Miller, Jean Baker

There is irony in praising a woman who fostered a movement resistant to the glorification of individual achievement; yet there is ample reason for acknowledgment of her value and contribution to be shared. Rather than reducing her life to a sequence of achievements, Jean Baker Miller (1927–2006) may be remembered for the ways in which she related to the world. Her 1976 book Toward a New Psychology of Women was the foundation in which relational-cultural theory (RCT) was born and continues to be expanded today. Her life work exemplified her belief that each life is shaped, transformed, and ultimately defined by relationships. Her lived experience is a story of one growth-fostering relationship after another, each marking a milestone and creating the legacy of a woman ...