"Every generation needs a scholar like Mimi Abramovitz when historian becomes futurist. Masterfully weaving economics, politics, policies, cultural ideologies, and social movements, she articulates US history as experienced by women and people of color. She reveals ongoing struggles/resistance of everyday people and what this portends in the Trump era."
- Jessica Toft, Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, USA
"A critical update to a seminal text from one of social work's foremost thinkers on the welfare state. Now, more than ever, we need Abramovitz's clarity of thought in bringing feminist politics to social work theory and practice, to move the profession away from neoliberalism, racism and gender oppression."
- Cameron W. Rasmussen, Assistant Professor at the Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, USA
"I cut my teeth on the first edition of this pathbreaking feminist tome, and can unreservedly say that the world needs this meticulously researched, cutting-edge 4th edition now more than ever. There’s no one who can state the case better than Abramowitz for gender and race equity, and an end to poverty."
- Donna Baines, Professor in the School of Social Work, University of British Columbia, Canada
"The timing of the 4th edition of this brilliant book could not be better! With major revisions to roughly half the book, Abramowitz has retained a feminist framework, but more closely examines both the history and the negative effect of recent Neoliberal policies on the lives of women."
- Susan P. Robbins, Cele S. and Samuel D. Keeper Endowed Professor in Social Justice, University of Houston, USA
"With scholarly precision and feminist activist lens, Mimi Abramovitz continues to shine a light on how women's lives are controlled by patriarchal and racialized social welfare arrangements, historically and contemporarily. With incisive analysis and determined feminist activism, Mimi Abramovitz's carefully crafted work shows that when women organise, they remain a powerful force fighting for gender quality and inclusive democracy for all. Essential reading for scholars of contemporary feminist social policy analysis."
- Carolyn Noble, Founding Professor of Social Work and Head of School of Social Work at Australian College of Applied Psychology and co-editor of The Routledge International Handbook of Feminisms in Social Work (2024)
"Mimi Abramovitz is in that category of feminist theorists who has created concepts so popular, that you have probably used them without realizing their source. And now in this volume you can understand the sheer intellectual force with which Abramovitz intricately weaves together her concept of the "Family Ethic" with Social Reproduction Theory. The result is historically precise and theoretically stunning."
- Tithi Bhattacharya, Professor of South Asian History at Purdue University, USA
We are fortunate that Mimi Abramovitz has updated and revised her classic book, Regulating the Lives of Women. Abramovitz illuminates the ways in which, from colonial times to the present, social policy rewarded women who complied with the Family Ethic and punished those who departed from its prescribed wife and mother roles. Providing a gendered analysis of the welfare state that takes race, class, and history into account, she also, importantly. advances proposals toward gender equity. This new edition is incisive and informative, increasing our understanding of current challenges and potential for positive change.
- Michael Sherraden, George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, USA
