Overview

Varieties of Feminism investigates the development of German feminism by contrasting it with women's movements that arise in countries, like the United States, committed to liberalism. With both conservative Christian and social democratic principles framing the feminist discourses and movement goals, which in turn shape public policy gains, Germany provides a tantalizing case study of gender politics done differently. The German feminist trajectory reflects new political opportunities created first by national reunification and later, by European Union integration, as well as by historically established assumptions about social justice, family values, and state responsibility for the common good. Tracing the opportunities, constraints, and conflicts generated by using class struggle as the framework for gender mobilization-juxtaposing this with the liberal tradition where gender and race are more typically framed as similar-Ferree reveals how German feminists developed strategies and movement priorities quite different from those in the United States.

Full Product Details

9780804757591

Table of Contents

Reviews

[Ferree's] clear, dispassionate, and deeply researched analytical history doubles as a comparative study of modern social policies . . . Recommended. --E. A. Danto, Choice <br> Breaking new ground in the study of comparative feminisms, this beautifully written and engaging book situates feminist activism in relation to changing gender regimes and gender orders within Germany, the US, the EU, and the UN system itself. Ferree's astute analyses of grassroots mobilizations, cultural production, NGOization, state feminism, gender mainstreaming, and supranational negotiation guarantee that this book will become a feminist classic. --Mary Hawkesworth, Rutgers University

Varieties of Feminism is both a magisterial history of the German women's movement and a provocative rethinking of feminism in its different national and global incarnations. Challenging the theoretical dominance of the U.S. model of feminism, Ferree brilliantly argues that developments in Germany provide a better guide to the future trajectory of women's struggles around the world. --Leila J. Rupp, University of California, Santa Barbara, author of Worlds of Women: The Making of an International Women's Movement

. . . a rare book that introduces a subject to uninitiated readers even as it lays out new avenues for scholarly research. -- Stephen Milder, German History One of the achievements of Myra Marx Ferree's brilliant tour d'horizon of German gender politics is that she dispels all monolithic notions of German feminism. Instead, she carefully dissects the push and pull factors that move German women and their practices since 1848, putting special emphasis on the postwar period since the 1950s . . . [ Varieties of Feminism ] is a convincingly argued, densely documented, and beautifully written analysis that explores the varieties of feminism within Germany and contrasts them to others, particularly to liberal feminist approaches in the United States. --Sabine Lang, Reviews and Critical Commentary

Author Information

Myra Marx Ferree is the Alice H. Cook Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her most recent books include Global Feminism: Transnational Women's Activism, Organizing, and Human Rights (2006) and Shaping Abortion Discourse: Democracy and the Public Sphere in Germany and the United States (2003).

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available