Abstract
In
Golin's text is organized into four parts. In Part I, he traces each individual and the start of her work within the context of the 1950s. For example, he describes the impact of Cold War anti-Communism, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and other types of protests (e.g., racial segregation, economic inequality, urban renewal, McCarthyism, etc.) occurring across cities in the United States and how these social and political contexts shaped the unique challenges and opportunities that each activist faced. Part II focuses on how each of these individuals responded to and engaged in various forms of activism to the main social justice concerns (e.g., racial justice, urban renewal, environmental justice, and second-wave feminism) that they were involved in throughout the 1950s. He highlights Baker's organizing that created the SNCC and the writing process of Jacobs, Carson, and Baker for their respective books.
Part III shifts to reflect on the impact of these women's activism in the 1960s and, eventually, 1970s. Golin also examines how each of these individuals engaged with and felt, at times, the tension of the leadership roles that they occupied because of their work. Finally, the book ends with Golin's reflections on the historical impact that each of these women left on the social movements that they were involved with. He concludes by bringing in an analysis of capitalism in relation to each of the social movements that Baker, Jacobs, Carson, and Friedan led.
In his research for this book, Golin collected data through multiple historical papers, archives, articles, speeches, and interviews, among other sources. His writing reflects a deep engagement and analysis with both primary and secondary data to reach his thesis concerning the impact that each of these leaders had on the 1960s and the multiple decades that followed. However, in his introduction, Golin mentions the impact of class, race, and gender within the social contexts for each of these activists but does not explicitly name or further engage with the role of intersectionality nor how he defines feminism within this historical context. Although he explores each of the four activists within the framework of capitalism in the epilogue, a deeper engagement with intersectionality and broader feminist theories to situate this history would bolster his analysis of the relationship between the activists and their social movements. Similarly, Golin does not engage with his own positionality to frame his identities, experiences, and theories that shaped how he stepped into this research to analyze four female activists.
Golin's book would be a beneficial addition to social work history, policy, and welfare courses. As he signals in this book, historians have grappled with making sense of the transition from the 1950s to 1960s to the eras that have followed. Yet, Golin offers his audience a unique way to engage with the 1950s and 1960s by sharing not only vital information about the lives of these four key activists but also about the impact they each had on a pivotal social movement that they helped shape. Golin bookends his analysis by sharing his hope that future generations of activists will listen and learn from the work of Baker, Jacobs, Carson, and Friedan and their organizing efforts that were so impactful.
