Barbara Ehrenreich

Infobox Writer
name = Barbara Ehrenreich

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birthdate = Birth date and age|1941|8|26|mf=y
birthplace = Butte, Montana
occupation = social critic, journalist, author, activist
genre = non-fiction
movement =
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influences =
influenced =

Barbara Ehrenreich (born August 26, 1941, in Butte, Montana) is an American feminist, socialist and political activist. She is a widely read columnist and essayist, and the author of nearly 20 books.

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 Cell biology from Rockefeller University.

Citing her interest in social change [cite web | url=http://lnf.uoregon.edu/notable/ehrenreich.html| publisher=Literary Nonfiction at the University of Oregon | title=Notable Writer: Barbara Ehrenreich | accessdate=2008-10-04] , 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 divorced John and in 1983 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".

Ehrenreich 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 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, "". 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, nonpartisan 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." [cite web | url=http://www.unitedprofessionals.org/about/ | publisher=United Professionals | title=About United Professionals | accessdate=2008-10-04]

Ehrenreich is currently an honorary co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. She also serves on the NORML Board of Directors.

In February 2008, Ehrenreich expressed support for Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, writing in her blog:

There’s no mystery about the direction in which Obama might take us: He’s written a breathtakingly honest autobiography; he has a long legislative history, and now, a meaty economic program. // We, perhaps white people especially, look to him for atonement and redemption. All of us, of whatever race, want a fresh start. That's what "change" means right now: "Get us out of here!" [ [http://ehrenreich.blogs.com/barbaras_blog/2008/02/unstoppable-oba.html "Unstoppable Obama"] February 14, 2008]

Books

Non-fiction

* "The Uptake, Storage, and Intracellular Hydrolysis of Carbohydrates by Macrophages" (with Zanvil Cohn) (1969)
* "Long March, Short Spring the Student Uprising at Home and Abroad" (1969)
* "The American Health Empire: Power, Profits, and Politics" (1971)
* "Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers" (with Deirdre English) (1972)
* "Complaints and Disorders: The Sexual Politics of Sickness" (with Deirdre English) (1973)
* "For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of the Experts' Advice to Women" (with Deirdre English) (1978)
* "Women in the Global Factory" (1983)
* "Re-Making Love: The Feminization of Sex" (with Elizabeth Hess and Gloria Jacobs) (1986)
* "The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment" (1987)
* "The Mean Season" (with Fred L. Block, Richard A. Cloward, and Frances Fox Piven) (1987)
* "Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class" (1989)
* "The Worst Years of Our Lives: Irreverent Notes from a Decade of Greed" (1990)
* "Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War" (1997)
* "The Snarling Citizen: Essays" (1995)
* "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America" (2001)
* "Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy" (ed., with Arlie Hochschild) (2003)
* "Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream" (2005)
* "" (2007)
* "" (2008)

Fiction

* "Kipper's Game" (1993)

Essays

* "In Defense of Talk Shows" (1995 ["TIME" Magazine, December 4, 1995] )
* " [http://www.geocities.com/i_sang_holy_holy/time_essay.html How 'Natural' Is Rape? Despite a Daffy New Theory, It's Not Just a Guy in Touch with His Inner Caveman] ," "Time", January 31, 2000.
* "Welcome to Cancerland" (2001 National Magazine Award finalist)
* "A New Counterterrorism Strategy: Feminism (2005 [AlterNet] )
* "The Charge: Gynocide" investigative journalism about the Dalkon Shield in the third world. "Mother Jones" ( [http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1979/11/ehrenreich.html] )
* "Fight for Your Right to Party" (2006 ["TIME" Magazine, December 18, 2006] )

Translations

German:
* "Die Herzen der Männer", 1984
* "Hexen, Hebammen und Krankenschwestern", 1987
* "Gesprengte Fesseln", 1988
* "Angst vor dem Absturz", 1994
* "Blutrituale", 1999
* "Arbeit poor. Unterwegs in der Dienstleistungsgesellschaft", 2001

Finnish:
* "Nälkäpalkalla" ("Nickel and Dimed"), 2003
* "Petetty keskiluokka" ("Bait and Switch"), 2006

French:
* "L'Amérique pauvre: Comment ne pas survivre en travaillant", 2005

Italian:
* "Riti di sangue", 1998

Spanish:
* "Por cuatro duros: Cómo (no) apañárselas en Estados Unidos", 2003

Swedish:
* "Det manliga hjärtat: revolten mot försörjarrollen", 1984
* "Barskrapad: konsten att hanka sig fram", 2002

Portuguese:
* "Ritos de Sangue: Um estudo sobre as origens da guerra", 2000
* "Salário de Pobreza: Como (não) sobreviver na América", 2004

Japanese:
* われらの生涯の最悪の年 / バーバラ・エーレンライク 著 ; 中村輝子 訳. -- 晶文社, 1992.
*「中流」という階級 / バーバラ・エーレンライク著 ; 中江桂子訳. -- 晶文社, 1995
* ニッケル・アンド・ダイムド : アメリカ下流社会の現実 / バーバラ・エーレンライク著 ; 曽田和子訳. -- 東洋経済新報社, 2006
* 捨てられるホワイトカラー : 格差社会アメリカで仕事を探すということ / バーバラ・エーレンライク著 ; 曽田和子訳. -- 東洋経済新報社, 2007

Thai:
* "คำให้การของคนเปื้อนเหงื่อ" ("Nickel and Dimed"), 2006

References

External links

* [http://barbaraehrenreich.com/ Official website]
* [http://ehrenreich.blogs.com Barbara's blog]
* [http://www.metacritic.com/books/authors/ehrenreichbarbara/dancinginthestreets] "Dancing in the Streets" reviews at Metacritic
* [http://www.alternet.org/authors/811/ Articles by Barbara Ehrenreich on Alternet]
* [http://www.booknotes.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1439 "Booknotes" interview with Ehrenreich on "Fear of Falling", October 8, 1989.]
* [http://www.c-spanarchives.org/videolibrary/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&cPath=6_10&products_id=196400-1&tID=5 3-hour interview] on CSPAN's "In-Depth" series.
* [http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/barbara_ehrenreich.html] Quotations
* [http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/barbara_ehrenreich/] More quotations
* [http://www.unitedprofessionals.org/about/board.php/] United Professionals
* [http://www.pdxjustice.org/#Ehrenreich_16Jul2008 VIDEO: Barbara Ehrenreich - This Land Is Their Land: Reports From a Divided Nation] , July 16, 2008, talk at Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon, from her recent book tour.