Jean Hardisty

Jean Hardisty was PRA’s founder and president emerita, and had a Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern University. She was an activist for social justice issues for over 25 years and a well-known speaker and widely published author, especially on women’s rights and civil rights. In 1999, her book, Mobilizing Resentment, Conservative Resurgence from the John Birch Society to the Promise Keepers, was published by Beacon Press. She served on the boards of the Sister Fund, the Highlander Center, and the Women’s Community Cancer Project.

Articles

My On-Again, Off-Again Romance With Liberalism

In honor of PRA’s late founder Jean Hardisty, please enjoy this article originally published by the Women’s Theological Center (now known as Women Transforming Communities) in March 1996, as part of The Brown Paper series.

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Defending Justice: How Does Law & Order Play Out in Racial Terms?

You might imagine that an increased emphasis on law and order would result in increased attention to all forms of law-breaking. But addressing police brutality and other forms of State violence clearly is not the focus of law-and-order policies.

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From the New Right to Neoliberalism

The Threat to Democracy Has Grown

The U.S. is in the grip of an unprecedented dominance of right-wing ideologies and policies. Many progressive commentators see that the same band of New Right actors that have long pushed a conservative agenda are up to their old tricks, trying to…

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Defending Reproductive Justice

Activist Resource Kit

In the 40 years since the passage of Roe v. Wade, the struggle for reproductive justice has evolved and intensified. We must be prepared to deftly confront right-wing attacks and advance reproductive justice for all. The Roe 40^th…

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Thoughts From PRA's Founder

Looking back, what do you think PRA’s most memorable impact was?

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Pushed to the Altar

The Right-Wing Roots of Marriage Promotion

After the 2000 presidential campaign, I felt a shock of recognition when I read that the George W. Bush Administration planned to use its “faith-based” funding to support organizations to encourage women, especially welfare recipients, to marry. The…

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Marriage as A Cure for Poverty?

Social Science Through a ‘Family Values’ Lens

Dr. Jean V. Hardisty, founding director of Political Research Associates, exposes the questionable social science justifying George W. Bush’s campaign to promote marriage as a cure for poverty. Rightist academics and think tank researchers ignore…

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Pushed to the Altar

The Right-Wing Roots of Marriage Promotion

Pushed to the Altar tells the story of how a right-wing social movement took power in the Bush administration and installed unproven anti-poverty policies to fulfill ideological valorization of the two-parent, heterosexual family. The…

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Crime and Political Ideology

Introduction “An eye for an eye” captures the conservative model of punishment in contemporary western societies. That is, when a wrong is done to an innocent person, the wrongdoer must be severely punished in order to “even the books” and stand as…

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Drifting Right and Going Wrong

An Overview of the U.S. Political Right

Our country is in the midst of the longest period of right-wing reaction against movements seeking equality, social justice, and economic fairness since the period of Reconstruction in the south. We picture hooded Ku Klux Klan nightriders carrying…

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Corporate Desires vs. Anti-immigrant Fervor: The Bush Administration's Dilemma

George W. Bush accomplished a near-miracle when he united the various factions of the Republican Party behind his candidacy in the 2000 presidential election. To do so, he convinced them to put aside their differences in order to recapture the White…

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Rights for Some

The Erosion of U.S. Democracy

Introduction Right-wing leaders often appropriate progressive themes by calling for rule by “the people,” equal opportunity, and “equality” feminism. Their rhetoric has convinced many voters that the Right offers a more fair and direct form of…

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Reproducing Patriarchy

Reproductive Rights Under Siege

A woman’s ability to control her reproductive decisions—her reproductive rights—involves more than her right to safe and legal abortion. Reproductive rights encompass the right to bear and raise children, the right to access adequate reproductive…

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Kitchen Table Backlash

The Anti-Feminist Women’s Movement

The contemporary women’s movement has been a profound agent for change in the social, political, economic, and cultural life of the United States. Women have demanded reforms to increase their legal and economic power, advocating a…

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The Resurgent Right

Why Now?

For those who have worked to further social justice and democratic values in the United States, the election of November 8, 1994 was a defeat. The election results indicate that the American public has repudiated the liberalism that has been the…

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The Chosen People in the Promised Land

It can be frustrating to warn the public of growing U.S. antisemitism when the reply (often from Jewish advocacy organizations as well as non-Jewish groups) is that Jews are doing well in the U.S. Never better, in fact. In Scapegoat in the New…

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Confessions of a Religious Defender

Reading Stephen Carter is a frustrating exercise. His points are argued in reasoned tones, without the bombast or rhetoric of so many Black conservatives. In fact, he argues that he is not a conservative. He frequently assures the reader that he…

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Environmental Justice

Grassroots Constituencies Criticize the Movement

For many years, the large, mainstream environmental organizations such as The Audubon Society, the Wilderness Society, and the Sierra Club exercised hegemony over the environmental debate in legislation, the media, and publishing. In the 1980s and…

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Constructing Homophobia

Colorado's Right-Wing Attacks On Homosexuals

An eerie unease hangs in the air in Colorado. For lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals, nagging questions pervade everyday life: did the kindly person who just gave me her parking place vote for Amendment 2? Did my landlord vote for the amendment,…

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Overcoming Violence

Pride Becomes a Movement

Readers who want to defend and advance the gay and lesbian rights movement will find these three recent books particularly helpful. They document the conditions under which lesbians and gay men struggle for liberation. To read about those condi…

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Jean Hardisty

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