100 Years of the Nineteenth Amendment: An Appraisal of Women’s Political Activism

100 Years of the Nineteenth Amendment looks back at the century since the amendment giving women in the United States the right to vote was ratified. The volume asks: how has women’s political engagement unfolded over the last one hundred years? The chapters consider women’s participation in electoral politics as well as their efforts in social movement activism. They reveal that, while women have made substantial strides in the political realm—for example, voting at higher rates than men and gaining greater leadership roles in politics and social movements—barriers to gender equality remain. The book explores the diverse experiences of women from a variety of backgrounds, including women from different racial, ethnic, class, and gender identities and with differing sexual orientations and educational and political backgrounds. As the volume traces women’s presence in politics, it also helps readers look forward, to consider possibilities for the next one hundred years of women’s political engagement.