They Didn't See Us Coming: The Hidden History of Feminism in the Nineties

by Lisa Levenstein

Overview

From an award-winning scholar, a vibrant portrait of a pivotal moment in the history of the feminist movement

From the declaration of the "Year of the Woman" to the televising of Anita Hill's testimony, from Bitch magazine to SisterSong's demands for reproductive justice: the 90s saw the birth of some of the most lasting aspects of contemporary feminism. Historian Lisa Levenstein tracks this time of intense and international coalition building, one that centered on the growing influence of lesbians, women of color, and activists from the global South. Their work laid the foundation for the feminist energy seen in today's movements, including the 2017 Women's March and #MeToo campaigns.
A revisionist history of the origins of contemporary feminism, They Didn't See Us Coming shows how women on the margins built a movement at the dawn of the Digital Age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465095292
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	07/14/2020
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	314,685
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Lisa Levenstein is the Director of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program and an Associate Professor of History at UNC Greensboro. Her first book, A Movement Without Marches, won the Kenneth Jackson Book Award. She lives in Chapel Hill, NC.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 A Movement Without a Center 11

2 "We Had Far Less to Teach Than to Learn" 25

3 The Worldwide Debut of Online Activism 45

4 How Feminism Went Viral 59

5 Making a Living from Social Change 79

6 "Women's Rights Are Human Rights" 97

7 Tackling Women's Poverty from Global Perspectives 119

8 Environmental Justice and Labor Activism 141

9 Heart Communities: SisterSong, SONG, and INCITE! 163

Epilogue 185

Acknowledgments 195

Bibliography 201

Notes 231

Index 283

Editorial Reviews

03/16/2020

In this focused and persuasive study, UNC Greensboro history professor Levenstein (A Movement Without Marches) pinpoints the 1990s as a transitional decade when the feminist movement became decentered, intersectional, diverse, global, and coalition-driven. She chronicles the 1995 Non-Governmental Organization Forum in Beijing, where mainstream organizations such as the Ms. Foundation and NOW came under criticism for trying to legislate diversity from the top down, and U.S. activists discovered they had “far less to teach than to learn” from international groups. Levenstein discusses how new technologies created an alternative media landscape, fostering niche subcommunities around the world and necessitating new methods for navigating dissent. The biggest cultural change, according to Levenstein, was the broadening of feminism’s objectives from equal pay and reproductive justice to include human rights issues, such as climate change, economic inequality, labor organizing, and disability rights. Levenstein concludes by profiling three U.S. organizations (SisterSong, SONG, and INCITE!) founded by women of color in the 1990s. Her sober-minded, revisionist history effectively counters stereotypes of the decade’s feminism as being “obsessed with fashion, celebrity, and ‘mindless sex talk.’ ” Contemporary feminists will be enlightened, while those who entered the movement in the ’90s will feel vindicated. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"A nuanced history of feminism since the 1990s. Grounding today's fourth-wave feminism in the context of earlier activism, Levenstein locates both mainstream and radical feminism within a broader historical framework, showing how young feminists... are building on foundations laid by the generations before them."—Financial Times

A Bitch Most Anticipated Book 2020

"Lisa Levenstein shows in this lively history how the third-wave feminist movement of the '90s was one that became more diverse, intersectional, and decentered... Through her extensive research, Levenstein paints a compelling picture of the great progress made by the activists of the '90s. She also provides inspiration for feminists today to continue their fight."—Bust

"The smartest work I've read on how social movements have changed since the sixties. In They Didn't See Us Coming, Lisa Levenstein uses the personal stories of captivating activists to drive the narrative—women you've likely never heard of but will wish you could meet and thank. This is the vital backstory to the massive Women's March of 2017, the #MeToo movement, and the capacious yet unsung organizing that is changing our world for the better."—Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains

"A sweeping and beautifully written account of a feminist movement that too many of us assumed had faded away. Lisa Levenstein reveals how a multiracial and global coalition of women kept feminism vibrant and alive in the 1990s. With moving and intimate detail, Levenstein shows that it was these women who made it possible for us to imagine a more just and equitable future today."—Heather Ann Thompson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Blood in the Water

"Lisa Levenstein's poignant history of the change-makers in 1990s feminism shows how movements are made and sustained. They Didn't See Us Coming is an important and compelling new account that brings this vital activism to life-and encourages us to learn from the work of these women."—Daisy Hernández, coeditor of COLONIZE THIS!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism

"Lisa Levenstein adds a critically important chapter to the history of feminist activism by recovering the powerful intersectional voices of the 1990s. They Didn't See Us Coming unearths the theoretical interventions as well as the nitty-gritty of feminist organizing to showcase the varied and textured, multi-layered and multi-issue praxis of feminism, both globally and locally, that laid the foundation for the recent upsurge in feminism. This book will shift our thinking about the evolution of modern feminism and is essential reading for anyone who cares about feminism or social justice."—Premilla Nadasen, author of Household Workers Unite and President of the National Women's Studies Association

"Lisa Levenstein offers a refreshing and groundbreaking account of the feminist movements of the 1990s. She foregrounds the global arena and women of color to underscore how intersectional analyses of inequality fundamentally shaped women's movements, ideas, and strategies. This book introduces us to compelling people searching for ways to make a more just society."—Judy Wu, author of Radicals on the Road

"Lisa Levenstein has written a moving and exciting new history that captures the global roots of today's feminism. They Didn't See Us Coming reveals a thriving and transnational movement bursting forth from the 1990s grounded in the theories and activism of women of color. This remarkable book lifts up the stories of women who blazed their own trail, and together changed the world."—Loretta Ross, coauthor of Radical Reproductive Justice

"Persuasive... [Levenstein's] revisionist history effectively counters stereotypes of the decade's feminism... Contemporary feminists will be enlightened, while those who entered the movement in the '90s will feel vindicated."—Publishers Weekly

"An authoritative account of how the feminist movement evolved during the 1990s and beyond... sharp... Levenstein successfully combines well-documented research with personal observations and interviews to create an accessible and informative narrative. Required reading for classes in women's studies."—Kirkus Reviews

"Levenstein adds nuances that will provide rich space for current feminist theorists, scholars, and activists to dig deeper into feminist history, and its social ramifications in a digital era. A valuable contribution to the history of feminism at its grassroots and global levels..."—Library Journal

"In this compelling and inspiring book, Levenstein ensures that the feminist groups of the nineties will take their rightful place in women's history."—Booklist

"We don't tend to think of the 1990s as a high point for feminism... Levenstein wants to uncover a different story..."—New Republic

"By shining a light on history at the margins, Levenstein shows us that our cultural life is complex, multifaceted. The work done in the 1990s by the activists she interviewed-advocates for a wide spectrum of social causes-laid the foundation for today's feminist energy."—Harvard Review

From the Publisher

04/01/2020

Like Andi Zeisler's We Were Feminists Once, Levenstein's latest (A Movement Without Marches) serves simultaneously as a history that is critical yet nostalgic; a call to action as well as a structural interrogation of the politics undergirding and contextualizing 90s feminism. Levenstein draws attention to the often-discussed power differentials that were unintentionally but problematically replicated by predominately white feminists, and she analyzes the enduring tension between intersectionality in theory and in fact. Especially astute is her chapter on the rise of digital feminism and online activism, as she spotlights pioneering ways in which specialists such as Barbara Ann O'Leary worked in the forefront of digital technology, while remaining aware of the digital divide. Levenstein adds nuances that will provide rich space for current feminist theorists, scholars, and activists to dig deeper into feminist history, and its social ramifications in a digital era. VERDICT A valuable contribution to the history of feminism at its grassroots and global levels, as well as a message to readers about how difficult it is to anticipate what online tools and developments will emerge as feminism continues to grow, along with the material, political, and intellectual issues abutting it.—Emily Bowles, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison

Library Journal

2020-02-17
An authoritative account of how the feminist movement evolved during the 1990s and beyond.

Levenstein, the director of the women’s, gender, and sexuality program at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, has long been keeping a close watch on the feminist movement in both scholarly journals and the popular press. In this follow-up to her first book, A Movement Without Marches, the author begins in 1995, with the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, where white middle- and upper-middle-class American women, accustomed to being viewed as the leaders of the feminist movement, bumped into women from around the world with important ideas and agendas of their own: women of color, older women, environmentalists, and peace activists. From interviews with dozens of women, the author creates a sharp portrait of the attitudes and techniques of feminist leaders forging global networks to tackle problems such as violence against women, reproductive issues, poverty, racism, discrimination of all varieties, and even climate change. “Throughout the 1990s,” she writes, “activists fiercely debated who feminism should represent and what strategies it should employ. Such disagreements proliferated not because feminism lost its way but because so many different people increasingly felt invested in shaping the movement.” Levenstein’s discussion of the multifaceted battle over welfare is especially revealing while her miniprofiles and her conversations with activists allow readers to see them growing into their roles and trying to figure out the best direction for their future actions. The author shows how feminism greatly expanded its realm of influence and makes clear how the internet provided necessary tools—e.g., Twitter, Facebook—for groups to connect with others, arouse public interest in an issue, change opinions, and raise funds. Levenstein successfully combines well-documented research with personal observations and interviews to create an accessible and informative narrative.

Required reading for classes in women’s studies.

Kirkus Reviews