Community Activism and Feminist Politics

Nancy A. Naples is Assistant Professor of Sociology andWomen's Studies at the University of California, Irvine.

"The work is consciously modeled in order to foreground each researcher's standpoint and the consequent diverse yet central positions that are taken in order to explore the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, and region in women's political consciousness and practice. This plentitude acknowledges how women can network to bring to fruition sociocultural change, and how they can builld more caring communities in the process. The editor, Nancy A. Naples, concludes this excellent, informative collection by discussing her work . . . Her ideas and text should be cherished by teachers across borders and boundaries." -- Helen Johnson, Feminist Teacher"Community Activism and Feminist Politics is a fascinating and impressive collection of scholarship on women's efforts to secure some measure of social and economic justice...a compelling blend of theory and practice through a feminist lens...This book is a testament to the hard fought struggles for justice by "everyday" women." -- Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare"Community Activism and Feminist Politics is proof that progressive, exciting, rigorous feminist social science is alive and well, as are the continuing and often successful everyday efforts of women to better their communities. This book offers researchers, students, and activists rich, textured analyses of case studies drawn from diverse examples of community-based activism in the US over the last several decades. Naples promises and delivers a collection that bridges feminist and social movement theory with the very real and complex challenges facing activists struggling for social justice and economic security. For those many of us deeply troubled by growing racial and class polarization, continuing gender inequality, and a politics that has moved steadily rightward, the vision and examples of progressive, activist research in this book are analytically astute and a wellspring of inspiration." -- Sandra Morgen, Center for the Study of Women in Society and Sociology, Oregon University"[Community Activism is an] an enormously valuable contribution to the project of understanding women's political work." -- SIGNS Winter 2001

• Nancy A. Naples -- Introduction: Women's Community Activism and Feminist Activist ResearchPART I CHALLENGING CATEGORIES AND FRAMEWORKSChapter 1. Sherna Berger Gluck with Maylei Blackwell, Sharon Cotrell and Karen S. Harper -- Whose Feminism, Whose History? Reflections on Excavating the History of (the) US Women's Movement(s)Chapter 2. Verta Taylor and Leila J. Rupp -- Women's Culture and Lesbian Feminist Activism: A Reconsideration of Cultural FeminismChapter 3. Judith Wittner -- Reconceptualizing Agency in Domestic Violence CourtPART II TRANSFORMING POLITICSChapter 4. Susan Parkison Stern -- Conversation, Research, and Struggles over Schooling in an African American CommunityChapter 5. Celene Krauss -- Challenging Power: Toxic Waste Protests and the Politicization of White, Working-Class Women Chapter 6. Karen Kendrick -- Producing the Battered Woman: Shelter Politics and the Power of the Feminist Voice Chapter 7. Lisa Sun-Hee Park -- Navigating the Anti-Immigrant Wave: The Korean Women's Hotline and the Politics of Community PART III NETWORKING FOR CHANGE Chapter 8. Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo -- Latina Immigrant Women and Paid Domestic Work: Upgrading the Occupation Chapter 9. Virginia Rinaldo Seitz -- Class, Gender, and Resistance in the Appalachian Coalfields Chapter 10. Carolyn Howe -- Gender, Race, and Community Activism: Competing Strategies in the Struggle for Public Education PART IV CONSTRUCTING COMMUNITY Chapter 11. Roberta M. Feldman, Susan Stall and Patrica A. Wright -- The Community Needs to be Built by Us: Women Organizing in Chicago Public Housing Chapter 12. Mary Pardo -- Creating Community: Mexican American Women in Eastside Los Angeles Chapter 13. Sharon Bays -- Work, Politics, and Coalition Building: Hmong Women's Activism in a Central California Town Chapter 14. Nancy A. Naples -- Women's Community Activism: Exploring the Dynamics of Politicization and Diversity