"Betsy Mix Cowles--a bold reformer whose circle of acquaintances included Frederick Douglass, Abby Kelley, and William Lloyd Garrison--is a brilliant example of what an educated and independent woman can accomplish. A staunch defender of abolitionism, Cowles also took up the cause of women's rights and dedicated her life to the advocacy of women's access to education, equal rights, and independence in the pre-Civil War era. The life of this devoted social reformer illuminates the struggles and historical developments relating to abolitionism and the fledgling women's movement during one of the most contentious periods in American history. About the Lives of American Women series: Selected and edited by renowned women's historian Carol Berkin, these brief biographies are designed for use in undergraduate courses. Rather than a comprehensive approach, each biography focuses instead on a particular aspect of a women's life that is emblematic of her time, or which made her a pivotal figure in the era. The emphasis is on a "good read," featuring accessible writing and compelling narratives, without sacrificing sound scholarship and academic integrity. Primary sources at the end of each biography reveal the subject's perspective in her own words. Study questions and an annotated bibliography support the student reader"--

"Children growing up today are confronted by four difficult and intersecting challenges: dangerous environmental change, weakening democracies, growing social inequality, and a global economy marked by unprecedented youth unemployment and unsustainable resource extraction. Yet on streets everywhere, there is also a strong, youthful energy for change.This book sets out an inspiring new agenda for citizenship and environmental education which reflects the responsibility and opportunities facing educators, researchers, parents and community groups to support young citizens as they learn to 'make a difference' on the issues that concern them. Controversial yet ultimately hopeful, political scientist Bronwyn Hayward rethinks assumptions about youth citizenship in neoliberal democracies. Her comparative discussion with the US and UK draws on lessons from New Zealand, a country where young citizens often express a strong sense of personal responsibility for their planet but where many children also face shocking social conditions. Hayward develops a 'SEEDS' model of ecological citizenship education (Social agency, Environmental Education, Embedded justice, Decentred deliberative democracy and Self transcendence). The discussion considers how the SEEDs model can support young citizens' democratic imagination and develop their 'handprint' for social justice.From eco-worriers and citizen-scientists to streetwise sceptics, "Children, Citizenship and Environment" identifies a variety of forms of citizenship and discusses why many approaches make it more difficult, not easier, for young citizens to effect change. This book will be of interest to a wide audience, in particular teachers of children aged 8-12 and professionals who work in Environmental Citizenship Education as well as students and researchers with an interest in environmental change, democracy and intergenerational justice.Introduced by international sustainability expert Tim Jackson, the book includes forewords by leading European and USA academics, Andrew Dobson and Roger Hart.Half the author's royalties will be donated to child poverty projects following the earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand.Follow Bronwyn Hayward's blog at: http://growing-greens.blogspot.co.nz/<BR>"-- "Today's millennial generation inherit a world confronted by four difficult and intersecting challenges: dangerous environmental change, weakening democracies, growing social inequality, and a paradigm of economic growth that has contributed to unprecedented youth unemployment and resource extraction beyond our planet's limits. But the future is not inevitable and today on the streets everywhere; there is a strong, youthful energy for change. 'Children, Citizenship and Environment' sets out a new agenda for citizenship education which reflects both the responsibility and opportunities we are confronted with to support young citizens. In a myth busting discussion of issues facing young citizens growing up in neoliberal democracies, political scientist Bronwyn Hayward draws on the experience of New Zealanders, a nation where young citizens often express a strong sense of personal responsibility for their planet but where many face shocking social conditions. Theoretically informed and written with engaging practical insight, Hayward argues that young citizens today will need fewer lessons in how to recycle or when to switch off the lights and more intergenerational support to reclaim their democratic imagination and discover the 'seeds' of ecological citizenship and their own SMART ' handprint' for social justice. This book will be of interest to a wide audience including teachers in the Education sector, students and researchers, as well as policy makers and N.G.Os who work in the area of Youth Citizenship"--

"In 1991, Anita Hill's courageous testimony during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings sparked a national conversation on sexual harassment and women's equality in politics and the workplace. Today, she turns her attention to another potent and enduring symbol of economic success and equality-the home. Hill details how the current housing crisis, resulting in the devastation of so many families, so many communities, and even whole cities, imperils every American's ability to achieve the American Dream. Hill takes us on a journey that begins with her own family story and ends with the subprime mortgage meltdown. Along the way, she invites us into homes across America, rural and urban, and introduces us to some extraordinary African American women. As slavery ended, Mollie Elliott, Hill's ancestor, found herself with an infant son and no husband. Yet, she bravely set course to define for generations to come what it meant to be a free person of color. On the eve of the civil rights and women's rights movements, Lorraine Hansberry's childhood experience of her family's fight against racial restrictions in a Chicago neighborhood ended tragically for the Hansberry family. Yet, that episode shaped Lorraine's hopeful account of early suburban integration in her iconic American drama A Raisin in the Sun. Two decades later, Marla, a divorced mother, endeavors to keep her children safe from a growing gang presence in 1980s Los Angeles. Her story sheds light on the fears and anxiety countless parents faced during an era of growing neighborhood isolation, and that continue today. In the midst of the 2008 recession, hairdresser Anjanette Booker's dogged determination to keep her Baltimore home and her salon reflects a commitment to her own independence and to her community's economic and social viability. Finally, Hill shares her own journey to a place and a state of being at home that brought her from her roots in rural Oklahoma to suburban Boston, Massachusetts, and connects her own search for home with that of women and men set adrift during the foreclosure crisis. The ability to secure a place that provides access to every opportunity our country has to offer is central to the American Dream. To achieve that ideal, Hill argues, we and our leaders must engage in a new conversation about what it takes to be at home in America. Pointing out that the inclusive democracy our Constitution promises is bigger than the current debate about legal rights, she presents concrete proposals that encourage us to reimagine equality. Hill offers a twenty-first-century vision of America-not a vision of migration, but one of roots; not one simply of tolerance, but one of belonging; not just of rights, but also of community-a community of equals"--Provided by publisher.