White political women : paths from privilege to empowerment /

Fowlkes's goal is to understand political women. As a self-identified feminist scholar and political scientist, she set out to challenge the conclusions drawn about women by her white male colleagues. She designed a study to learn how white middle-class political women understand their worlds and their places in them. To overcome misconceptions about the "universal woman" in American politics, Fowlkes interviewed 27 women who had been active in politics in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The subjects ranged in age from 79 to 22; they were engaged in electoral politics as Democratic or Republican party activists and/or officeholders, or participated in counter-culture political activities. Their stories, when studied together, dramatize white women's political development from a wide variety of white women's perspectives, ranging from radical feminism to racist, conservative antifeminism. As a result of the study, Fowlkes recommends further areas of investigation, including a study of politically active women of color. Extensive reference list and bibliography. Upper-division undergraduates and above. R. L. Ruben; Western Illinois University