Over the course of thirty-seven chapters, including an editorial introduction, this handbook provides a comprehensive examination of scholarly research and knowledge on a variety of aspects of women's collective activism in the United States, tracing both continuities and critical changes over time. Women have played pivotal and far-reaching roles in bringing about significant societal change, and women activists come from an array of different demographics, backgrounds and perspectives, including those that are radical, liberal, and conservative. The chapters in the handbook consider women's activism in the interest of women themselves as well as actions done on behalf of other social groups.The volume is organized into five sections. The first looks at U.S. Women's Social Activism over time, from the women's suffrage movement to the ERA, radical feminism, third-wave feminism, intersectional feminism and global feminism. Part two looks at issues that mobilize women, including workplace discrimination, reproductive rights, health, gender identity and sexuality, violence against women, welfare and employment, globalization, immigration and anti-feminist and pro-life causes. Part three looks at strategies, including movement emergence and resource mobilization, consciousness raising, and traditional and social media. Part four explores targets and tactics, including legislative forums, electoral politics, legal activism, the marketplace, the military, and religious and educational institutions. Finally, part five looks at women's participation within other movements, including the civil rights movement, the environmental movement, labor unions, LGBTQ movement, Latino activism, conservative groups, and the white supremacist movement.

List of ContributorsIntroductionHolly J. McCammon, Verta Taylor, Jo Reger, and Rachel EinwohnerPart I: U.S. Women's Social Movement Activism through Time1. Layers of Activism: Women's Movements and Women in Movements Approaching the Twentieth CenturyCorrine McConnaughy2. The Swells between the "Waves": American Women's Activism, 1920-1965Kristin Goss3. Campaigning for the Equal Rights Amendment and Liberal FeminismKelsy Kretschmer and Jane Mansbridge4. The Turn toward Socialist, Radical, and Lesbian FeminismsBeth Schneider and Janelle Pham5. Contemporary Feminism and BeyondJo Reger6. Intersectionality: Origins, Travels, Questions, and ContributionsBenita Roth7. Mobilizing the Faithful: Conservative and Right Wing Women's Movements in AmericaDeana Rohlinger and Elyse Claxton8. The Historical Roots of a Global Feminist Perspective and the Growing Global Focus among U.S. FeministsHeidi Rademacher and Kathleen FallonPart II: Issues that Mobilize Women9. Workplace Discrimination, Equal Pay, and Sexual Harassment: An Intersectional ApproachEileen Boris and Allison Elias10. Battles over Abortion and Reproductive Rights: Movement Mobilization and StrategySuzanne Staggenborg and Marie Skoczylas11. Maternalist and Community PoliticsEllen Reese, Ian Breckenridge-Jackson, and Julisa McCoy12. Women's Health Social MovementsMelinda Goldner13. U.S. Women's Movements to End Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse, and RapeGretchen Arnold14. Welfare, Poverty, and Low-Wage EmploymentRose Ernst and Rachel Luft15. Antifeminist, Pro-Life, and Anti-ERA WomenRonnee SchreiberPart III: Resistance, Mobilization, Strategy16. The Dynamics and Causes of Gender and Feminist Consciousness and Feminist IdentitiesPamela Aronson17. Movement Emergence and Resource Mobilization: Organizations, Leaders, and Coalition WorkNella Van Dyke18. Identity Politics, Consciousness Raising, and Visibility PoliticsNancy Whitter19. Protest Events and Direct ActionAnne Costain and Douglas Costain20. Language and Its Everyday Revolutionary Potential: Feminist Linguistic Activism in the U.S.Christine Mallinson21. Sexuality, Bodies, Gender Identity, Sexual Fluidity, and Performative GenderShae Miller22. From Ink to Web and Beyond: U.S. Women's Activism Using Traditional and New Social MediaHeather HurwitzPart IV: Forums and Targets of Women's Activism23. Inside the State: Activism within Legislative and Governmental Agency ForumsLee Ann Banaszak and Anne Whitesell24. Electoral PoliticsNancy Burns, Ashley Jardina, and Nicole Yadon25. U.S. Women's Legal Activism in the Judicial ArenaHolly J. McCammon and Brittany Hearne26. Women's Social Movements and Activism within the U.S. MilitaryTiffany Sanford-Jenson and Marla Kohlman27. Push, Pull, and Fusion: Women's Activism and Religious InstitutionsRachel Einwohner, Reid Leamaster, and Benjamin Pratt28. Women's Activism and Educational InstitutionsAlison Crossley29. Women, Sports, and ActivismCheryl CookyPart V: Women Inside Other Movements30. Women's Actvism in the Modern Movement for Black LiberationAisha Upton and Joyce Bell31. Latinas in U.S. Social MovementsMary Pardo32. Women in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender MovementLeila Rupp, Verta Taylor, and Benita Roth33. American Women's Environmental Activism: Motivations, Experiences, and TransformationsKayla Stover and Sherry Cable34. Gendered Activism and Outcomes: Women in the Peace MovementLisa Leitz and David Meyer35. Women's Activism in U.S. Labor UnionsMary Margaret Fonow and Suzanne Franzway36. Women in the White Supremacist MovementKathleen Blee and Elizabeth YatesIndex