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Reviewed by:
  • No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women, and: Tidal Wave: How Women Changed America at Century's End, and: Feminism in the Heartland
  • Stephanie Gilmore (bio)
No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women by Estelle B. Freedman. New York: Ballantine Books, 2002, 464 pp., $26.00 hardcover.
Tidal Wave: How Women Changed America at Century's End by Sara M. Evans. New York: Free Press, 2003, 320 pp., $26.00 hardcover.
Feminism in the Heartland by Judith Ezekiel. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2002, 339 pp., $65.00 hardcover, $24.95 paper.

"Think globally, act locally" has been a popular refrain of 20th-century social activism. Environmentalists, peace and civil rights activists, and feminists have reminded us that we must pursue liberation, justice, and tolerance in our day-to-day lives in ways that reflect our place in, and commitment to, our global society. Through these three books on feminism— a history of feminism in theory and praxis worldwide, a critical assessment of second-wave feminism in the United States, and an analysis of radical feminism in the "heartland"—we have meaningful and important tools for conceptualizing, teaching, and historicizing feminism theoretically and practically. Together, they illustrate not only what feminism is and who feminists were and are, but also how feminists have articulated goals, strategized for social change, and devised tactics to meet their ends. They allow us to see how feminism has changed over time, not only in ways that bind us as a global community of feminists, differences and all, but also in ways that make sense only in particular locations.

No Turning Back offers the broadest perspective on feminism, taking into account the political, economic, and cultural forces that gave rise to feminism as well as the nuances of feminist expressions in a variety of places and times. The rise of feminism coincided with the rise of capitalism, which fundamentally changed family dynamics to enhance men's economic power, and with these shifts, emergent political theories of individual rights extended privileges to men exclusively. In response, feminist movements highlighted the unjustness of these disparities and sought the recognition of women's economic worth and political rights. As a result, feminism originated in Europe and North America after about 1800. Feminism, then, is inherently Western, but Estelle Freedman allows that elsewhere, "abundant forms of women's resistance to men's patriarchal authority predated Western democratic theories" (2) and thus "feminisms" is a more accurate term. [End Page 190]

Freedman offers one of the most useful definitions of feminism: "Feminism is a belief that women and men are inherently of equal worth. Because most societies privilege men as a group, social movements are necessary to achieve equality between women and men, with the understanding that gender always intersects with other social hierarchies" (7). She parses the definition, explaining each statement and important concept in a few paragraphs. The rest of the book marshals historical evidence to illustrate how feminists have acted on concepts of equal worth as they challenged male privilege through social activism.

With careful detail and general analysis, Freedman offers her viewpoint on the history of feminism. After outlining the power dynamics of gender prior to feminism, she turns to the "historical emergence of feminisms," exploring how women's labor, race, and location shaped feminism (###). Here, Freedman's well-honed historical skills shine, presenting a tremendous amount of information in a sophisticated and accessible way. For example, in "Race and the Politics of Identity in U.S. Feminism," she traces race relations in antislavery, suffrage, and women's rights activism. Freedman concludes this chapter with a discussion of the past and future of identity politics, which allows her to acknowledge how the lived realities of race and sex remain as powerful in contemporary U.S. society as in the past, while also suggesting that coalitions among feminists are also vital and important aspects of feminism worldwide (94).

For the next section Freedman presents an optimistic story of feminists finding common ground. She traces how Western colonialism claimed to bring enlightenment to "native" peoples but instead often and ignorantly engendered criticism and hatred of colonizing...

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