Battered Women’s Justice: The Movement for Clemency and the Politics of Self-Defense

Resource mobilization theory is used to examine the history of the movement to grant clemency to women jailed for killing or assaulting the men who abused them. Countering the view of some analysts that the battered womens movement has been co-opted, the author steps away from the shelters as the focus of her study and examines the work of activists, social movement communities, informal networks, and national organizations. After drawing upon the movement in Ohio as a precedent-setting case study, she analyzes the events in six other states where large-scale clemencies have been attempted or achieved. The Social Movements Past And Present Series offers thorough analyses of the ideas and actions that have changed the way Americans think and live. Each volume is written by a specialist drawing on the insights and methodologies of history, sociology, and political science.