-to-the-minute feminist insight and sass, the book tells the story of a political generation that often honors, frequently builds upon, and sometimes rejects its past. In contrast to tales portraying all young feminist activism as thinly disguised enlightened sexism, or a contemporary movement wholly divorced from its past, Everywhere and Nowhere looks beyond the waves to reveal an ongoing struggle of inclusivity, anti-racism, gender, and sex."--Deborah Siegel, author of Sisterhood, Interrupted
"Everywhere and Nowhere contests multiple myths circulating in popular culture by documenting the nuances and diverse contexts of feminism in the contemporary era. Exploring the factors that contribute to its flourishing and the manifold forms feminism takes, Jo Reger paints a rich portrait of vibrant modes of activism that transform identities, communities, and cultural values."--Mary Hawkesworth, Rutgers University
"The idea of feminism being everywhere and nowhere is a perfect description of the contemporary movement. Jo Reger provides badly needed new data on a movement that is still very much alive. By looking at three contemporary communities of feminists, Reger shows how feminism is practiced and shaped within different political and cultural contexts. This book is an extremely welcome addition to the literature on contemporary feminism."--Suzanne Staggenborg, University of Pittsburgh
Product Details
256 pages; 1 b/w line; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; ISBN13: 978-0-19-986198-9ISBN10: 0-19-986198-6About the Author(s)
Jo Reger is an associate professor of sociology and the director of the Women and Gender studies program at Oakland University in Michigan. She is the editor of Different Wavelengths: Studies of the Contemporary Women's Movement and a co-editor of Identity Work in Social Movements.
