by Lisa Levenstein
Basic Books
7/14/2020, hardcover
SKU: 9780465095285
From an award-winning scholar, a vibrant portrait of a pivotal moment in the history of the feminist movement
From the declaration of the "Year of the Woman" to the televising of Anita Hill's testimony, from Bitch magazine to SisterSong's demands for reproductive justice: the 90s saw the birth of some of the most lasting aspects of contemporary feminism. Historian Lisa Levenstein tracks this time of intense and international coalition building, one that centered on the growing influence of lesbians, women of color, and activists from the global South. Their work laid the foundation for the feminist energy seen in today's movements, including the 2017 Women's March and #MeToo campaigns.
A revisionist history of the origins of contemporary feminism, They Didn't See Us Coming shows how women on the margins built a movement at the dawn of the Digital Age.
Reviews:
"Lisa Levenstein offers a refreshing and groundbreaking account of the feminist movements of the 1990s. She foregrounds the global arena and women of color to underscore how intersectional analyses of inequality fundamentally shaped women's movements, ideas, and strategies. This book introduces us to compelling people searching for ways to make a more just society."-- Judy Wu, author of Radicals on the Road
"Lisa Levenstein has written a moving and exciting new history that captures the global roots of today's feminism. They Didn't See Us Coming reveals a thriving and transnational movement bursting forth from the 1990s grounded in the theories and activism of women of color. This remarkable book lifts up the stories of women who blazed their own trail, and together changed the world."-- Loretta Ross, coauthor of Radical Reproductive Justice
"Lisa Levenstein's poignant history of the change-makers in 1990s feminism shows how movements are made and sustained. They Didn't See Us Coming is an important and compelling new account that brings this vital activism to life-and encourages us to learn from the work of these women."-- Daisy Hernández, coeditor of COLONIZE THIS!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism
About the Author:
Lisa Levenstein is the Director of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program and an Associate Professor of History at UNC Greensboro. Her first book, A Movement Without Marches, won the Kenneth Jackson Book Award. She lives in Chapel Hill, NC.