Governing NOW: Grassroots Activism in the National Organization for Women

Maryann Barakso

Published by Cornell University Press 2004

Governing NOW

Grassroots Activism in the National Organization for Women

Maryann Barakso

https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501726743

Overview
Contents

About this book

Boasting more than five hundred thousand contributing members and five hundred chapters nationwide, the National Organization for Women has been politically active for more than thirty-five years. In a book that offers tools for predicting the...

Author / Editor information

Maryann Barakso is Assistant Professor of Political Science at UMass Amherst.

Reviews

Debra Minkoff, University of Washington:

Through a careful and original case study of NOW, Maryann Barakso demonstrates that social-movement organizations can maintain a commitment to their founding principles while weathering the vagaries of the political-electoral system. The key to NOW's persistence, according to Barakso, is linked to its governance structure, which altered over time to provide ongoing mechanisms for member input and leadership accountability in ways that enabled the organization to stay true to its guiding principles. This well-written, informative account is linked to such critical moments as NOW's founding, formalization, and transformation in light of changed political circumstances.

Anne Costain, author of Inviting Women's Rebellion:

Maryann Barakso's analysis of the organizational tactics and strategies developed by NOW is exceptionally well done. She combines field research, documentary analysis, and interviews of activists, members, and leaders with participant observation at NOW conferences. Further, she ties together a range of the literature on political organizations and interest-group politics with social-movement theory, presenting a unique and persuasive interpretation of NOW's actions.

Lois Galgay Reckitt, longtime NOW activist and domestic violence advocate:

Maryann Barakso has captured the excitement and frustration of NOW's external and internal struggles. Whether or not you were lucky enough to live this history, this is a must read.

Jeffrey M. Berry, author of A Voice for Nonprofits:

Few political scientists have examined a single organization with such clarity and insight. Maryann Barakso's Governing NOW is an important and impressive work.

Barakso's data sources are impressive, including documents from the national NOW archives, interviews with a small stratified sample of NOW leaders and members, and participant observation at NOW conferences.... I find Barakso's depiction of NOW as being more complicated that a cookie-cutter liberal feminist organization convincing and her argument about the impact of governance structure an important return to earlier approaches focusing on internal movement processes.... The book has much to offer both social movement scholars and scholars interested in the women's movement from a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective.

Barakso takes a measured approach to her analysis, neither overly praising the NOW leadership for adhering to founding principles, nor chastising them for slavish adherence to ideals that may have compromised the organization's ability to react to changing circumstances. Recommended.

Barakso has written a brief and accessible history of the National Organization for Women (NOW), the first group of the 'second wave' of feminism and still the primary women's movement association.... The heart of the book focuses on almost 40 years of national politics and players within the organization. Recommended for large public libraries and academic libraries.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
1. Governance Structures and Strategy Choice and Change in Membership Organizations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Inventing NOW: Principles and Processes, 1966-1971 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
3. NOW's Strategic Evolution Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	39
4. Out of the Mainstream, into the Revolution? The Legacy of NOW's Guiding Principles, 1972-1978 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
5. The ERA "Emergency" Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	70
6. From the ERA Strategy to the Electoral Strategy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
7. The Clinton Years and Beyond Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
8. Analyzing Grassroots Representation and Participation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
NOW Documents Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 216
Illustrations
- Other: 2 tables, 1 chart
Keywords: Political Science & Political History; U.S. History

eBook

Published: August 6, 2018
ISBN: 9781501726743