The Meagre Harvest: The Australian women’s movement 1950s-1990s

‘The most balanced perspective of the Australian women’s movement over the past 25 years that one could read, and be provoked and challenged.’ Pat O'Shane

In just a couple of decades, the ‘second wave’ women’s movement has revolutionised Australian society. Or has it?

Gisela Kaplan traces the story of post-war Australian feminism, highlighting the ambivalence about/to lesbian, migrant and Aboriginal women. From a feminist perspective, she assesses the achievements of the women’s movement, arguing that despite appearances, for many women it has been a meagre harvest.

Meagre Harvest is a provocative account of the promises and mistakes of the 1970s and 1980s and the current status of women in Australia. The first book to offer an overview of the second wave Australian women’s movement, it is written with compelling honesty and insight.

Professor Gisela Kaplan is a sociologist in the Research Centre for Aboriginal and Multicultural Studies at the University of New England. She has also worked for a number of community groups including the Women’s Refuge Movement of Australia and served on the Women’s Advisory Council of Nsw. She is author of several books including the highly acclaimed Contemporary Western European Feminism.