This project explores networks of women strengthening community resilience as they respond to a diversity of different kinds of social crises. Through an interdisciplinary, cross-scalar collaboration, the project team focuses on understanding how women’s networks respond to disruptions looking at the following five case studies: 

  • Mothers Out Front:  An advocacy organization founded in 2013 to promote clean energy and advocate for local, state, and federal policies to address climate change.
  • Moms Demand Action: A group founded in 2012, in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, to reduce gun violence and advocate for stricter gun control laws.
  • Mothers Against Drunk Driving: An organization, founded in 1980 by a mother whose teenaged daughter was killed by a drunk driver, that has been extraordinarily successful in its mission to implement federal and state policies to eliminate drunk driving.
  • Mothers of the Movement: A group of women whose African American children have been killed by police or extrajudicial gun violence. Several members, including the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Sandra Bland have made appearances at key political and cultural events to speak out about violence against Black Americans.
  • Women’s Movement: A grass-roots response to the election of and inauguration of Donald Trump, dedicated to advancing intersectional women’s political issues.

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This seed grant team has been awarded a Collaborative Research Cluster within the Humanities Center at Northeastern. The Northeastern Humanities Center’s Collaborative Research Clusters give faculty the opportunity for a range of interdisciplinary research collaborations, bringing together scholars and practitioners both within and outside the university community, around a common issue of humanistic significance. The purpose is to facilitate productive discussions and collaborations among the participants, with a view toward the development of joint projects, conferences, publications, and grant applications. Learn more about the award,

Project Principal Investigators