Editor's Note

Difference and similarity, peace and war, containment and revolution, nationalism and internationalism--these are the not-necessarily-opposite phenomena with which this issue grapples. We offer here an unusual variety of formats. First comes a contribution by Sylvia Hoffert to "Theoretical Issues" that, in contrast to so much recent scholarship on diversity and difference among women, focuses on similarities and linkages. Next are two rather extensive "Dialogues" (or what associate editor Claire Robertson, with inventive grammatical revision, calls "Multilogues"). The first, by a group of scholars located in Germany, investigates peace activism through case studies of individual women pacifists. Jennifer Davy introduces the special section, and Ute Kätzel, Regina Braker, and Gisela Notz consider how, in a society permeated with militarism, German women activists carved out ways to think about and work for peace. Here ideological emphasis on differences between women and men, rather than among women, played a central role.

Our second "Dialogue" is both a tribute to a scholarly life cut short and an analysis of the contradictions of American culture in the aftermath of the Second World War. Jane Levey's analysis of the undercurrents in popular culture inspires brief responses from a number of scholars whose work she cites. Ambivalence, tension, anxiety, ambiguity, contestation, resistance--these are terms that dominate the responses, terms that diverge sharply from the traditional portrayal of the United States in the Cold War era. Levey is not, of course, the first to revise this image, but this dialogue draws together the critiques that are emerging from a whole range of perspectives.

Leah Vosko and David Witwer's article on women teamsters in the United States also deals with the postwar years. Spotlighting a different group of women than those portrayed in the books Levey considered, Vosko and Witwer analyze the impact of the war and explore how women utilized this powerful union in their struggle for equal treatment.

In "Getting to the Source," Robert Nemes introduces and translates a fascinating document from Hungary. Extending our understanding of the international reach of women's rights activism in the mid-nineteenth century, "Demands of the Radical Hungarian Women" also contributes to the analysis of the relationship of nationalism and feminism. We include the original Hungarian here not because we think our Hungarian-readers are numerous, but in the interests of making accessible a valuable primary document and, in addition, as a reminder of the privilege of those of us whose mother tongues are commonly used languages, particularly English.

We round out this issue with review essays on international and comparative feminisms by Bonnie Smith, science and sexuality by Sharon Ullman, and gender and ethnicity by Evelyn Hu-DeHart. With such a full issue, we could not include our usual abstracts of books, but they will return next time.

I would also like to acknowledge two additions to our staff page. Birgitte Søland, associate editor, has taken on the position of book review editor, and I look forward to her energy, enthusiasm, and fresh ideas. Charlotte Weber, who is writing her dissertation on the interactions between western and Middle Eastern women in the international women's movement in the first half of the twentieth century, has joined the staff of managing editors. We welcome her expertise in Middle Eastern history and her knowledge of Arabic.

With such helping hands, we look forward to continuing to expand the form and content of our offerings.

Leila J. Rupp
Editor

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