About the author:聽Emmanuel David is an Assistant Professor of Women and Gender Studies, and the co-director of LGBTQ Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder
Book description: Hurricanes Katrina and Rita made landfall less than four weeks apart in 2005. Months later, much of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast remained in tatters. As the region faded from national headlines, its residents faced a dire future.
Emmanuel David chronicles how one activist group confronted the crisis. Founded by a few elite white women in New Orleans, Women of the Storm quickly formed a broad coalition that sought to represent Louisiana鈥檚 diverse population. From its early lobbying of Congress through its response to the 2010 BP oil spill, David shows how members鈥� actions were shaped by gender, race, class, and geography. Drawing on in-depth interviews, ethnographic observation, and archival research, David tells a compelling story of collective action and personal transformation that expands our understanding of the aftermath of a historic American catastrophe.
鈥�Women of the Storm pulls back the analytical curtain on one of the most unusual post-Katrina political movements. Drawing on firsthand observations and in-depth interviews, David reveals how privileged white New Orleans women used their philanthropic and volunteer skills to create a genuinely interracial alliance that could effectively pressure members of Congress to invest in the city鈥檚 and the whole coastal region鈥檚 revival. Here is a book for anyone doing intersectional digging into gendered social movements, congressional lobbying, or postdisaster politics.鈥濃�擟ynthia Enloe, author of Seriously! Investigating Crashes and Crises as if Women Mattered
"Women of the Storm is an important 'studying up' investigation of privileged women in post-Katrina New Orleans. It offers a rare, in-depth look at the volunteer political labor of elite women. Engaging and well written, David focuses on micro-level processes and presents careful descriptions of events and dialogue to illuminate issues of power, inequality, diversity, gender, social class, and politics. Women of the Storm is a truly valuable addition to the field of gender and disaster."鈥擜lice Fothergill, coauthor of Children of Katrina
"This fascinating book describes a courageous group of elite women who took the risk to bridge race and class divides, stand together, and take collective political actions that were fundamental to the recovery of New Orleans. David captures their hopes and deliberations, intelligence and limitations, and joie de vivre with candor and compassion鈥攁 beautiful achievement."鈥擱ebecca E. Snedeker, coauthor of Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas
鈥淭he book鈥檚 unique focus centers on the well-orchestrated activities of an elite group of women as they defined and acted upon their roles as community leaders to invite, entice, and cajole national leaders to see for themselves the block-by-block evidence of Hurricane Katrina鈥檚 destruction. It makes a substantial contribution to the study of social class and women鈥檚 activism while raising important questions about inclusion and exclusion, and how a community represents itself.鈥濃�擝eth Willinger, coeditor of Newcomb College, 1886-2006: Higher Education for Women in New Orleans
Publication date: October 2017
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