*by
RSA Animate video:
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo&NR=1[/youtube]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_EhrenreichBarbara EhrenreichFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Barbara Ehrenreich (born August 26, 1941, Butte, Montana) is an American feminist, democratic socialist, sociologist and political activist, a prominent figure in the
Democratic Socialists of America. She is a widely read columnist and essayist, and the author of nearly 20 books.
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 cellular biology from Rockefeller University.
Citing her interest in social change, 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 and John divorced and in 1983 she 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 and 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.
Ehrenreich was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after the release of her book,
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. 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, non-partisan 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."
Ehrenreich is currently an honorary co-chair of the
Democratic Socialists of America. She also serves on the
NORML Board of Directors and
The Nation 's Editorial Board.
* Re the RSA Animate video:
For over 250 years the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) has been a cradle of enlightenment thinking and a force for social progress. Our approach is multi-disciplinary, politically independent and combines cutting edge research and policy development with practical action.http://www.thersa.org/about-us
