Robin Leidner

Stretching the Boundaries of Liberalism: Democratic Innovation in a Feminist Organization

Bringing principles of sisterhood, solidarity, and empowerment into a world of political practice developed and justified by men often has led feminist organizations to create new democratic forms. Feminist theory (which until recently has rarely taken for inspiration the actual practice of feminist organizations), feminist practice, and democratic theory more broadly can all benefit from an analysis of specific feminist organizations, whose innovative forms have emerged incrementally from the practical and ideological demands of their feminist constituencies. Many feminist organizations formed since the late 1960s have attempted to devise organizational structures and procedures that are consistent with an ideology that is highly critical of elitism, hierarchy, or any form of oppressive inequality. Members of such groups are predisposed toward structural innovation, believing that new organizational forms must be developed that embody feminist values and encourage widespread participation. Such predispositions prevail in the National Womens Studies Association (NWSA), which differs from most feminist groups that have experimented

Who's Fit to be a Parent?@@@Mothers and Their Children: A Feminist Sociology of Childrearing.

Introduction PART ONE: CHILDREARING IN CONTEXT Childrearing, Psychology and Sociology The Feminist Study of Childrearing Individuals, Families and Children Friends and Relations PART TWO: PORTRAITS OF CHILDREARING IN FOUR MIDDLE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS Introduction to the Portraits Fitting Children into Adult Frameworks Fitting in around the Children Overview of the Portraits PART THREE: DEVELOPING THE PICTURES Conceptions of Children Childrearing Philosophies in Action Sociology and Childrearing Reconsidered Appendix: Further Details of the Sample