Everyday Courage : the Lives and Stories of Urban Teenagers (98 Edition)

"[A]n exciting, theoretically sophisticated and excellently documented contribution to feminist literature . . . . a timely case study of the feminisms that have emerged in response to national, ethnic, class-based, and international pressures throughout Western Europe . . . . politically astute and methodologically impeccable . . . . The scope is clearly stated; the goods promised are all delivered; the author's awesome linguistic skills have allowed for the use of particularly rich source materials not normally available to English speaking readers; and the very impressive bibliography allows what is a coherent whole to serve also as a stepping stone to further explorations . . . . a unique contribution to the comparative understanding of social movements. It will be indispensable for women's studies courses and should be read by all feminist theorists."

—Jan Branson

author of The Other Half

This is a major new history that introduces the reader to the development of feminism as a social and ideological movement in Western Europe during the late twentieth century. The volume begins with an overview of the specific character and evolution of European feminism and continues with a lengthy discussion of the status of women vis-a-vis technology, domestic work, politics, labor, and civil liberty.

Kaplan, herself fluent in seven languages, outlines the relevant postwar history of each country—Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland—drawing on numerous primary documents to provide the most comprehensive analysis to date of women's movements in this region of the world. Illustrating the kaleidoscope of European women's movements in their historical and political context, this book is essential reading for:

—students of women's studies and activists, as an introduction to European feminism with a vast bibliography for further reading;

—social movements scholars for its discussion of the various ways movements in individual countries evolved and for its analysis of different paradigms of action;

—theorists and single country specialists for whom the book provides a rich basis for comparison.

What does it mean to be a teenager in an American city at the close of the twentieth century? How do urban surroundings affect the ways in which teens grow up, and what do their stories tell us about human development? In particular, how do the negative images of themselves on television and in the newspaper affect their perspectives about themselves? Psychologists typically have shown little interest in urban youth, preferring instead to generalize about adolescent development from studies of their middle-class, suburban counterparts. In Everyday Courage Niobe Way, a developmental psychologist, looks beyond the stereotypes to reveal how the personal worldviews of inner-city poor and working-class adolescents develop over time. In the process, she challenges much conventional wisdom about inner-city youth and about adolescents more generally.

She introduces us to Malcolm, a sensitive and proud young man full of contradictions. We follow him as he makes the honor roll, becomes a teenage father, and falls into depression as his younger sister is dying of cancer. We meet Eva, an intelligent and confident young women full of questions, who grows increasingly alienated from her mother and comes to rely on her best friends for support. We watch her blossom as a ball player and a poet. We share her triumph when she receives a scholarship to the college of her choice.

In these 24 adolescents, Way finds a cross-section of youngsters who want to make positive changes in their lives and communities while struggling with concerns about betrayal, trust, racism, violence, and death. Each adolescent wants most of all to "be somebody," to have her or his voice heard.

Niobe Way is professor of applied psychology at New York University's Steinhardt School of Education. She is a three-time NYU Press author/editor, having written Everyday Courage and edited Adolescent Boys as well as having co-edited Urban Girls with Bonnie Leadbeater in 1996. She is also co-editor of The Experience of Close Friendship in Adolescence.