Class Questions - (Gender Lens) by Joan Acker (Paperback)

About the Book

Class Questions: Feminist Answers examines feminist theories of class and intersectionality and proposes a theory of gendered and racialized class processes as deeply embedded in capitalist practices, both historically and today. Joan Acker argues that large work organizations...

Book Synopsis

Class Questions: Feminist Answers examines feminist theories of class and intersectionality and proposes a theory of gendered and racialized class processes as deeply embedded in capitalist practices, both historically and today. Joan Acker argues that large work organizations are primary locations in which gendered and racialized class inequalities are created. As neo-liberal market practices reorganize work, gendered and racialized class inequalities are both reorganized and increasing nationally and globally. This book will appeal to readers interested in a feminist discussion of class as a racialized and gendered process intimately tied to the capitalist economic system.

Review Quotes

Joan Acker's newest work arrives at precisely the right moment-a time when we are increasingly aware of inequality. This work, which demonstrates her usual clarity and depth of knowledge, provides a study on class that will be as vital as her study on gender. Weaving together multiple strands of feminist theorizing, with particular attention to contributions of materialist feminism, she develops a much-needed framework for understanding and analyzing the implications of organizations in the production and reproduction of gendered and raced class relations. This is an important and hopeful book.

[Acker's] presentation provides a useful overview of theories about class and gender, and readers should find it valuable to get a sense of conversations on these topics....The book is quite valuable....The challenge of accurately describing the world confronts all academics and social thinkers, and Acker provides a commendable addition to that effort. This book certainly stands as an accomplishment of a feminist theorization of class....Acker's account is a worthwhile read for those conceptualizing the connections between class, race, and gender.

Acker develops a framework for understanding and analysing the implications of organizations in the production and reproduction of gendered, race and class relations.... Acker elevates the importance of class without ignoring gender and race.

Acker succeeds in breaking new ground by merging issues of class, race, and gender and the lenses through which they are viewed ... Her work does much to close the chasm that has existed between discussions of class and discussions of gender and race. Highly recommended.

In Class Questions: Feminist Answers, Joan Acker responds to feminists' decades-long plea to synthetically analyze class, gender, and race. By focusing on "ongoing processes and practices," she shows how capitalisms and bureaucracy were "gendered" and "racialized" from their inception and how work organizations operate as "regimes of inequality" that make "claims to non-responsibility" for the non-work lives of their members. This brilliantly insightful book is a must-read for anyone interested in how class uses gender and race to create and sustain inequalities in contemporary society.

About the Author

Joan Acker is professor emerita of the department of sociology at the University of Oregon and recipient of the American Sociological Association's Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award and Jessie Bernard Award.