The Women's Movement Inside and Outside the State. By Lee Ann Banaszak

Abstract

In this impressively researched and thought-provoking book, Lee Ann Banaszak explores the role of “movement insiders”—women's movement activists working inside the federal bureaucracy—in shaping policy on women's rights. Through a series of engaging narratives, she highlights the often-invisible role of feminist lawyers, regulators, other members of the civil service, and political appointees in shaping important policies on such issues as equal employment, educational equity (particularly Title IX), and foreign policy (women in development). Banaszak's investigation into the role of feminist activists within the bureaucracy illuminates the critical role that the movement played within the state on a number of policy issues. More broadly, her argument for an expanded view of the dynamics of social movements, movement–state intersections, and policymaking represents a needed corrective to the rather stark dichotomies that often dominate the study of social movements.