Overview

The United States has the most family-hostile public policy in the developed world. Despite what is often reported, new mothers don't 'opt out' of work. They are pushed out by discriminating and inflexible workplaces. Today's workplaces continue to idealize the worker who has someone other than parents caring for their children. Conventional wisdom attributes women's decision to leave work to their maternal traits and desires. In this thought-provoking book, Joan Williams shows why that view is misguided and how workplace practice disadvantages men - both those who seek to avoid the breadwinner role and those who embrace it - as well as women. Faced with masculine norms that define the workplace, women must play the tomboy or the femme. Both paths result in a gender bias that is exacerbated when the two groups end up pitted against each other. And although work-family issues long have been seen strictly through a gender lens, we ignore class at our peril. The dysfunctional relationship between the professional-managerial class and the white working class must be addressed before real reform can take root. Contesting the idea that women need to negotiate better within the family, and redefining the notion of success in the workplace, Williams reinvigorates the work-family debate and offers the first steps to making life manageable for all American families.

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9780674055674

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The most engaging and thought provoking portions of the book are those focused on understanding how masculinized workplace social norms are restrictive to both men and women and the fact that such norms are reflective of the devaluing of caretaking in our society. In doing so, Williams helps to place societal discussions of work-family into a broader context, thereby highlighting the crucial roles played by larger social forces (such as the structure of workplace organizations and gender norms) in shaping the work-family decisions made by men and women...Williams' commitment to effecting real change in work-family policy is refreshing, and she does place needed emphasis on social class and concrete political strategies. Readers of Reshaping the Work-Family Debate will not only be encouraged to think about work-family issues differently, but will also be impressed with Williams' dedication to the coalition building she views as necessary to bring about meaningful social change that al

In her brilliantly insightful new book, Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter , Joan C. Williams suggests that in order to finish the stalled gender revolution it will be necessary to incorporate both men and class into discussions of work-family conflict. Williams writes beautifully and one of the many strengths of the book is her ability to synthesize massive amounts of disparate research from the law, sociology, psychology and politics, and turn them into one compelling case for change...This book will join Williams' first, Unbending Gender , as a key piece in the canon of work-family scholarship. It is essential reading for all work-family scholars across a wide range of disciplines...It should be added to the pantheon of other contemporary gender scholarship that has moved the work-family debate forward...It is my hope that it will also prove to be essential reading for politicians seeking progressive solutions.--Sarah Damaske Sex Roles (03/04/2011)

Author Information

Joan C. Williams is Distinguished Professor of Law, 1066 Foundation Chair, and Director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

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