Between Women and Generations

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxi

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2. The Inheritance of Dreams

   • Drucilla Cornell

   Pages 1-26

3. Darings of the Feminine

   • Drucilla Cornell

   Pages 27-70

4. The Art of Witnessing and the Community of the Ought to Be

   • Drucilla Cornell

   Pages 71-94

5. Cooperation for Dignified Labor: Moving Toward Unity

   • Drucilla Cornell

   Pages 95-120

6. Stories of Unity

   • Drucilla Cornell

   Pages 121-152

7. Abiding by Last Rites

   • Drucilla Cornell

   Pages 153-166

8. Back Matter

   Pages 167-244

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This book defies easy categorization but will be one of the most original, thoughtful, and genuinely interesting books published next year. Before the author's mother died, she asked her daughter, Drucilla, to write a book 'that would bear witness to the dignity of her death [and one that] her bridge class would be able to understand.' As if that wasn't difficult enough, Drucilla's mother, who had a degenerative disease, decided to end her life by ingesting a lethal cocktail of drugs. Drucilla was in the unenviable position of bearing witness to her mother's act. Unsentimental yet poignant, candid and courageous, this is the book that Drucilla promised her mother she'd write. Unlike her earlier academically-oriented books, Between Women and Generations is an intensely personal narrative which interweaves the personal and political decisions Drucilla's made throughout her life. She uses the personal as a springboard to talk about larger philosophical issues such as how one achieves dignity in life and in death, and the nature of intergenerational relationships between women. Drucilla speaks candidly of her relationship with her mother, about her decision to adopt a non-Western child, and about her commitment to UNITY, a cooperative of house cleaners in Long Island, New York. This book will resonate strongly with Western women.

"Drucilla Cornell's work combines scrupulous cutting-edge thought with an overflowing, compassionate and personal humanity. May her concept of dignity influence the thinking and actions of her readers." - Alicia Ostriker, author of The Nakedness of the Fathers

"Between Women and Generations is a great gift to the present. Drucilla Cornell is among the most courageous, probing, and far-sighted of feminist thinkers." - Catharine R. Stimpson, New York University

DRUCILLA CORNELL is Professor of Political Science and Senior Scholar of Women's Studies at Rutgers University. She is the author of numerous critically acclaimed books on philosophy and women's issues.

Policies and ethics