Barbara Ehrenreich
Barbara Ehrenreich (icon; born August 26, 1941,
Butte, MontanaButte is a city in Montana and the county seat of Silver Bow County, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. As of the 2010 census, Butte's population was 34,200...
is an American feminist,
democratic socialistDemocratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
, and
political activistActivism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
who describes herself as "a myth buster by trade," and has been called "a veteran muckraker" by the New Yorker. During the 1980s and early 1990s she was a prominent figure in the
Democratic Socialists of AmericaDemocratic Socialists of America is a social-democratic organization in the United States and the U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International, an international federation of social-democratic,democratic socialist and labor political parties and organizations.DSA was formed in 1982 by a merger of...
. She is a widely-read and award-winning
columnistA columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
and essayist, and author of 21 books.
Early life
Ehrenreich was born Barbara Alexander to Isabelle Oxley and Ben Howes Alexander in Butte, Montana, which she describes as then being "a bustling, brawling, blue collar mining town."
In an interview on CSPAN, she characterized her parents as "strong union people" with two family rules: "never cross a picket line and never vote Republican." In a talk she gave in 1999, Ehrenreich called herself a "fourth-generation atheist."
"As a little girl," she told the New York Times in 1993, "I would go to school and have to decide if my parents were the evil people they were talking about, part of the Red Menace we read about in the Weekly Reader. Just because my mother was a liberal Democrat who would always talk about racial injustice."
Her father was a copper miner who went to the
Montana State School of MinesMontana Tech is a university located in Butte, Montana. It was founded in 1900, originally as Montana State School of Mines with two degrees, Mining Engineering and Electrical Engineering. The "M" on Big Butte overlooking the city stands for Miners and was built in 1910...
(now part of the University of Montana), and then to
Carnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
. He eventually became a senior executive at the Gillette Corporation. Her parents later divorced.
Ehrenreich studied chemistry at
Reed CollegeReed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
, graduating in 1963. Her senior thesis was entitled Electrochemical oscillations of the silicon anode. In 1968, she received a
Ph.DDoctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in cellular biology from
Rockefeller UniversityThe Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
.
In 1970, Ehrenreich gave birth to her daughter Rosa in a public clinic in New York. "I was the only white patient at the clinic," she told the Globe and Mail newspaper in 1987. "They induced my labor because it was late in the evening and the doctor wanted to go home. I was enraged. The experience made me a feminist."
Career
After completing her doctorate, Ehrenreich did not pursue a career in science. Instead, she worked first as an analyst, with the Bureau of the Budget in New York City and the Health Policy Advisory Center, and later as an assistant professor at the
State University of New YorkThe State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
. In 1972, Ehrenreich began co-teaching a course on women and health with feminist journalist and academic
Deirdre EnglishDeirdre English is the former editor of Mother Jones and author of numerous articles for national publications and television documentaries. Currently, she teaches at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a faculty mentor at the Center for the Study of...
. Through the rest of the seventies, Ehrenreich worked mostly in health-related research, advocacy and activism, including co-writing, with English, several feminist books and pamphlets on the history and politics of women's health. During this period, she began speaking frequently at conferences staged by women's health centers and women's groups, universities, and the United States government. She also spoke regularly about socialist feminism and feminism in general.
Throughout her career, Ehrenreich has worked as a freelance writer, and she is best known for her non-fiction reportage, book reviews and social commentary. Her reviews have appeared in '
The New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
,
The Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
,
The Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
,
Mother JonesMother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
,
The NationThe Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
,
The New RepublicThe magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, the
Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
Book Review supplement,
VogueVogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
,
Salon.comSalon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
,
TV GuideTV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
,
MirabellaMirabella was a women's magazine published from 1989 to 2000. It was created by and named for Grace Mirabella, a former Vogue editor in chief....
and American Film]]. Her essays, op-eds and feature articles have appeared in
Harper's MagazineHarper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
,
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
,
The New York Times MagazineThe New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
,
TimeTime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
,
The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
,
LifeLife generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
, Mother Jones, Ms., The Nation, The New Republic, the
New StatesmanNew Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
,
In These TimesIn These Times is a politically progressive monthly magazine of news and opinion published by the Institute for Public Affairs in Chicago...
,
The ProgressiveThe Progressive is an American monthly magazine of politics, culture and progressivism with a pronounced liberal perspective on some issues. Known for its pacifism, it has strongly opposed military interventions, such as the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The magazine also devotes much coverage...
, Working Woman, and Z magazine.
Ehrenreich is perhaps best known for her 2001 book
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in AmericaNickel and Dimed: On Getting By in America is a book written by Barbara Ehrenreich. Written from the perspective of the undercover journalist, it sets out to investigate the impact of the 1996 welfare reform act on the "working poor" in the United States...
. A memoir of Ehrenreich's three month experiment surviving on minimum wage as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide, and Wal-Mart clerk, it was described by
NewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine as "jarring" and "full of riveting grit", and by
The New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
as an "exposé" putting "human flesh on the bones of such abstractions as "living wage" and "affordable housing.""
Ehrenreich has served as founder, advisor or board member to a number of organizations including the U.S.
National Women's Health NetworkThe National Women's Health Network is a non-profit women's health advocacy organization located in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1975 by Barbara Seaman, Alice Wolfson, Belita Cowan, Mary Howell, M.D., and Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D. The stated mission of the organization is to give women a...
, the National Abortion Rights Action League, the National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse, the Nationwide Women's Program of the
American Friends Service CommitteeThe American Friends Service Committee is a Religious Society of Friends affiliated organization which works for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world...
, the Brooklyn-based Association for Union Democracy, political activist
Robert BoehmRobert Boehm was an American political activist. Boehm was a 1935 graduate of Dartmouth College and a 1939 graduate of Columbia University Law School. The son of an attorney, he married his father's secretary, Frances Rozran; Frances Boehm died on February 14, 2006...
's Boehm Foundation, the anti-poverty group Women's Committee of 100, the
National Writers UnionNational Writers Union , founded on November 19, 1981, is the trade union in the United States for freelance and contract writers: journalists, book and short fiction authors, business and technical writers, web content providers, and poets...
, The Progressive magazine's Progressive Media Project, the
Fairness and Accuracy In ReportingFairness & Accuracy In Reporting is a progressive media criticism organization based in New York City, founded in 1986.FAIR describes itself on its website as "the national media watch group" and defines its mission as working to "invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity...
(FAIR) advisory committee on women in the media, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, the
Center for Popular EconomicsThe Center for Popular Economics ,founded in 1978, is a non-profit collective of over 60 progressive economists that works to promote economic justice and sustainability through civic education, economic de-mystification and by bridging the academic-community divide...
, and the
Campaign for America's FutureCampaign for America's Future is an American political organization with a strongly progressive orientation. Its main issues of concern include the environment, energy independence, health care reform, Social Security, and education...
.
Between 1979 and 1981, she served as an adjunct associate professor at
New York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and as a visiting professor at the
University of MissouriThe University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
at Columbia and at Sangamon State University. She lectured at the
University of CaliforniaThe University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
at Santa Barbara, was a writer-in-residence at
Ohio State UniversityThe Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
,
Wayne MorseWayne Lyman Morse was a politician and attorney from Oregon, United States, known for his proclivity for opposing his parties' leadership, and specifically for his opposition to the Vietnam War on constitutional grounds....
chair at the
University of Oregon-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
, a teaching fellow at the graduate school of journalism at the University of California at Berkeley. She has been a fellow at the
New York Institute for the HumanitiesThe New York Institute for the Humanities is an academic organisation affiliated with New York University, founded by Richard Sennett in 1976 to promote the exchange of ideas between academics, professionals and the general public. The NYIH regularly holds seminars open to the public, as well as...
, the
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial FoundationThe John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died April 26, 1922...
, the
Institute for Policy StudiesInstitute for Policy Studies is a left-wing think tank based in Washington, D.C..It has been directed by John Cavanagh since 1998- History :...
, and the New York-based Society of American Historians.
In 2006, Ehrenreich founded United Professionals, an organization described as "a nonprofit, non-partisan membership organization for
white-collar workerThe term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
s, regardless of profession or employment status. We reach out to all unemployed, underemployed, and anxiously employed workers — people who bought the American dream that education and credentials could lead to a secure middle class life, but now find their lives disrupted by forces beyond their control."
Ehrenreich is currently an honorary co-chair of the
Democratic Socialists of AmericaDemocratic Socialists of America is a social-democratic organization in the United States and the U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International, an international federation of social-democratic,democratic socialist and labor political parties and organizations.DSA was formed in 1982 by a merger of...
. She also serves on the NORML Board of Directors, the
Institute for Policy StudiesInstitute for Policy Studies is a left-wing think tank based in Washington, D.C..It has been directed by John Cavanagh since 1998- History :...
Board of Trustees and The Nations Editorial Board. She has served on the editorial boards of
Social PolicySocial Policy is a quarterly magazine focused on labor and community organizing around the world. Its contributors are a mixture of academics, activists, leaders, and organizers....
', Ms., Mother Jones,
Seven DaysSeven Days is a science fiction television series based on the premise of time travel. It was produced by UPN from 1998 to 2001.The television channel Sleuth started syndicating all of the episodes as of August 2, 2009....
, Lear's,
The New PressThe New Press is a not-for-profit, United States-based publishing house that operates in the public interest. It was established in 1990 as an alternative to large commercial publishers, and is supported financially by various foundations, groups and corporations including the Ford Foundation, the...
, and Culturefront and as a contributing editor to Harper's.
Awards
In 1980, Ehrenreich shared the
National Magazine AwardThe National Magazine Awards are a series of US awards that honor excellence in the magazine industry. They are administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City...
for excellence in reporting with colleagues at Mother Jones magazine for the cover story The Corporate Crime of the Century, about "what happens after the U.S. government forces a dangerous drug, pesticide or other product off the domestic market, then the manufacturer sells that same product, frequently with the direct support of the State Department, throughout the rest of the world."
In 1998, she was named "Humanist of the Year" by the
American Humanist AssociationThe American Humanist Association is an educational organization in the United States that advances Humanism. "Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism and other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that...
.
In 2000, she received the
Sidney HillmanSidney Hillman was an American labor leader. Head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, he was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor's support for Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Democratic Party.-Early years:Sidney Hillman was...
Award for journalism for the Harper's article "Nickel and Dimed," which was later published as a chapter in her book of the same title.
In 2002, she won a National Magazine Award for her essay "Welcome to Cancerland: A mammogram leads to a cult of pink kitsch," which describes Ehrenreich's own experience of being diagnosed with breast cancer, and describes what she calls the "breast cancer cult," which "serves as an accomplice in global poisoning -- normalizing cancer, prettying it up, even presenting it, perversely, as a positive and enviable experience."
In 2004, she received the
Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative CitizenshipThe Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship is an American award citation given jointly by the Nation Institute and the Puffin Foundation. The annual $100,000 award honors artists and others for “socially responsible work” and challenges to authority...
, awarded jointly by the Puffin Foundation of New Jersey and The Nation Institute to an American who challenges the status quo “through distinctive, courageous, imaginative, socially responsible work of significance.”
In 2007, she received the Franklin Delano Roosevelt "Freedom from Want" Medal, awarded by the Roosevelt Institute in celebration of "those whose life's work embodies FDR's Four Freedoms."
Ehrenreich has received a
Ford FoundationThe Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
award for humanistic perspectives on contemporary society (1982), a
Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
(1987–88) and a grant for research and writing from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (1995). She has received honorary degrees from Reed College, the State University of New York at Old Westbury, the College of Wooster in Ohio, John Jay College, UMass-Lowell and La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.
Personal life and family
Ehrenreich has one brother, Benjamin Jr., and one sister, Diane.
When Ehrenreich was 35, according to the book
Always Too Soon: Voices of Support for Those Who Have Lost Both Parents, her mother died "from a likely suicide." Her father died years later from Alzheimer's disease.
She has been married and divorced twice. She met her first husband, John Ehrenreich, during an
anti-war activismA peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war , minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace...
campaign in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and they married in 1966. He is a clinical psychologist, and they co-wrote several books about health policy and labor issues before divorcing in 1977. In 1983 she married Gary Stevenson, a
unionA trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
organizer for the Teamsters. She divorced Stevenson in 1993.
Ehrenreich has two children.
RosaRosa Brooks is a law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. From April 2009 to June 2011, she served as Counselor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Michele Flournoy, and in May 2010 she also became Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and then Special Coordinator for Rule...
(now Rosa Brooks), born in 1970, was named after
Rosa ParksRosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement"....
and Polish-German Marxist
Rosa LuxemburgRosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...
, as well as a great-grandmother. She is a Virginia-based columnist, expert on human rights and law of war issues, and a foreign policy commentator.
BenjaminBen Ehrenreich is an American freelance journalist and novelist who lives in Los Angeles. Ehrenreich began working as a journalist in the alternative press in the late 1990s, publishing extensively in LA Weekly and the Village Voice...
was born in 1972 and is a journalist and novelist in Los Angeles.
Filling in for a vacationing Thomas Friedman as a columnist with the New York Times in 2004, Ehrenreich wrote about how, in the fight for women's reproductive rights, "it's the women who shrink from acknowledging their own abortions who really irk me," and said that she herself "had two abortions during my all-too-fertile years." In her 1990 book of essays The Worst Years of Our Lives, she wrote that "the one regret I have about my own abortions is that they cost money that might otherwise have been spent on something more pleasurable, like taking the kids to movies and theme parks."
Ehrenreich was diagnosed with
breast cancerBreast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
shortly after the release of her book
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in AmericaNickel and Dimed: On Getting By in America is a book written by Barbara Ehrenreich. Written from the perspective of the undercover journalist, it sets out to investigate the impact of the 1996 welfare reform act on the "working poor" in the United States...
. This resulted in the award-winning article "Welcome to Cancerland," published in the November 2001 issue of
Harper's MagazineHarper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
.
In 2000 Ehrenreich endorsed the
Presidential campaign of Ralph NaderRalph Nader ran in the 2000 United States presidential election as the nominee of the Green Party. He was also nominated by the Vermont Progressive Party and the United Citizens Party of South Carolina...
. In February 2008, Ehrenreich expressed support for Senator
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
in the
2008 U.S. presidential campaignThe United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
,
Ehrenreich lives in Florida.
Books
Non-fiction
- The Uptake, Storage, and Intracellular Hydrolysis of Carbohydrates by Macrophages (with Zanvil A. Cohn
Zanvil Alexander Cohn a cell biologist and immunologist was a professor at Rockefeller University. There Cohn had been the Henry G. Kunkel Professor for seven years. Cohn was senior physician at the university as well as vice president for medical affairs...
) (1969)
- Long March, Short Spring: The Student Uprising at Home and Abroad (with John Ehrenreich) (1969)
- The American Health Empire: Power, Profits, and Politics (with John Ehrenreich and Health PAC) (1971)
- Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers (with Deirdre English
Deirdre English is the former editor of Mother Jones and author of numerous articles for national publications and television documentaries. Currently, she teaches at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a faculty mentor at the Center for the Study of...
) (1972)
- Complaints and Disorders: The Sexual Politics of Sickness (with Deirdre English) (1973)
- For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of the Experts' Advice to Women (with Deirdre English) (1978)
- Women in the Global Factory (1983)
- Re-Making Love: The Feminization of Sex (with Elizabeth Hess and Gloria Jacobs) (1986)
- The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment (1983)
- The Mean Season (with Fred L. Block
Fred L. Block is an American sociologist, and Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Davis. Block is widely regarded as one the world’s leading economic and political sociologists...
, Richard A. Cloward, and Frances Fox PivenFrances Fox Piven is an American professor of political science and sociology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, where she has taught since 1982.-Life and education:...
) (1987)
- Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class (1989)
- The Worst Years of Our Lives: Irreverent Notes from a Decade of Greed (1990)
- Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War (1997)
- The Snarling Citizen: Essays (1995)
- Nickel and Dimed
Nickel and Dimed: On Getting By in America is a book written by Barbara Ehrenreich. Written from the perspective of the undercover journalist, it sets out to investigate the impact of the 1996 welfare reform act on the "working poor" in the United States...
: On (Not) Getting By In America (2001)
- Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy (ed., with Arlie Hochschild) (2003)
- Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream (2005)
- Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy
Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy is a book authored by Barbara Ehrenreich.The author coins the term "collective joy" to describe group events which involve music, synchronized movement, costumes, and a feeling of loss of self...
(2007)
- This Land Is Their Land: Reports From a Divided Nation (2008)
- Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America (2009). In the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
this book is called Smile Or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World 9 January 2010 Guardian/UK
Essays
- In Defense of Talk Shows (1995 [TIME Magazine, December 4, 1995])
- "The New Creationism: Biology Under Attack" The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, June 9, 1997.
- "How 'Natural' Is Rape? Despite a Daffy New Theory, It's Not Just a Guy in Touch with His Inner Caveman," Time
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, January 31, 2000.
- Welcome to Cancerland (2001 National Magazine Award
The National Magazine Awards are a series of US awards that honor excellence in the magazine industry. They are administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City...
finalist)
- A New Counterterrorism Strategy: Feminism (2005 [AlterNet])
- The Charge: Gynocide investigative journalism about the Dalkon Shield
The Dalkon Shield was a contraceptive intrauterine device developed by the Dalkon Corporation and marketed by the A.H. Robins Company. The Dalkon Shield was found to cause severe injury to a disproportionately large percentage of its users, which eventually led to numerous lawsuits in which...
in the third world. Mother JonesMother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
(http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1979/11/ehrenreich.html)
- Fight for Your Right to Party (2006 [TIME Magazine, December 18, 2006])
- My Unwitting Role in Acts of Torture February 22, 2009, Guardian/UK
- "Is It Now a Crime to Be Poor" August 9, 2009 "NYT"
- Barbara Ehrenreich: Are Women Getting Sadder? Or Are We All Just Getting a Lot More Gullible? October 13, 2009, Guernica
- Smile! You've got cancer January 2, 2010, Guardian/UK
- "Making Sense of La Difference" (1992 ["TIME" Magazine, 1992])
Translations
Dutch:
- Achterkant van de Amerikaanse droom (Nickel and Dimed), 2005
- Gouden Bergen (Bait and Switch), 2006
German:
- Die Herzen der Männer, 1984
- Hexen, Hebammen und Krankenschwestern, 1987
- Gesprengte Fesseln, 1988
- Angst vor dem Absturz, 1994
- Blutrituale, 1999
- Arbeit poor. Unterwegs in der Dienstleistungsgesellschaft, 2001
- Qualifiziert und arbeitslos: Eine Irrfahrt durch die Bewerbungswüste, 2006
- Smile or Die: Wie die Ideologie des positiven Denkens die Welt verdummt, 2010
Finnish:
- Nälkäpalkalla (Nickel and Dimed), 2003
- Petetty keskiluokka (Bait and Switch), 2006
French:
- L'Amérique pauvre: Comment ne pas survivre en travaillant, 2005
Hebrew:
- נשים בקו-הייצור העולמי, 1987.
- כלכלה בגרוש: איך (לא) להצליח באמריקה, 2004.
- האישה הגלובלית: מטפלות, עוזרות ועובדות מין בכלכלה החדשה, 2006.
Italian:
Japanese:
- われらの生涯の最悪の年 / バーバラ・エーレンライク 著 ; 中村輝子 訳. -- 晶文社, 1992.
- 「中流」という階級 / バーバラ・エーレンライク著 ; 中江桂子訳. -- 晶文社, 1995
- ニッケル・アンド・ダイムド : アメリカ下流社会の現実 / バーバラ・エーレンライク著 ; 曽田和子訳. -- 東洋経済新報社, 2006
- 捨てられるホワイトカラー : 格差社会アメリカで仕事を探すということ / バーバラ・エーレンライク著 ; 曽田和子訳. -- 東洋経済新報社, 2007
Korean:
- 빈곤의 경제 (Nickel and Dimed), 2002
Norwegian:
- Kjøpt og underbetalt : om (ikke) å klare seg i Amerika (Nickel and Dimed), 2003
- Lokket og lurt : på (forgjeves) jakt etter den amerikanske drømmen (Bait and Switch), 2006
- Livets lyse sider (Bright-sided), 2010
Portuguese:
- Ritos de Sangue: Um estudo sobre as origens da guerra, 2000
- Salário de Pobreza: Como (não) sobreviver na América, 2004
Spanish:
- Por cuatro duros: Cómo (no) apañárselas en Estados Unidos, 2003
- Sonríe o muere, 2010
Swedish:
- Det manliga hjärtat: revolten mot försörjarrollen, 1984
- Barskrapad: konsten att hanka sig fram, 2002
- Gilla läget: Hur allt gick åt helvete med positivt tänkande, 2010
Thai:
- คำให้การของคนเปื้อนเหงื่อ (Nickel and Dimed), 2006
Traditional Chinese:
- "M型社會白領的新試煉"("Bait and Switch"), Translator: 林淑媛, 時報出版, 2007
- "我在底層的生活:當專欄作家化身為女服務生"("Nickel and Dimed"), Translator: 林家瑄, 左岸文化, 2010
External links
- Official website
- Barbara Ehrenreich's blog
- Articles by Barbara Ehrenreich on Alternet
- Booknotes interview with Ehrenreich on Fear of Falling, October 8, 1989.
- VIDEO: Barbara Ehrenreich - This Land Is Their Land: Reports From a Divided Nation, July 16, 2008
- Author Barbara Ehrenreich on Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America
- Bait and Switch book discussion at Books Inc., September 2006
- Bright Sided discussion on the American frame of mind at The Commonwealth Club
This article concerns the historic Virginia building. For other places called "Commonwealth Club", see Commonwealth Club.The Commonwealth Club, is a private gentlemen's club in Richmond, Virginia, USA. Its present clubhouse was completed in 1891. The defining structure of the Commonwealth Club...
, October 2009
- Smile or Die: The Tyranny of Positive Thinking talk at The RSA, February 2010