Abstract
Social movements come into being and persist when individuals and groups perceive contradictions and inequalities in the larger social order. As a broad social movement that evolved to address gender and other social inequalities, feminism has persisted in many forms throughout modern history (Taylor, 1989). As American feminists struggle collectively to reform and transform the social institutions through which their lives are encoded, questions have been raised about the continuing vitality and commitment of this movement. Has feminist activism become diluted and ineffectual, or are we witnessing a gradual transformation of the movement into multiple channels that defy simplistic conceptions of advocacy? We explore these issues of social activism in the narratives of a sample of 77 feminist psychologists who teach in three academic contexts: women’s colleges, co-educational colleges, and universities. Their responses to a lengthy interview and questionnaire illuminate the questions we asked and extend our understanding of feminist advocacy well beyond the simple statement of one respondent that “I don’t march...”
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Astin, H.S & Leland, C. (1991). Women of influence women of vision: A cross generational study of leaders and social change. San Francisco: JosseyBass.
Branscombe, N. R. & Deaux, K. (1991). Feminist attitude accessibility and behavioral intentions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 15, 411–418.
Daniels, A.K. (1991). Careers in feminism. Gender and Society, 5, 583–607.
Eagly, F. (June, 1993 ). The science and politics of comparing women and men. Invited address at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Soci-ety, Chicago.
Faludi, S. (1992). Backlash. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Hyde, J. (Spring, 1994 ). The little things. Psychology of Women Newsletter, 21 (2), 1–2.
Kahn, A. S. & Yoder, J. D. (1989). The psychology of women and conservatism. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 13, 417–432.
Kmeic, J., Crosby, F.J. & Worell, J. (In press). Walking the talk: On stage and behind the scenes. In K. Wyche and F. Crosby (Eds.), Women and ethnicity: Journeys through psychology. Boulder, Co: Westview.
Lalonde, R.N. & Cameron, J.E. (1994). Behavioral responses to discrimination: A focus on action. In M.P. Zanna and J.M. Olson (Eds.), The psychology of preludice: The Ontario Symposium (Vol. 7, pp. 257–288 ). Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Lormier, L. (April 7, 1991 ). They are the best places. The Boston Sunday Globe, 1991, BIM, B4.
Reinhardy, L. (October, 1992 ). Feminist teaching: An outline and resource guide. Presented at the AAUW/Mills College conference, “Taking the Lead and Balancing the Educational Equation: Issues of Equity and Diversity for Women and Girls.” Oakland, CA.
Stake, J.E. & Gerner, M.A. (1987). The women’s studies experience: Personal and professional gains for women and men. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11, 277-283.
Taylor, V. (1989). The future of feminism: A social movement analysis. In L. Richardson and V. Taylor (Eds.), Feminist frontiers I I: Rethinking sex, gender, and society. New York: Random House.
Worell, J. (1991, March). The psychology of women vs. feminist psychology. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Southeastern Psychologi-cal Association, as part of a symposium titled: How can we make the psychology of women more relevant to social change?, Arnie Kahn, Chair.
Worell, J., & Remer, P. (1992). Feminist perspectives in therapy: An empowerment model for women. Chichester: Wiley.
Worell, J. & Robinson, D. (1993). Feminist counseling for the 21st century. The Counseling Psychologist, 21 (1), pp. 92–96.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Crosby, F.J., Todd, J., Worell, J. (1996). Have Feminists Abandoned Social Activism? Voices from the Academy. In: Montada, L., Lerner, M.J. (eds) Current Societal Concerns about Justice. Critical Issues in Social Justice. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9927-9_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9927-9_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9929-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9927-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive