Jean V. Hardisty (June 18, 1945 – March 16, 2015) was a political scientist and lesbian radical feminist activist who became a national resource for human rights movements seeking social and economic justice and an end to bigotry based on race, gender, or class. She was a senior scholar with the Wellesley Centers for Women.

Biography

Hardisty received her PhD from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in Illinois, taught briefly and, in the 1980s, left academia to conduct a study of the anti-feminist women's movement for the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

of Illinois. She predicted a massive organized right-wing backlash which saw the rise of the New Right and the election of Ronald Reagan as President in 1980. She then founded the think tank which became

Political Research Associates Political Research Associates (PRA), formerly Midwest Research, Chicago (1981–87) is a non-profit research group located in Somerville, Massachusetts. Mission PRA studies the U.S. political right wing, as well as white supremacists, and para ...

in Massachusetts to study right-wing movements nationwide. She worked as an adviser to the legal team that overturned

Colorado Amendment 43 Colorado Amendment 43 was a referendum approved by the voters in 2006 that added a new section to Article II of the Colorado Constitution to define marriage in Colorado as only a union between one man and one woman. It passed with 56% of the vote. ...

. Her study "Constructing Homophobia" was included in her book ''Mobilizing Resentment: Conservative Resurgence from the John Birch Society to the Promise Keepers'', . She served on the boards of the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Sister Fund, the

Highlander Research and Education Center The Highlander Research and Education Center, formerly known as the Highlander Folk School, is a social justice leadership training school and cultural center in New Market, Tennessee. Founded in 1932 by activist Myles Horton, educator Don West (e ...

, the

Center for Community Change Community Change, formerly the Center for Community Change (CCC), is a progressive community organizing group active in the United States. It was founded in 1968 in response to civil rights concerns of the 1960s and to honor Robert F. Kennedy. Th ...

, and the Women's Community Cancer Project. She was an education consultant to the Ms. Foundation Democracy Funding Circle. Hardisty served for many years on the board of the Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the

and has been inducted into The City of Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. Articles by Hardisty have appeared in ''The Nation'' magazine, ''The Women's Review of Books'', ''The Public Eye'', and other publications. A video interview with Hardisty is at the Chicago Gay History website.

Selected publications

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References

External links

Wellesley Centers for Women

The Nation Magazine

Political Research Associates

Religion Dispatches

Astraea Foundation

Jean Hardisty WebsitePapers of Jean V. Hardisty, 1954-2015 (inclusive), 1976-2008 (bulk): A Finding Aid.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
Records of Center for New Words, 1976-2010: A Finding Aid.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardisty, Jean Northwestern University alumni American LGBT rights activists 1945 births 2015 deaths Inductees of the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame American women political scientists

Biography

Selected publications

References

Further reading

External links