Kirsten Swinth

Kirsten Swinth will research and write the first history of the contemporary American “working family.” Her project will demonstrate how a surge in mothers’ paid labor since 1970 provoked a deep cultural crisis as it disrupted the long-held norm of a male breadwinner and female homemaker. She will explore how this major reordering of social relations forged a new normative family ideal even as gender and racial inequalities persisted and many challenged the new model. She will also investigate how the media, social scientists, and politicians helped shape this new ideal.