political activity among working-class women in a U.S. city

Abstract

This paper, based on fieldwork research in Greenpoint-Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, from 1975-78, supports recent research in suggesting that working-class women are by no means isolated and passive, nor are their activities limited to the domestic scene. Instability of job opportunities for women and for men now make families increasingly dependent on state-supported services. In response, women organize, often effectively, to extract and maintain essential services and to preserve their communities. These activities represent local political movements that may be analyzed in the context of changing urban neighborhoods and the decline in municipal services available to working-class people. [United States, women, urban, deindustrialization, politics, social movements] CR - Copyright © 1986 American Anthropological Association