Changing Women, Changing Nation explores the literary representations of women in Salvadoran and US-Salvadoran narratives during the span of the last thirty years. This exploration covers Salvadoran texts produced during El Salvador's civil war (1980–1992) and the current postwar period, as well as US-Salvadoran works of the last two decades that engage the topic of migration and second-generation ethnic incorporation into the United States. Rather than think of these two sets of texts as constituting separate literatures, Yajaira M. Padilla conceives of them as part of the same corpus, what she calls "trans-Salvadoran narratives"—works that dialogue with each other and draw attention to El Salvador's burgeoning transnational reality. Through depictions of women in trans-Salvadoran narratives, Padilla elucidates a "story" of female agency and nationhood that extends beyond El Salvador's national borders and imaginings.
When we look back over the 20th century and try to understand what's happened to workers and their families and the challenges they now face, the movement of women out of the home and into paid employment stands out as a unique and powerful transformation. At one level, everything has changed. And yet so much more change is needed. Even though we were all witness to the shift of women becoming equal or primary breadwinners over many years, these changes seem somehow to have snuck up on us. As a result, our policy landscape remains stuck in an idealized past, where the typical family was composed of a married-for-life couple with a full-time breadwinner and full-time homemaker who raised the children herself. This report contemplates what a new America should look like after we finally embrace this important new dynamic in our lives and the changes in our homes and businesses it has caused. It examines every institution, including: Health Care--Health care and child care must be overhauled to accommodate the 24 hour work day. Education--With more women acting as equal or primary breadwinners in the family, it is critical that there are resources to provide better and up to date education for all ages. Business--Research shows that corporations with more women in the board room are more successful than those with all male boards. With that in mind, the report puts forth many recommendations to allow businesses to get the best out of all employees by thinking outside the box of old fashioned models in scheduling, benefits, and role playing. Media--The disconnect between how women are portrayed in the media and reality is as present as ever; although women are now portrayed as thin, well dressed, successful stars in their careers and home lives, the reality is that women still struggle to have it all. The report highlights the many disparities that still exist and calls for specific changes. Faith--Many religious institutions have resisted the integration of women into the higher ranks of spirituality, and many feel that it is to the religious community's detriment. Marriage--the dynamics of marriage have changed as gender roles have become less clear and there is more flexibility in the division of responsibilities. Yet no one is sure what the rules are any more. This section, which includes candid essays from men about fatherhood and masculinity, addresses the tricky balancing act that many couples are engaged in. The report will be the cornerstone of the 2009 Women's Conference held in California October 26-27th of 2009. The Women's Conference is the nation's premier forum for women and is hosted by California First Lady Maria Shriver and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Conference, also known as The California Governor and First Lady's Conference on Women, has grown from a California initiative for working professionals into an international network of women from all walks of life, backgrounds and perspectives, and a life-changing experience for the thousands of women who have attended. The mission of The Women's Conference is to inspire, empower and educate women to be Architects of Change in their own lives and in the lives of others.
An inspiring history of all the women who have taken a seat in Congress! For the first 128 years of America’s history, only men served in the Senate and House of Representatives. All that changed in January 1917 when Jeannette Rankin was sworn in as the first woman elected to Congress. From the women’s suffrage movement to the 2018 election, Ilene Cooper highlights influential and diverse female leaders who opened doors for women in politics. Women featured include Nancy Pelosi (the first woman Speaker of the House), Margaret Chase Smith (the first woman elected to the Senate), Patsy Mink (the first woman of color to serve in the House), and newcomers like Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. This updated book includes archival photographs and lively illustrations from Elizabeth Baddeley, as well as a chart of all the women who have served in Congress, appendices that define key terms and governmental procedures, and an index. In a great new reading format, this updated, revised edition is perfect for young feminists!
This final report of the Panel on Alternative Census Methodologies provides an assessment of the Census Bureau's plans for the 2000 census as of the time of the 1998 census dress rehearsal. It examines changes in census plans following, and to a modest extent in reaction to, the panel's second interim report, regarding the use of sampling for nonresponse follow-up, construction of the master address file, use of multiple response modes and respondent-friendly questionnaires, and the use of administrative records. It also describes evaluation plans for the census dress rehearsal and plans for data collection and experimentation during the 2000 census. Most of the results from the dress rehearsal were not yet available to the panel, so this report does not offer any suggested changes to 2000 census plans in response to the dress rehearsal.
This book presents the remarkable constitutional reforms undertaken by the Blair and Brown governments in the UK. The reforms are remarkable in that they had the potential to change the way Britons understood the national identity of the UK. The book illuminates the ambitions of the key players in Whitehall and Westminster and is enriched through a study of comparable constitutional reforms in Canada and Australia: the Charter of Rights and Freedoms pioneered by Pierre Trudeau and the attempt by Paul Keating to make Australia a Republic. The Canadian and Australian chapters are a contribution to the political history of those nations and a device for understanding the changes in Britain. The author is an expert in the use of Freedom of Information and was a senior policy maker in Whitehall working primarily on constitutional reform. Readers will benefit from the author's unrivalled access to interviewees and documentary sources in the three countries covered in the book.
This book explores how the diverse and fiercely independent peoples of Texas and New Mexico came to think of themselves as members of one particular national community or another in the years leading up to the Mexican-American War. Hispanics, Native Americans, and Anglo Americans made agonizing and crucial identity decisions against the backdrop of two structural transformations taking place in the region during the first half of the nineteenth century and often pulling in opposite directions. On the one hand, the Mexican government sought to bring its frontier inhabitants into the national fold by relying on administrative and patronage linkages; but on the other, Mexico's northern frontier gravitated toward the expanding American economy.
One of Time’s 100 most influential people “shines a new light on the need for a holistic approach to caregiving in America . . . Timely and hopeful” (Maria Shriver). In The Age of Dignity, thought leader and activist Ai-jen Poo offers a wake-up call about the statistical reality that will affect us all: Fourteen percent of our population is now over sixty-five; by 2030 that ratio will be one in five. In fact, our fastest-growing demographic is the eighty-five-plus age group—over five million people now, a number that is expected to more than double in the next twenty years. This change presents us with a new challenge: how we care for and support quality of life for the unprecedented numbers of older Americans who will need it. Despite these daunting numbers, Poo has written a profoundly hopeful book, giving us a glimpse into the stories and often hidden experiences of the people—family caregivers, older people, and home care workers—whose lives will be directly shaped and reshaped in this moment of demographic change. The Age of Dignity outlines a road map for how we can become a more caring nation, providing solutions for fixing our fraying safety net while also increasing opportunities for women, immigrants, and the unemployed in our workforce. As Poo has said, “Care is the strategy and the solution toward a better future for all of us.” “Every American should read this slender book. With luck, it will be the future for all of us.” —Gloria Steinem “Positive and inclusive.” —The New York Times “A big-hearted book [that] seeks to transform our dismal view of aging and caregiving.” —Ms. magazine
