Barbara Ehrenreich

Author and activist

Barbara Ehrenreich is a sociologist, author and activist. She was educated at Carnegie Mellon University, Reed College, and Rockefeller University, where she graduated with a PhD in physics. Rather than pursue a scientific career Ehrenreich became involved with political activism, sociology and writing. In 1991 she began writing for Time magazine, and has since written for publications such as the New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, and In These Times. Her talent as a writer led her to a teaching position at the University of California, Berkeley in the late 1990s.

In 2006, Ehrenreich founded United Professionals, and is a co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. Her publications include, Long March, Short Spring: The Student Uprising at Home and Abroad (1969), Re-Making Love: The Feminization of Sex (1986), Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class (1989), and Smile Or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America (2009).