Background
Fuchs, Rachel Ginnis was born on June 25, 1939 in New York City.
( Traditional histories of the French Third Republic ofte...)
Traditional histories of the French Third Republic often overlook the extent to which concerns about the place of women and the health of the family influenced the course of government policy, particularly the direction of welfare reform. Combining the approaches of social and political history, Gender and the Politics of Social Reform in France, 1870-1914 offers a new perspective on women's lives in the Third Republic -- and on the emergence of the welfare state in general -- by looking at the attitudes, actions, and policies of the men who held political power. Addressing themes in the newly invigorated field of welfare-state history, contributors to this volume offer evidence that social reform in France began far earlier than is usually supposed and was a response by republican politicians and social activists to a declining population growth rate. As this demographic crisis inspired efforts to improve maternal and child health and increase the birth rate, motherhood was redefined as a public mission deserving of public support. Even though the eventual reforms resulted in greater recognition of women's role in the proper functioning of society and provided for programs beneficial to infants, the legislation enacted by the men in power was decidedly patriarchal in its scope, treating women as children rather than equals. Contributors are Elinor Accampo, Linda L. Clark, Rachel G. Fuchs, Theresa McBride, Mary Lynn Stewart, and Judith F. Stone. "This important and timely collection of essays is a valuable contribution to this reinvigorated scholarly field. The history of the welfare state has for too long been in the suffocating grip of specialists in institutional history with no vision of the wider historical setting, or has been regarded as an addendum to the history of labor organization and revolutionary socialism. This volume argues clearly and persuasively for a new orientation." -- Robert Nye, Oregon State University
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801850614/?tag=2022091-20
( Rachel Fuchs shows how poor urban women in Paris negoti...)
Rachel Fuchs shows how poor urban women in Paris negotiated their environment, and in some respects helped shape it, in their attempt to cope with their problems of poverty and pregnancy. She reveals who the women were and provides insight into the nature of their work and living arrangements. With dramatic detail, and drawing on actual court testimonies, Fuchs portrays poor women's childbirth experiences, their use of charity and welfare, and their recourse to abortion and infanticide as desperate alternatives to motherhood. Fuchs also provides a comprehensive description of philanthropic and welfare institutions and outlines the relationship between the developing welfare state and official conceptions of womanhood. She traces the evolution of a new morality among policymakers in which secular views, medical hygiene, and a new focus on the protection of children replaced religious morality as a driving force in policy formation. Combining social, intellectual, and medical history, this study of poor mothers in nineteenth-century society illuminates both class and gender relations in Paris, and illustrates the connection between social policy and the way ordinary women lived their lives.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081351780X/?tag=2022091-20
Fuchs, Rachel Ginnis was born on June 25, 1939 in New York City.
Student, University Michigan, 1959. Bachelor, Boston University, 1959. Master of Arts, Boston University, 1962.
Doctor of Philosophy, Indiana University, 1980.
Instructor Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1968-1972. Associate director office women's affairs Indiana University, Bloomington, 1979-1981, visiting assistant professor, 1980-1981. Director women's resource office Purdue University, 1981-1983.
Assistant professor history Arizona State University, Tempe, 1983—1989, associate professor, 1989—1993, professor, since 1993.
( Traditional histories of the French Third Republic ofte...)
( Rachel Fuchs shows how poor urban women in Paris negoti...)
(Book by Fuchs, Rachel G.)
Member American History Association, Society French History Studies.
Married Norman H. Fuchs, June 21, 1959. Children: Mindy Ellen, Daniel Mark.