Feminist Institutional Activists: Venue Shifting, Strategic Adaptation, and Winning the Pregnancy Discrimination Act

Abstract

We examine efforts of feminist institutional activists in the 1960s and 1970s as they worked to gain U.S. federal policy to combat workplace pregnancy discrimination. The success of these activists in winning policy change provides a case that allows us to develop a theoretical understanding of how feminist institutional activists can succeed in winning policy change. We find that when institutional activists strategically shifted governmental arenas and adapted their mobilization and discursive strategies to these arenas, they were able to dismantle policy-specific barriers that impeded their goals. In taking these steps, feminist institutional activists were successful in opening up both contingent and structural opportunities, which ultimately allowed them to gain the policy change they sought.

The road to gender equality: Persisting obstacles for American women in the workforce.

“…Throughout history, women have had to fight for equality, freedoms, and rights (Adamek, 1994; Akoja & Anjorin, 2020; Barry, 2013; Berg, 1989; Berlant, 1993; Bhattacharyya, 2018; Blumell & Mulupi, 2020; Brown, 2003; Carlin & Winfrey, 2009; Colby, 2013; Daniels, 1996; Deitch, 1993; Dolan, 2001; Foster, 2008; Fuchsman, 2017; Gantt-Shafer et al, 2019; Ginsburg, 1973; Hardouin et al, 2020; Hargis, 1955; Hebert, 2018; Houghton, 1999; Hsia, 1978; Jacoby, 1975; Kenneally, 1967; Kimble & Olson, 2006; Kitch, 2018; Lathers, 2009; Lewis, 2011; Linehan, 2017; Lunardini & Knock, 1980; Maloney, 1996; Marshall, 1986; Masel-Walters, 1976; McCammon & Brockman, 2019; McCammon & Campbell, 2001; O’Malley, 2020; Porter, 2014; Richards, 2007; Rosenthal & Peters, 2008; Rupp, 1996; Siebler, 2010; Siegle, 1985; Simon, 2002; Sorock, 2010; Sullivan, 2006; Thompson, 2002; Towns, 1966; Tyner & Ogle, 2007; Wade & Fiorentino, 2017; Wayne, 2020). As shown in Table 1 (Milligan, 2017), there are a variety of historical events, movements, and milestones that have affected and impacted women’s rights…”

The Formation and Consequences of Political Generations in Social Movements: Cases of Feminist Activism in Ecuador and Peru1,2

“…By focusing on the interactions between movement agency and political contexts, my findings enhance existing research. Most existing research focuses on the formative processes of political generations occurring within movement agency as clearly distinct from political contexts (Johnston and Aarelaid-Tart 2000;Rayner and Morales-Rivera 2020;Reger 2012;Rocca Rivarola 2021;Whittier 1995), while other studies focus on the political contexts shaping from the outside the formation of political generations inside a movement (Armstrong 2003;Chen 2014;McCammon and Brockman 2019). A challenge that remains with using Mannheim's (1927Mannheim's ( / 28 [1952) concept of political generations is to explicate the link between movement agency and political contexts.…”