In this highly-praised analysis of the controversial pro-choice movement, Suzanne Staggenborg traces the development of the movement from its origins through the 1980s. She shows how a small group of activists were able to build on the momentum created by other social movements of the 1960s to win their cause--the legalization of abortion in 1973--and argues that professional leadership and formal organizational structures, together with threats from the anti-abortion movement and grass-roots support, enabled the pro-choice movement to remain an active force even after their primary goal had been achieved.

Suzanne Staggenborg's profile page

Suzanne Staggenborg is Associate Professor of Sociology at McGill University.

"A meticulously researched examplar of historical sociology."--American Journal of Sociology

"The Pro-Choice Movement provides the most richly detailed and nuanced narrative of the strategies and tactics of pro-choice organizations available. It is also one of the first works written by a scholar (rather than an activist, journalist, or freelance writer) chronicling activities of the pro-choice movement."--American Political Science Review

"The book is meticulous and thoroughly documented....An authoritative history of the people and events associated with reproductive rights....The meticulous detail of the book makes it especially valuable as a historical account. Its theoretical importance and power come from its critique of the social movement literature and particularly of the assumptions about organizational structure built into that literature."--The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

"Excellent coverage of organizational history of a social movement."--natasha Kraus, SUNY Buffalo

"Extremely valuable for students of social change movements....A significant study."--Journal of American History