Author Description

In this collection of essays, Jean O’Barr offers a historical archive of how we have thought about feminism, women’s studies, and the transformation of knowledge over the years, painting a detailed picture of what it looks like to change both knowledge and structures on a university campus. A record of O’Barr’s personal and professional journey—one that paralleled the growth of the women’s movement and the development of women’s studies—Transforming Knowledge reflects the belief that women’s studies is as much about institutional change as it is about content. The first section provides an overview of the conceptual frameworks O’Barr developed to analyze institutions and their hesitancy to embrace change; the second describes how she created feminist change and found the frameworks for explaining it to others; and the third is retrospective in tone, reflecting on lessons learned over four decades of doing this work. Feminists will find both examples and inspiration in O’Barr’s essays on how to change the institutions they are a part of and expand and transform the knowledge we all share.