Barbara Ehrenreich

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Barbara Ehrenreich
Born August 26, 1941 (1941-08-26) (age 69)
Butte, Montana
Occupation social critic, journalist, author, activist
Genres nonfiction, investigative journalism

Barbara Ehrenreich (born August 26, 1941, Butte, Montana; pronounced /ˈɛrɨnraɪk/)[1] is an American feminist, democratic socialist, sociologist and political activist, a prominent figure in the Democratic Socialists of America. She is a widely read columnist and essayist, and the author of nearly 20 books.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Ehrenreich was born Barbara Alexander to Isabelle Oxley and Ben Alexander. Her father was a copper miner who went on to study at Carnegie Mellon University and who eventually became an executive at the Gillette Corporation. Ehrenreich studied physics at Reed College, graduating in 1963. Her senior thesis was entitled Electrochemical oscillations of the silicon anode. In 1968, she received a Ph.D in cellular biology from Rockefeller University.

Citing her interest in social change,[2] she opted for political activism instead of pursuing a scientific career. She met her first husband, John Ehrenreich, during an anti-war activism campaign in New York City.

In 1970, her first child, Rosa (now Rosa Brooks), was born. Her second child, Benjamin, was born in 1972. Barbara and John divorced and in 1983 she married Gary Stevenson, a warehouse employee who later became a union organizer. She divorced Stevenson in the early 1990s.

From 1991 to 1997, Ehrenreich was a regular columnist for Time magazine. Currently, she contributes regularly to The Progressive and has also written for the New York Times, Mother Jones, The Atlantic Monthly, Ms, The New Republic, Z Magazine, In These Times, Salon.com, and other publications.

In 1998, the American Humanist Association named her the Humanist of the Year.

In 1998 and 2000, she taught essay writing at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.

In 2004, Ehrenreich wrote a month-long guest column for the New York Times while regular columnist Thomas Friedman was on leave and she was invited to stay on as a columnist. She declined, saying that she preferred to spend her time more on long-term activities, such as book-writing.

Ehrenreich was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after the release of her book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. In her article "Welcome to Cancerland," published in the November 2001 issue of Harper's Magazine, she describes her breast cancer experience and debates the medical industry's problems with the issue of breast cancer.

In 2006, Ehrenreich founded United Professionals, an organization described as "a nonprofit, non-partisan membership organization for white-collar workers, regardless of profession or employment status. We reach out to all unemployed, underemployed, and anxiously employed workers — people who bought the American dream that education and credentials could lead to a secure middle class life, but now find their lives disrupted by forces beyond their control."[3]

Ehrenreich is currently an honorary co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. She also serves on the NORML Board of Directors and The Nation's Editorial Board.

In 2000 Ehrenreich endorsed the Presidential campaign of Ralph Nader.[4] In February 2008, Ehrenreich expressed support for Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign.[5]

[edit] Books

Ehrenreich at a New York Times discussion

[edit] Non-fiction

[edit] Fiction

[edit] Essays

[edit] Translations

Dutch:

German:

Finnish:

French:

Hebrew:

Italian:

Spanish:

Swedish:

Portuguese:

Japanese:

Thai:

Korean:

[edit] References

  1. ^ The CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
  2. ^ "Notable Writer: Barbara Ehrenreich". Literary Nonfiction at the University of Oregon. Archived from the original on 2008-04-12. http://web.archive.org/web/20080412064933/http://lnf.uoregon.edu/notable/ehrenreich.html. Retrieved 2008-10-04. 
  3. ^ "About United Professionals". United Professionals. http://www.unitedprofessionals.org/about/. Retrieved 2008-10-04. 
  4. ^ Nader's Top Endorsers From 2000 Urge "Swing States" Support for Kerry, Common Dreams, Sept. 14, 2004
  5. ^ "Unstoppable Obama" February 14, 2008

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Barbara Ehrenreich
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Ehrenreich"
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages