Ehrenreich, Barbara

Barbara Ehrenreich is an American social critic and women's advocate. Since the late 1960s, Ehrenreich has authored over 20 social critiques addressing the effects of capitalism on American society, the status of women's health, American foreign policy, and the evolving concept of the American dream. In addition to her scholarship, Ehrenreich is active in local and national-level labor disputes.

Ehrenreich was born in Butte, Montana, in 1941 and raised in a blue-collar family. During her childhood, her father worked as a miner, but was later able to move his family up the economic ladder after attending the Butte School of Mines. After earning a doctorate in cell biology, Ehrenreich went to work for a small nonprofit organization in New York City that advocated better healthcare for the city's poor. She writes: “One of the things we did was put out a monthly bulletin and I found myself enjoying doing investigative stories for it. There was no decision to become a writer; that was just something I started doing.”

Following the birth of her first child in 1970, she coauthored her first social critique, a small pamphlet, which recounted her firsthand experiences with sexism in the medical field during the birthing process. Ehrenreich went on to accept a teaching job at the State University of New York Old Westbury while working on freelance writing projects.

She later published on a range of American social issues and has written for magazines including The Nation, Time, and The Progressive. In one of her first widely read nonfiction pieces, Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class (1990), Ehrenreich argues that middle-class Americans have lost their class consciousness and no longer demonstrate solidarity with working-class Americans on the issue of economic equality.

Her best-selling critique Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America (2001) chronicles her [Page 465]personal struggle to survive while working minimum-wage jobs across America. In researching the book, Ehrenreich purposely took jobs such as Walmart clerk, waitress, maid, and nursing home assistant. Nickel and Dimed describes how despite her level of education, broad life experience, and intellect, she found it difficult to earn a living wage working minimum-wage jobs.

Nickel and Dimed has been criticized by some conservatives, who argue that the book advocates socialism and is anti-American, but Ehrenreich's work has been generally well received by mainstream commentators and has frequently been used by colleges and universities as required reading for freshman students.

Her newest book, Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America (2009), critiques the American cultural tendency toward optimism. Ehrenreich wrote the book as a response to social pressure she felt to adopt a positive attitude after a recent breast cancer diagnosis.

Ehrenreich is also a socially active culture critic and regularly participates in protests, rallies, and speaking engagements on behalf of marginalized workers. In 2006, she founded the nonprofit group United Professionals, which aims to “reach out to all unemployed, underemployed and anxiously employed workers-people who bought the American dream that education and credentials could lead to a secure middle class life, but now find their lives disrupted by forced beyond their control.” Ehrenreich says, “I cannot imagine doing anything other than what I do. Sure, I could have more stability and financial security if I'd stuck to science or teaching. But I chose adventure and I've never for a moment regretted it.”

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