International Women's Year: The Greatest Consciousness-Raising Event in History

Author:   Jocelyn Olcott (Professor of History and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, Professor of History and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, Duke University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
ISBN:  

9780197574744


Pages:   354
Publication Date:   15 April 2021
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
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International Women's Year: The Greatest Consciousness-Raising Event in History


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"Amid the geopolitical and social turmoil of the 1970s, the United Nations declared 1975 as International Women's Year. The capstone event, a two-week conference in Mexico City, was dubbed by organizers and journalists as ""the greatest consciousness-raising event in history."" The event drew an all-star cast of characters, including Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, Iranian Princess Ashraf Pahlavi, and US feminist Betty Friedan, as well as a motley array of policymakers, activists, and journalists. International Women's Year, the first book to examine this critical moment in feminist history, starts by exploring how organizers juggled geopolitical rivalries and material constraints amid global political and economic instability. The story then dives into the action in Mexico City, including conflicts over issues ranging from abortion to Zionism. The United Nations provided indispensable infrastructure and support for this encounter, even as it came under fire for its own discriminatory practices. While participants expressed dismay at levels of discord and conflict, Jocelyn Olcott explores how these combative, unanticipated encounters generated the most enduring legacies, including women's networks across the global south, greater attention to the intersectionalities of marginalization, and the arrival of women's micro-credit on the development scene.This watershed moment in transnational feminism, colorfully narrated in International Women's Year, launched a new generation of activist networks that spanned continents, ideologies, and generations."

Full Product Details

Author:   Jocelyn Olcott (Professor of History and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, Professor of History and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, Duke University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.40cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.512kg
ISBN:  

9780197574744


ISBN 10:   0197574742
Pages:   354
Publication Date:   15 April 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Reviews

A drama in three acts, with an expansive cast of characters, this engaging history complicates the standard one-dimensional telling of that generative moment in global feminism birthed by the United Nations: the 1975 International Women's Year (IWY) Conference in Mexico City.....Olcott has not only written a definitive study, but her concluding 'Notes on Sources, Theories, and Methods' invites us to think about how we narrate the history of events, the role of contingency, and the reliability of multiple witnesses. This tale of encounters-between North and South, East and West, the grassroots and the bureaucratic-sets a high standard for the practice of international history, no less than the history of feminism. -- Eileen Boris, English Historical Review Jocelyn Olcott has made a terrific contribution to women s history and the history of transnational feminism . International Women s Year is based on a mountain of research that, as far as I can tell, no one else has even attempted in small part. Olcott attacks her subject from as many angles as imaginable--running down details; opening up space for multiple inferences, contradictory interpretations, and unresolvable complexity; following through with evidence-based assessments of impact, meaning, and significance; and concluding with a sophisticated and truly enlightening discussion of the theoretical conundrums underpinning the writing of women's history and the methodological challenges of transnational historical research. It is social-political-cultural transnational feminist history at its very best. Every historian of feminism will want to read this work; every transnational feminist organizer will thank her for it. -- Tracey Jean Boisseau, American Historical Review Olcott's detailed study of 1970s feminism... is a global reading set within the wider geo-political and regional divisions as they were shaped and, in turn, impacted the UN commitment to transnational human rights and humanitarian change. -- Jean H. Quataert, Journal of Social History The book's concise and accessible prose makes it a must-read for anyone interested in feminist or gender studies, while the various conceptual bridges it constructs across several fields should make it of particular interest to scholars working on the Non-Aligned Movement, NGO organizations, and the Cold War. -- David Yee, Global Histories This essential book, meticulously researched and elegantly written, captures a key historical moment in the development of transnational feminism. Olcott recounts the politics that led to the creation of the 1975 'International Women's Year' in a way that reclaims the significance of the now-vanished 'Second World' of the Cold War era....Undoing the dominant narrative of this UN event as a 'failure, ' Olcott shows the continuation of such conferences up to Beijing to be a crucial success constructed in and through this first event. By following the money and exploring contestation as well as celebration, the study illuminates the complexity of NGO-ization for feminist movements. Necessary for every serious research library, but great reading for any student of transnational history, feminism, or non-governmental organization. Essential. --CHOICE No issues more clearly defined the 1970s than the changing status of women and the global struggle for economic justice and national liberation. These two collided at the 1975 International Women's Year conference in Mexico City, producing a spectacular display of both solidarity and conflict. Jocelyn Olcott provides the definitive history of this definitive transnational event. --Tim Borstelmann, author of The 1970s Through Jocelyn Olcott's prodigious research and vivid narrative, a two-week conference in Mexico City in 1975 becomes a lens for viewing the history of transnational organizing among women in the late twentieth century. Historians and activists alike have much to learn from the tumultuous events that paved the way for so much that followed. --Leila J. Rupp, author of Worlds of Women: The Making of an International Women's Movement Jocelyn Olcott's terrific account of the International Women's Year conference in Mexico City makes readers feel like they are right in the thick of a key moment in feminist history. Deeply researched and told in compelling detail, Olcott's narrative shows how the interactions and dialogue forged in Mexico City laid the basis for the next several decades of global feminist activism. --Susan Ware, General Editor, American National Biography A well-paced narrative...[that] adds substantially to the historiography of women on a global stage...Olcott...suggests that unity was never the objective [of the conference]-that the many moments of discord during the proceedings were actually productive. They left indelible impressions on the participants and revealed shared experiences of gender discrimination that transcended nationality and culture...Olcott explains that International Women's Year also left institutional structures in place...[and] galvanized countless governments to form national commissions on women, which, in turn, fostered a burgeoning over four decades of tens of thousands of grassroots NGOs that work across sectors all over the world. --Ellen Chesler, Women's Review of Books A major contribution of the book is Olcott's documentation in evocative prose of the arduous work of feminist activist methodology: listening to grassroots women with varied political perspectives; building agendas through debate and compromise to ensure policy impact during official conferences; and networking and developing sustained friendships to continue the work beyond the UN. She also valuable elucidates the recent but little-known history of how women's thinking affected global policy frameworks...This rich account of the IWY's global feminist generativity may inspire equally creative future scholarship exploring the relationship between feminist theory and practice, as well as the politics of feminist memory. More importantly...the book offers protection against the cyclical erasure of women's activist history. --Debra L. Schultz, Journal of American History


A major contribution of the book is Olcott's documentation in evocative prose of the arduous work of feminist activist methodology: listening to grassroots women with varied political perspectives; building agendas through debate and compromise to ensure policy impact during official conferences; and networking and developing sustained friendships to continue the work beyond the UN. She also valuable elucidates the recent but little-known history of how women's thinking affected global policy frameworks...This rich account of the IWY's global feminist generativity may inspire equally creative future scholarship exploring the relationship between feminist theory and practice, as well as the politics of feminist memory. More importantly...the book offers protection against the cyclical erasure of women's activist history. * Debra L. Schultz, Journal of American History * A well-paced narrative...[that] adds substantially to the historiography of women on a global stage...Olcott...suggests that unity was never the objective [of the conference]-that the many moments of discord during the proceedings were actually productive. They left indelible impressions on the participants and revealed shared experiences of gender discrimination that transcended nationality and culture...Olcott explains that International Women's Year also left institutional structures in place...[and] galvanized countless governments to form national commissions on women, which, in turn, fostered a burgeoning over four decades of tens of thousands of grassroots NGOs that work across sectors all over the world. * Ellen Chesler, Women's Review of Books * Jocelyn Olcott's terrific account of the International Women's Year conference in Mexico City makes readers feel like they are right in the thick of a key moment in feminist history. Deeply researched and told in compelling detail, Olcott's narrative shows how the interactions and dialogue forged in Mexico City laid the basis for the next several decades of global feminist activism. * Susan Ware, General Editor, American National Biography * Through Jocelyn Olcott's prodigious research and vivid narrative, a two-week conference in Mexico City in 1975 becomes a lens for viewing the history of transnational organizing among women in the late twentieth century. Historians and activists alike have much to learn from the tumultuous events that paved the way for so much that followed. * Leila J. Rupp, author of Worlds of Women: The Making of an International Women's Movement * No issues more clearly defined the 1970s than the changing status of women and the global struggle for economic justice and national liberation. These two collided at the 1975 International Women's Year conference in Mexico City, producing a spectacular display of both solidarity and conflict. Jocelyn Olcott provides the definitive history of this definitive transnational event. * Tim Borstelmann, author of The 1970s * This essential book, meticulously researched and elegantly written, captures a key historical moment in the development of transnational feminism. Olcott recounts the politics that led to the creation of the 1975 'International Women's Year' in a way that reclaims the significance of the now-vanished 'Second World' of the Cold War era....Undoing the dominant narrative of this UN event as a 'failure,' Olcott shows the continuation of such conferences up to Beijing to be a crucial success constructed in and through this first event. By following the money and exploring contestation as well as celebration, the study illuminates the complexity of NGO-ization for feminist movements. Necessary for every serious research library, but great reading for any student of transnational history, feminism, or non-governmental organization. Essential. * CHOICE * The book's concise and accessible prose makes it a must-read for anyone interested in feminist or gender studies, while the various conceptual bridges it constructs across several fields should make it of particular interest to scholars working on the Non-Aligned Movement, NGO organizations, and the Cold War. * David Yee, Global Histories * Olcott's detailed study of 1970s feminism... is a global reading set within the wider geo-political and regional divisions as they were shaped and, in turn, impacted the UN commitment to transnational human rights and humanitarian change. * Jean H. Quataert, Journal of Social History * Jocelyn Olcott has made a terrific contribution to womenas history and the history of transnational feminisma. International Womenas Year is based on a mountain of research that, as far as I can tell, no one else has even attempted in small part. Olcott attacks her subject from as many angles as imaginable * running down details; opening up space for multiple inferences, contradictory interpretations, and unresolvable complexity; following through with evidence-based assessments of impact, meaning, and significance; and concluding with a sophisticated and truly enlightening discussion of the theoretical conundrums underpinning the writing of women's history and the methodological challenges of transnational historical research. It is social-political-cultural transnational feminist history at its very best. Every historian of feminism will want to read this work; every transnational feminist organizer will thank her for it. * A drama in three acts, with an expansive cast of characters, this engaging history complicates the standard one-dimensional telling of that generative moment in global feminism birthed by the United Nations: the 1975 International Women's Year (IWY) Conference in Mexico City.....Olcott has not only written a definitive study, but her concluding 'Notes on Sources, Theories, and Methods' invites us to think about how we narrate the history of events, the role of contingency, and the reliability of multiple witnesses. This tale of encounters-between North and South, East and West, the grassroots and the bureaucratic-sets a high standard for the practice of international history, no less than the history of feminism. * Eileen Boris, English Historical Review *


Author Information

Jocelyn Olcott is Professor of History and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at Duke University. She is the author of Revolutionary Women in Postrevolutionary Mexico and the co-editor of Sex in Revolution: Gender, Politics, and Power in Modern Mexico.

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