Lisa Levenstein

Lisa Levenstein is Professor of History and Director of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Her scholarship centers on 20th-century US gender dynamics, with emphasis on systemic inequality and feminist activism.

Education:

• Ph.D. in History, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• A.B. in History, Brown University

Research Focus: She investigates reproductive justice, poverty policy impacts on women of color, and feminist movements. Her work challenges conventional narratives by highlighting grassroots organizing and intersectional approaches in post-1970s activism. Key themes include government welfare systems, reproductive rights, and transnational feminist coalitions.

Major Publications: Levenstein authored two pivotal books:

• A Movement Without Marches analyzes African American women’s navigation of urban poverty policies in postwar Philadelphia.
• They Didn’t See Us Coming uncovers overlooked 1990s feminist networks that laid groundwork for contemporary social justice movements.