Community Action

Cynthia Fuchs Epstein’s career has a great deal of political activism. As Judith Lorber wrote, “scholarship and political activism were to become the two prongs of her professional career” (asanet.org). Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, as was mentioned previously, was involved with the formation of the National Organization for Women in New York City. She is also an active member of many women’s groups, like the Professional Women’s Caucus and Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS). Cynthia also “rode the bus to Albany with Friedan, Kate Millet, Ti-Grace Atkinson, and Flo Kennedy to picket the state legislature” (Epstein 356). One of her greatest contributions to activism would be her participation in hearings on gender discrimination. She testified at the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, or the EEOC, which was newly formed. The EEOC was establishing guidelines that would interpret Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

After providing testimony for the EEOC, her activism became intermittent because it soon became clear that her “larger contribution would be on the scholarly side” (Epstein 356). However, she has not totally abandoned activism. Instead she has had many interchanges between her scholarly work and her activist work. She keeps track of what is going on in regards to women’s position and from this foundation, her sociological work has transitioned into social-policy directives.

As an expert witness, she testified in Mallette et al v. Jones et al in 1995 and 1996. This case was the plaintiff’s challenge to the Citadel and she argued for the inclusion of women in the Citadel, which is an elite military school. She was also an expert witness in Amy Cherry v. Coudert Bros. In this case, Amy Cherry sued the Coudert Bros. law firm where she was a practicing attorney because prior to having a child, she was on track to become partner, but three months after she had a baby, she was fired. Other cases she served as an expert witness for where Monica Davis v. Metropolitan Life (Leavy, Rosensweig, and Hyman, New York) from 1995-1996 as well as in the Ontario Human Rights Commission in Ontario, Canada from 1990-1992.

On top of this, Cynthia Fuchs Epstein has also been a consultant to both the White House under two different administrations and at the National Academy of Sciences on the Committee on Women’s Employment. She was a consultant for American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) and General Motors. At AT&T she conducted research on “the workplace culture at AT&T and its impact on attempts to change gender and racial occupational segregation” (asanet.org).

When I asked Dr. Epstein about her current activism, she stated that “My activism consists of signing petitions for what I think are important causes although I have been active within ASA in putting forth several resolutions for the ASA Council having to do with women's performance in the sciences; and the rights of sociologists in other countries. I am also a member of ‘Sociologists Without Borders’”.

Information from:

"Personal Reflections with a Sociological Eye" by Cynthia Fuchs Epstein in Authors of Their Lives edited by Bennett M. Berger. 1990. Los Angeles: University of California Press, Ltd.

http://www.courttv.com/store/videos/legal_archive/CT1033.html

Http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?section=Presidents&name=Cynthia+Fuchs+Epstein