Revolutionary Feminists

“Barbara Winslow brings her historian’s sensibilities, political perspicacity, personal knowledge, and perfect comedic timing to tell a story of women’s liberation in Seattle that effectively overturns the conventional wisdom about the roots and branches of radical feminism. Winslow and her awesome comrades built a movement that, from its inception, was class conscious, Marxist-oriented, antiracist, anti-imperialist, nonsectarian, cross-generational, and ahead of the nation in its fight for reproductive justice, free childcare, and sexual freedom. They made mistakes and wrestled with internal contradictions but never lost sight of their objective: world revolution. Seattle, it turns out, was not only the greenest place in the country; it may well have been the reddest.” -- Robin D. G. Kelley, author of * Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination *
“In this comprehensive study of women’s liberation in Seattle, Barbara Winslow carefully excavates a history that is quite different from the ones that have been told about less radical movements on the East Coast. With deep archival and personal knowledge, she illuminates the role of socialist feminists within women’s liberation, complicating the movement’s history in ways that intervene in today’s debates about feminism’s relationship to race, reproductive politics, capitalism, and US imperialism. An impressive and distinctive work.” -- Felicia Kornbluh, coauthor of * Ensuring Poverty: Welfare Reform in Feminist Perspective *
"Forcefully pushing back against criticism that the organizations behind the movement, including her own Radical Women, advanced a white, middle-class agenda and ignored the needs of women of color, Winslow highlights their anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist perspectives and focus on issues of childcare, and notes the involvement of Black feminist luminaries including Nina Harding. . . . Worthwhile. . . ." * Publishers Weekly *
"The writing’s strength lies in its thoroughness of detail and commitment to giving voice to small, grassroots organizations that might otherwise be overlooked. . . . Recommended for readers with an interest in political science, U.S. history, and feminist or diversity studies." -- Monique Martinez * Library Journal *
"Winslow has produced a valiant testament to radical women, left-wing feminism and the city of Seattle. It is a history that both needed to be told. . . . [A] crucial addition to the already expansive library focused on that period we still call the Sixties." -- Ron Jacobs * Counterpunch *