Time, place, and the lifeworlds of feminist geographers: the US in the 1970s

Abstract

The 1970s, the decade in which Susan Hanson took up an academic appointment in American geography, was a period of marked growth in women's representation and political activism in the discipline and of the emergence of feminist research and teaching. Susan's career illustrates the changes in consciousness, resiliency in the face of setbacks, and creativity of the times. Inspired by the women's movement, and exemplifying collegiality, women geographers identified masculine biases in scholarship and professional practices, initiated research and teaching on women and gender, and worked to enter the leadership of the Association of American geographers. Their efforts were the genesis of the feminism in the profession that has since flourished in the United States. It is fitting that Susan Hanson's leadership and contributions in this arena are widely recognized and honored.

Los años 70, la década en la que Susan Hanson asumió un cargo académico en geografía estadounidense, era un período de marcado crecimiento en la representación y activismo político de las mujeres en la disciplina y del surgimiento de la investigación y la docencia feminista. La carrera de Susan ilustra los cambios en la consciencia, la resiliencia frente a los reveses y la creatividad de ese tiempo. Inspirada por el movimiento de mujeres, y siendo un modelo de compañerismo, las mujeres geógrafas identificaron un sesgo masculino en las prácticas profesionales y académicas, iniciaron investigación y práctica docente sobre mujeres y género, y trabajaron para entrar en el liderazgo de la Asociación de Geógrafos Estadounidenses. Sus esfuerzos fueron la génesis del feminismo en la profesión, que ha florecido desde entonces en los Estados Unidos. Es apropiado que el liderazgo y las contribuciones de Susan Hanson en este área sean ampliamente reconocidos y honrados.

Keywords:

• American geography
• 1970s
• feminist scholarship
• political activism
• Susan Hanson

Keywords:

• geografía estadounidense
• años 70
• investigación feminista
• activismo político
• Susan Hanson

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Marianna Pavlovskaya for her role in organizing the session in honor of Susan at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the AAG in Boston which initiated writing of this set of tribute papers.

Notes

1. Developments in other national contexts have varied as they have been shaped by local economic resources, political conditions, disciplinary cultures, and the lifeworlds of women geographers. Examples of such contextual histories are elaborated in a special issue of the journal Belgeo (García-Ramon and Monk 2007; Monk, Droogleever Fortuijn, and Raleigh 2004).

2. The Equal Employment Opportunity Act and the Education Amendments Act were passed by the US Congress in 1972 (Rossiter 1995).

3. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic004101/college-deferments, March 7, 2009.

4. I have elsewhere detailed these activities, the barriers the women faced, and their accomplishments (Monk 2006).

5. These include election as a member of the National Academy of Sciences; Lifetime Achievement Award of the Association of American Geographers; Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences; Van Cleef Medal, American Geographical Society; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Guggenheim Fellow; Honors, Association of American Geography; President, Association of American Geographers.