Creating a Female Dominion in American Reform, 1890-1935

by Robyn Muncy

In this book, Muncy explains the continuity of white, middle-class, American female reform activity between the Progressive era and the New Deal. She argues that during the Progressive era, female reformers built an interlocking set of organizations that attempted to control child welfare policy. Within this policymaking body, female progressives professionalized their values, bureaucratized their methods, and institutionalized their reforming networks. To refer to the organizational structure embodying these processes, the book develops the original concept of a female dominion in the otherwise male empire of policymaking. At the head of this dominion stood the Children's Bureau in the federal Department of Labor. Muncy investigates the development of the dominion and its particular characteristics, such as its monopoly over child welfare and its commitment to public welfare, and shows how it was dependent on a peculiarly female professionalism. By exploring that process,
this book illuminates the relationship between professionalization and reform, the origins and meaning of Progressive reform, and the role of gender in creating the American welfare state.

Genres: History, Grad School, American History, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

How did this make it sound like the welfare state is complete?

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't let that intimidating title stop you. This is actually a very readable book that details efforts by women in the early 20th century to reform the nation's approach to care for women and children in the areas of labor laws, public health, education and politics. And other than occasional necessary dips into detailed statistics, it flows nicely and is as entertaining as it is informative.

It starts with Jane Addams' Hull House in Chicago and the national network of women that grew from that to run the Children's Bureau and other organizations for twenty years. It examines the successes of these reformers as well as legitimate criticism of their methods in certain areas.