Feminist historian, co-host of Collegeland podcast, author of They Didn’t See Us Coming: The Hidden History of Feminism in the Nineties. She/her.
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Lisa Levenstein
You Can’t Defend a Nation When Soldiers Don’t Have Child Care Original
“Don’t send any money for day care,” President Trump told guests at a White House Easter luncheon. Instead, he said, more money was needed for the military, building the “warrior ethos,” free of “woke garbage,” that his secretary of defense has espoused. In Mr. Trump’s telling, the choice is binary: You can fund wars, or you can fund child care, but you can’t fund both. “We have to take care of one thing,” he said. “Military protection.” The armed services tried Mr. Trump’s model once before.
The Institutional Foundations of Free Speech at Public Universities
This is a web-friendly preview of the report. As political repression worsens, building resilient universities will require institutional creativity. In an era of eroding norms, exploitative settlements, tightly coordinated attacks on left-wing ideology, and the suppression and even detainment of student protestors, defending free speech demands thoughtful redesign rather than simple policy fixes. Public universities are not uniquely vulnerable to speech repression.
The Neoliberalization of Higher Education: Changes in State Funding and Governance Throughout the 20th Century
This is a web-friendly preview of the report. The Trump administration and its allies are attempting to dismantle much of the US higher education system and place the remainder under the control of right-wing ideologues. Even if they do not realize their greatest ambitions, they have already transformed the landscape of higher education at both the state and federal levels.
''Women adn rights: let's shine the light together'': the new awareness campaign promoted by Mondadori Retail
Mondadori Retail, the company managing the most extensive network of bookshops in Italy, kicks off its awareness campaign ‘Women and Rights, Let’s Shine a Light Together’. This series of initiatives and activities aims to raise awareness of equality and gender violence, while focusing on books as a tool for in-depth analysis and comparison. The events will take place from 5 to 18 March 2024.
Reading the fine print in North Carolina's new abortion law
In May, when Republicans passed new restrictions on abortion access, they assured North Carolinians that Senate Bill 20 was a “common-sense, reasonable” bill that provided “needed support for women and families” such as expanding access to birth control. House Speaker Tim Moore praised the bill for taking a “holistic” approach that included funding for health care, foster care, adoption, and contraception.
The Real Fight for Academic Freedom
The Real Fight for Academic Freedom If academics don't fight for their autonomy, who will? Read Full Article »
NOW and the Displaced Homemaker
What’s the economic value of housework? For a generation of middle-class women who raised families on their husbands’ income after World War II, the question wasn’t much asked. Many felt it didn’t need to be asked. Until it did.
Perspective | Virginia’s governor’s race may hinge on debates about public schools
If Republican business executive Glenn Youngkin prevails over former Democratic governor Terry McAuliffe in Virginia’s gubernatorial election Tuesday, his stance on public education may be partially responsible. Polls have suggested that Youngkin built momentum among White suburban swing voters by addressing an issue that is not typically front and center in state politics: the curriculum in Virginia’s public schools.
Academe | AAUP
In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, a group of scholars organized around a vision for a more equitable and sustainable future for higher education.
The forgotten origins of “Women’s Rights are Human Rights”
Without the ingenuity of feminists from the Global South and networks of committed activists on every continent, we would never have heard the phrase: “Women’s Rights are Human Rights.” When First Lady Hillary Clinton took the stage at the Beijing Women’s Conference of 1995, the world listened.
A True New Deal for Higher Education: How a Stimulus for Higher Ed Can Advance Progressive Policy Goals
In “A True New Deal for Higher Education,” Suzanne Kahn, Director of Roosevelt’s Education, Jobs and Worker Power Program; and Professors Jennifer Mittlstadt and Lisa Levenstein from Scholars for a New Deal in Higher Education argue that higher education institutions urgently need more federal funding. The CARES Act included $14 billion for higher education, the largest direct federal infusion of cash into colleges and universities since the Great Recession.
Q&A: The impacts of gender, race and COVID on this election
Q&A: The impacts of gender, race and COVID on this election Heather Brooks campaigns for her son, James Upchurch, outside of Smith Grove Baptist Church in Greensboro Tuesday.
In the 1990s, Feminism Found a New Ally: Computers
In 1995, over 30,000 activists from 200 countries traveled to Beijing, China to attend the NGO Forum of the Fourth World Conference on Women. At this United Nations-sponsored event, they spent 10 days grappling with problems facing women around the world, sharing strategies, and proposing solutions. Edie Farwell spent 18 hours a day at the forum without attending a panel or a plenary, joining the marches or visiting the themed tents.
Perspective | History shows that we can solve the child-care crisis — if we want to
As novel coronavirus cases rise, we are grappling with a growing child-care crisis. Heading into the fall, most public schools have announced their plans. In some places, students will only attend in-person classes intermittently. Elsewhere, schools will be entirely online. Others intend to fully resume in-person classes, despite growing alarm about the health risks. Meanwhile, day-care centers remain closed, are operating at a limited capacity or may permanently shut down due to the pandemic.
Feminism’s History of Online Organizing Laid Groundwork for Today's Activism
Of all social movements, feminism has one of the longest and most storied histories of online organizing— a history that activists of all kinds can draw on. (Marco Verch / Flickr) As progressive social movements seek to gear up for the November election, they face uncharted territory. The recent Black Lives Matter demonstrations build on years of dedicated community organizing that had encouraged people to analyze and resist systemic racism and injustices in every arena of life.
Perspective | With schools and daycare closed, the coronavirus is worsening women’s inequality
During the Great Depression, journalist Norman Cousins proposed a striking remedy for the unemployment crisis. Upon learning that the number of women who held jobs was nearly the same as the number of men who had lost jobs, he declared: “Fire the women, who shouldn’t be working anyway, and hire the men. Presto! No unemployment. No relief rolls. No depression.” What sounds shocking today did not seem nearly as far-fetched in the 1930s.
THEY DIDN'T SEE US COMING
by Ezra Klein ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 28, 2020 A sharp explanation of how American politics has become so discordant. Journalist Klein, co-founder of Vox, formerly of the Washington Post, MSNBC, and Bloomberg, reminds readers that political commentators in the 1950s and ’60s denounced Republicans and Democrats as “tweedledum and tweedledee.” With liberals and conservatives in both parties, they complained, voters lacked a true choice.
They Didn't See Us Coming
A Bitch Most Anticipated Book 2020 "A nuanced history of feminism since the 1990s. Grounding today's fourth-wave feminism in the context of earlier activism, Levenstein locates both mainstream and radical feminism within a broader historical framework, showing how young feminists...
Charlotte abortion protesters step over the line
Our government has a responsibility to protect people’s First Amendment right to assemble and peacefully protest. It is also incumbent on government to enforce people’s right to make their own decisions about their medical care. At A Preferred Women’s Health Center in east Charlotte, these two fundamental rights are clashing. Anti-choice protesters are harassing and obstructing people who attempt to perform and to gain access to abortions.
A Movement Without Marches
"Levenstein's focus on the 1950s and 1960s serves to explore the roots of political and social activism embraced by so many younger black people in the subsequent decade. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice "Challenges scholarship on black urban poverty. . . . Instructive to students of urban history, migration, race, gender, and poverty."--The Journal of American History "Vivid stories of individual women. . . . Each one of them offers an original and compelling interpretation of its subject.
Lisa Levenstein: The fight to protect women's choices continues - Greensboro News & Record: Columnists
On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the legality of women’s right to abortion in Roe v. Wade. This historic decision made a promise to Americans: that women had a fundamental right to self-determination and reproductive health. On this 33rd anniversary of Roe, we must celebrate its benefits. Yet we must also recognize its limitations and seek new ways to secure women’s control over their reproduction. An online service is needed to view this article in its entirety.
On Roe v. Wade anniversary, taking stock of unrealized promises
On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the legality of a woman’s right to abortion in Roe v. Wade. This historic decision made a promise to Americans: that women had a fundamental right to self-determination and reproductive health. On this 43rd anniversary of Roe, we must celebrate its benefits. Yet we must also recognize its limitations and seek new ways to secure women’s control over their reproduction. In many respects, Roe was a game changer.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Lisa
Contact Lisa, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack