Unequal Freedom

Booknews

Glenn (ethnic and women's studies, U. of California at Berkeley) studies the complex history of the inequalities that exist in America with a comparative regional study from the end of Reconstruction to the eve of World War II. Following an overview of the concepts of the free worker and the independent citizen at the national level, she reveals the interplay between local and national forces and discusses how race and gender issues influenced the struggle over labor and citizenship rights at the local level between blacks and whites in the South, Mexicans and Anglos in the Southwest, and Asians and white planters in Hawaii. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Canadian Woman Studies

Pointing to the "worker citizen" as central to what it means to be "American", Glenn makes a major contribution to the study of racial and gender oppression by examining the linkages between labor and citizenship in American society…While this is a work of American history, the analysis has international appeal, as readers will want to consider the connections between labor and citizenship in their national contexts…Glenn challenges her audience to think about racism and sexism systematically, and not as individual beliefs and attitudes…With the rise of global labour markets, analyses of the connections between labor and citizenship commenced by this excellent work is likely to remain important task in public policy debates.
— Sandra Tam

Choice

Although the US has long professed its commitment to universal equality, it remains a society in which gender and race limit opportunities. By exploring the operation of citizenship and labor, Glenn...seeks to explain the persistence of inequality in US society. She provides a comparative analysis of the interaction of racial and gender relations in three settings: the South, the Southwest, and Hawaii. Each of these regions used race and gender hierarchies to structure labor markets and define citizenship to exclude segments of the labor force from the benefits of educational opportunities and political rights...This important, multifaceted analysis interweaves gender, race, and class in an innovative approach that is sensitive to various facets of citizenship as well as to formal and informal methods of exclusion. Glenn moves easily between national structures and local dynamics, drawing attention to the "multiple levels at which efforts for change are needed" if the US is to live up to its promise of universal equality. Highly recommended.
— K. Fones-Wolf

Rhetoric and Public Affairs

Although many scholars have called for stronger theoretical ties between race and gender, few have substantively engaged in an analysis that contributes to this task. Evelyn Nakano Glenn succeeds in doing this analysis...Glenn's work meets the difficult challenge of analyzing discourses that are often hidden from dominant modes of thinking and understanding. This contribution makes her work compelling and important to our discipline.

— Erin McNeal Reser