Intersectional Advocacy

Rezensionen / Stimmen

'Intersectional Advocacy is a rare scholarly jewel forged from the combined power of rigorous, multi-method empirical analyses and careful, theoretically grounded thinking. Brower crafts a narrative that is at once rooted in deep knowledge of policy processes and centered on organizations struggling to change policy and build a more just world. Intersectional Advocacy offers crucial insights for scholars and practitioners seeking to understand and transform the structure, constraints, and possibilities of policymaking in the context of multiple, enduring, interlocking systems of oppression.' Jamila Michener, Cornell University 'In this powerful and important book, Perez Brower uses a multimethod approach grounded in experiences of intersectional advocates as well as social scientific analysis of hypotheticals to draw conclusions about the real and potential impact of intersectional advocacy. She shows the way that intersectional advocates highlight linkages between issues where traditional or single-issue policy advocacy failed to make connections. By making these linkages, advocates transform or 'reconfigure' the policy function of the state, fundamentally altering power dynamics. The book not only deepens our theoretical understanding of intersectional advocacy, but also offers lessons for those who want to advance change and improve policy responses to gender-based violence. Engagingly written and passionate in its commitments, the book is must-read for all scholars of policymaking, especially those wishing to understand gender-based violence and/or the substantive representation of marginalized groups in the United States.' S. Laurel Weldon, Simon Fraser University 'Perez Brower's book powerfully demonstrates how public policies, even progressive legislation intending to combat violence against women, enact inequalities, and identifies policy boundaries as a new mechanism connecting social policies to unequal outcomes. Policies that are conceptualized and designed for more privileged members of social groups, such as white women, may benefit some women while producing greater injustices in the lives of more marginal group members, such as women of color and immigrant women. Brower shows that the strategic interventions of civic movements - which she calls intersectional advocates - compelled members of Congress to reform the Violence Against Women Act to serve the needs of underprivileged women. Intersectional advocates succeeded by breaking policy boundaries to link violence against women to welfare policies, immigration policies, and tribal law. This superb book sets the agenda for future research on American political development, social policy, and progressive activism.' Mala Htun, University of New Mexico 'In this rapidly changing policy arena, we believe that "Intersectional Advocacy" will launch a whole new stream of research centered more strongly on the ways in which voices for marginalized women in America struggle to gain a louder voice in our lawmaking process. To that end, we look forward to seeing the paths that Margaret Perez Brower takes moving forward and joining her in the important effort to illustrate the reach and depth that violence against women policy merits in our scholarly community.' Wendy J. Schiller, Perspectives on Politics 'Perez Brower not only offers a compelling theory for why it is imperative to care about intersectional advocacy but also provides suggestions for how organizations can implement these practices. In addition to its contributions to scholars of inequality, public policy, and political organizations, it is accessible to undergraduate and graduate students, policymakers, and practitioners in advocacy organizations. This book is an important portrayal of the state of American public policy and its potential to be transformed toward justice.' Amanda Sahar d'Urso, Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics 'This book focuses on the Violence against Women Act, which Brower uses to analyze the importance of linking policy issues to better reflect women's lived experiences ... The book synthesizes literature that this reviewer is both familiar and unfamiliar with, despite being immersed in the subject, indicating that readers can trust the author's conclusions; she brings a unique perspective to the topic. Overall, this is an excellent book on how public policy can both challenge and reproduce intersecting systems of oppression and a model for how to do intersectional public policy analysis ... Highly recommended.' I. Ken, Choice