Democratic Women’s Caucus Reading List
July's topic is Barak Obama. The focus of our discussion will be on Obama's newest book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream - although references to other texts are warmly welcomed! A copy of a chapter from The Audacity of Hope will be available, upon request, from Julie. We will gather at 4 pm at Julie's house.*
And... Melinda Henneberger, If They Only Listened to Us: What Women Voters Want Politicians to Hear (2007) and texts by/about John Edwards.
* Julie's house is located at 3030 Russell Road. Email Julie for directions drjuliethomas@gmail.com" and/or for a copy of a selected chapter from Obama's book.
Note: This list has been recently
refurbished. Both upcoming and past book club titles are featured first. This
is followed by the general list of suggested titles, which are now in
alphabetical order by author’s last name. As always, we welcome comments (how
can we make this a more useful tool) and suggested book titles. Please send
those to Julie Thomas.
Past Book Club Titles
Arianna Huffingtion, Pigs at the Trough: How
Corporate Greed and Political Corruption are Undermining America
Gloria Felt, The War on Choice: The
Right-Wing Attack on Women’s Rights and How to Fight Back
Thomas Frank, What’s the Matter with Kansas?
How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
Laura Flanders (editor), The W Effect:
Bush’s War on Women
Cokie Roberts, Founding Mothers
Marie C. Wilson, Closing the Leadership Gap:
Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World. Wilson is founder of The White
House Project: Vote, Run, Lead!
George Lakoff, Don’t Think of an Elephant!
Know Your Values and Frame the Debate
Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On Not
Getting By in America
GENERAL LIST OF SUGGESTED TITLES:
* Denotes a title which is new to the list (not necessarily recently published).
Bakan, Joel.The Corporation: The
pathological pursuit of profit and power. Recommended by Tomi
Allison.
Brazile, Donna. Cooking with Grease:
Stirring the Pots in American Politics. Brazile was a contender in the
election for Chair of the Democratic Party in 2005. She was Campaign Manager
for Al Gore’s 2000 Presidential election campaign, was Chief of Staff for
District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, and was Deputy Campaign
Manager for Jesse Jackson’s 1984 Presidential Campaign.
Brock, David.The Republican Noise
Machine. Brock also authored Blinded by the Right - his mea culpa
in the Anita Hill hearings.
Clift, Eleanor. Founding Sisters and the
Nineteenth Amendment. This is a suggested companion to the viewing of the
HBO video, Iron Jawed Angels.
Clift, Eleanor. Madam President: Shattering
the Last Glass Ceiling
Collins, Gail. America’s Women: 400 Years of
Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines.
Edelman, Marian Wright. The Measure of Our
Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours. Recommended as an
inspirational read.
Ellison, Sheila. If Women Ruled the
World
Flanders, Laura. Bushwomen: Tales of a
Cynical Species. An investigation of the political (and personal) lives of
key women in the Bush administration (e.g. Karen Hughes, Condolezza Rice) as
well as Laura Bush.
Freedman, Estelle B. No Turning Back: The
History of Feminism and the Future of Women. An accessible history of
women in the United States. The text is not organized chronologically, but by
topic area.
Fund, John. Stealing Elections: How Voter
Fraud Threatens our Democracy.
Hartman, Thom. Unequal Protection. The
rise of corporate dominance and the theft of human rights. Recommended by Tomi
Allison.
* Hooks, bell. Feminism is for Everybody:
Passionate Politics. A simply-written, quick read which offers great depth
and insight into the (many) ways in which women are not equal in American
Society.
Huffington, Arriana. Fanatics and
Fools
Johnston, David Cay. Perfectly Legal: The
Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich – and Cheat
Everyone Else. Recommended by Tomi Allison.
Keillor, Garrison. Homegrown Democrat.
Recommended as an uplifting read – an antidote for post-election (2004)
depression.
Kennedy, Caroline. A Patriot’s
Handbook
Lakoff, George. Moral Politics: How Liberals
and Conservatives Think. This is a longer version of Lakoff’s Don’t
Think of an Elephant (see April 2005 book club title, above)
* Larson, Lia (editor). Skirting Tradition:
Women in Politics Speak to the Next Generation
Lunardini, Christine. What Every American
Should Know About Women’s History
McChesney, Robert. The Problem of the
Media. Recommended by Tomi Allison.
Monk, Linda R. The Words We Live By: Your
Annotated Guide to the Constitution. This is a basic introduction to the
Constitution.
Nance, Ted. Gangs of America. The rise
of corporate power and the disabling of democracy. Recommended by Tomi
Allison.
Perkins, John. Confessions of an Economic
Hitman. Recommended by Tomi Allison.
Phillips, Kevin. Wealth and
Democracy
The Reader’s Companion to U.S. Women’s
History. In multiple editions, a great reference, from the past to the
present, on issues important to women.
Reich, Robert B. Reason: Why Liberals Will
Win the Battle for America
*Rhode, Deborah L. (editor). The Difference
“Difference” Makes: Women and Leadership (2003)
Rose, Phyllis (editor). The Norton Book of
Women’s Lives
Ryan, Charlotte. Prime Time Activism: Media
Strategies for Grassroots Organizing
Satterthwaite, Ann. Going Shopping: Consumer
Choices and Community Consequences.
Steinem, Gloria. Outrageous Acts and
Everyday Rebellions. A compilation of Steinem’s key texts, spanning many
decades, with updated notes (by the author) for most of the pieces.
Trippi, Joe. The Revolution Will Not Be
Televised
Vrato, Elizabeth. The Counselors:
Conversations with 18 Courageous Women Who Have Changed the World
Wallis, Jim. God’s Politics: Why the Right
Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get it.
Whitney, Catherine, et. al. Nine and
Counting: The Women of the Senate. Note: there are now 14 women in the
Senate.
Wolf, Naomi. Fire with Fire. Confronting
a taboo subject: women’s fear of their own power. Wolf writes: “most women
embrace equality but reject ‘feminism’”.
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the
United States. A core text on the real history of the United
States, told from the perspective of the American people rather than through
the eyes of generals and politicians – the elite, powerful (white male)
minority which is the focus of most history textbooks.
Bakan, Joel The Corporation: The pathological pursuit of
profit and power by
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