Joan Acker


Joan Elise Robinson Acker was an American sociologist, researcher, writer and educator. She was a part of the University of Oregon faculty starting in 1967. Acker is considered one of the leading analysts regarding gender and class within the second wave of feminism.

Education

Acker was born in Illinois in 1924. She received her bachelors from Hunter College, her master's from the University of Chicago, and her Ph.D. from the University of Oregon.

Career

Acker is best known for her theories on the relationship between race, class, and gender. She discusses this relationship in several of her publications, including her 2006 book . Acker describes the need to think about race, class, and gender not as separate entities but as "intersecting systems of oppression." In 1973, Acker founded the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University of Oregon. She successfully helped to raise pay wages for low-wage jobs in Oregon while serving on a state task force from 1981-1983. She received the American Sociological Association's Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award in 1993. In 1989, Acker was also awarded the Jessie Bernard Award for feminist scholarship.

Later life and legacy

She died on June 22, 2016 at the age of 92.

Books

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