Revolutionize It!: Second-Wave Feminism and the Struggle for a Radical Movement

In this discussion-based course, we explore the complex, contradictory and profoundly multiracial history of the so-called "second wave" of the feminist movement (1960s-1980s). We will focus on those activists who understood themselves to be radicals and revolutionaries -- women's liberationists, women of color (or third-world) feminists, and lesbian-feminists -- as they collaborated and collided with each other. Among the questions we will ask are the following: What happens to our understanding of the second wave when we center the activism of Black, Latinx, indigenous and anti-capitalist feminists? What were the promises and the pitfalls of a politics of "sisterhood"? How did sexual desire and sexual conflict shape both notions of identity and the movement on the ground? We will also consider the legacy of second-wave feminism for the politics of our time, including #MeToo, reproductive freedom, and the struggle for trans liberation. Prerequisite: L77 100B or permission of instructor.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU BA; AS HUM; AS SD I; FA HUM; AR HUM

Revolutionize It!: Second-Wave Feminism and the Struggle for a Radical Movement

HISTORY 3481

Section 01