Linda Gordon, Author at ZNetwork

Linda Gordon

Linda Gordon, Professor of History at New York University and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin, has specialized in examining the historical roots of contemporary social policy debates, particularly as they concern gender and family issues.

Her first book, Woman's Body, Woman's Right: The History of Birth Control in America, published 1976 and still the definitive history of birth-control politics, was re-published in a fully revised edition as The Moral Property of Women in 2002. Her 1988 book, Heroes of Their Own Lives: The History and Politics of Family Violence, winner of the Joan Kelly prize of the American Historical Association, examined the history of family violence.

Gordon served on the Departments of Justice/Health and Human Services Advisory Council on Violence Against Women for the Clinton administration (a council abolished by the current administration). Her history of welfare, Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare (1994), won the Berkshire Prize and the Gustavus Myers Human Rights Award. Her most recent book, The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction (Harvard University Press, 1999), was the winner of the Bancroft prize for best book in American history and the Beveridge prize for best book on the history of the Western Hemisphere.

Why Women Have Been Essential To White Supremacy

By Linda Gordon, Jack Smith IV January 31, 2018 History

After women won the right to vote in 1920, the Klan quickly established themselves as the gatekeepers to this new, untapped swathe of the electorate

Two Film Reviews

By Linda Gordon, Michael Winship December 27, 2015 Free

Suffragette is the first film to depict a women’s movement with major Hollywood stars. And Gavron’s introduction, Skyped in at the preview, was superb, emphasizing global women’s struggles and class and race inequality as well as the historical fight for suffrage

The Programs of Neoliberal Feminism

By Linda GordonDecember 2, 2015 Economy

Neoliberalism isn’t just harmful economics. Here is a look at its gender side

‘Suffragette’ Foregrounds Working-Class Women

By Linda GordonNovember 29, 2015 Activism

A review of the movie “Suffragette”

The New Sanctuary Movement’s Accompaniment Program

By Linda GordonNovember 8, 2015 Activism

Accompaniment is a simple gesture, one human being offering a bit of support to another

The Pope, Patriarchy, and Saving the World

By Linda GordonOctober 9, 2015 Europe

People who care about preserving our world and ending violence need to keep demanding that the Catholic Church align itself with sex equality

Social Movements And Electoral Politics

By Linda GordonSeptember 18, 2015 Activism

To keep democratic politicians in office, social movements must counteract pressure from big money

The Charleston Killer: Was He Crazy Or Was He Racist?

By Linda GordonJuly 5, 2015 Featured

Don’t be taken in by a false choice; he was both

SayHerName: Police Killings of Black Women

By Linda GordonJune 1, 2015 Activism

Black Lives Matter protests have focused mainly on African American boys and men killed by police. Now the movement is growing, calling Americans to notice and recognize the many, many women

Police Killings And A New Civil Rights Movement

By Linda GordonMay 2, 2015 Activism

In Ferguson, Baltimore, Los Angeles, young women of color have emerged as leaders and strategists, offering a new kind of civil rights politics—one that incorporates feminism, gay and transgender rights, and an emphasis on building grassroots leadership