Barbara Ehrenreich (born
August 26, 1941, in
Butte,
Montana
) is an American feminist,
democratic socialist, pop
sociologist and political activist, a prominent figure in the
Democratic Socialists
of America. She is a widely read
columnist and
essayist,
and the author of nearly 20 books.
Biography
Ehrenreich was born
Barbara Alexander to Isabelle
Oxley and Ben Alexander.
Her father was a copper miner who went on to study at Carnegie Mellon
University
and who eventually became an executive at the
Gillette Corporation.
Ehrenreich
studied physics at Reed
College
, graduating in 1963. Her senior thesis was
entitled
Electrochemical oscillations of the silicon
anode.
In 1968, she received a Ph.D in cell
biology from Rockefeller University
.
Citing her interest in
social change,
she opted for political
activism instead of
pursuing a scientific career.
She met her first husband, John Ehrenreich,
during an anti-war activism campaign
in New York
City
.
In 1970, her first child,
Rosa (now Rosa
Brooks), was born. Her second child,
Benjamin, was born in 1972. Barbara and John
divorced and in 1983 she married Gary Stevenson, a warehouse
employee who later became a
union
organizer. She divorced Stevenson in the early 1990s.
From 1991 to 1997, Ehrenreich was a regular columnist for
Time magazine. Currently,
she contributes regularly to
The
Progressive. Ehrenreich has also written for the
New York Times,
Mother Jones,
The Atlantic Monthly,
Ms,
The
New Republic,
Z
Magazine,
In These
Times,
Salon.com, and other
publications.
In 1998, the
American
Humanist Association named her the Humanist of the Year.
In 1998
and 2000, she taught essay writing at the
Graduate School of Journalism
at the University of
California, Berkeley
.
In 2004, Ehrenreich wrote a month-long guest column for the
New York Times while regular
columnist
Thomas Friedman was on
leave and she was invited to stay on as a columnist. She declined,
saying that she preferred to spend her time more on long-term
activities, such as book-writing.
Ehrenreich was diagnosed with
breast
cancer shortly after the release of her book,
Nickel and
Dimed: On Getting By in America. In her article "Welcome
to Cancerland," published in the November 2001 issue of
Harper's Magazine, she
describes her breast cancer experience and debates the medical
industry's problems with the issue of breast cancer.
In 2006, Ehrenreich founded United Professionals, an organization
described as "a nonprofit, non-partisan membership organization for
white-collar workers, 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
America. She also serves on the
NORML
Board of Directors and
The
Nation's Editorial Board.
In 2000 Ehrenreich endorsed the
Presidential campaign of
Ralph Nader. In February 2008, Ehrenreich expressed support for
Senator
Barack Obama in the
2008 U.S. presidential
campaign .
Books
Non-fiction
- The Uptake, Storage, and Intracellular Hydrolysis of
Carbohydrates by Macrophages (with Zanvil Cohn) (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)
(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, Richard A. Cloward, and Frances Fox Piven) (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: 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 (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)
Fiction
Essays
- In Defense of Talk Shows (1995 [TIME
Magazine, December 4, 1995])
- " How 'Natural' Is Rape? Despite a Daffy New Theory, It's Not Just a Guy in
Touch with His Inner Caveman," Time, January 31, 2000.
- Welcome to Cancerland (2001 National Magazine Award
finalist)
- A New Counterterrorism Strategy: Feminism (2005
[AlterNet])
- The Charge: Gynocide investigative journalism about
the Dalkon Shield in the third world.
Mother Jones
([28972])
- Fight for Your Right to Party (2006 [TIME
Magazine, December 18, 2006])
- My Unwitting Role in Acts of Torture February
22, 2009, Guardian/UK
- Barbara Ehrenreich: Are Women Getting
Sadder? Or Are We All Just Getting a Lot More
Gullible? October 13, 2009, Guernica
Translations
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
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:
Spanish:
- Por cuatro duros: Cómo (no) apañárselas en Estados
Unidos, 2003
Swedish:
- Det manliga hjärtat: revolten mot försörjarrollen,
1984
- Barskrapad: konsten att hanka sig fram, 2002
Portuguese:
- Ritos de Sangue: Um estudo sobre as origens da guerra,
2000
- Salário de Pobreza: Como (não) sobreviver na América,
2004
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
Thai:
- คำให้การของคนเปื้อนเหงื่อ (Nickel and Dimed),
2006
References
External links