Barbara Bergmann

This book provides unique insight into the influential and impactful working life of Barbara Bergmann. It charts her life and career to contextualize her early work on racial and gender discrimination within the labour market, as well as her analysis of the traditional gendered division of labor within the household. Her significant contributions to economic methodology, her critique of mainstream economics, and her role in the establishment of feminist economics during the 1980s and 1990s are scrutinized, with particular attention to her definition of feminism and conceptualization of commodification. The book also examines her efforts to promote gender equality in public policy, along with her public engagement in advancing a progressive agenda on social security and welfare reform to an audience beyond academia.

This book highlights the lasting impact Barbara Bergmann had at the intersection of economics, race, feminism, and social justice. It will be relevant to students and researchers interested in the history of economic thought and the origin and development of feminist economics.

Giandomenica Becchio is Professor of Economics at the University of Torino.