Simmons College

Carole Biewener is a Professor of Women's and Gender Studies and Economics. Since 2004, she has been the Coordinator for the interdisciplinary minor in Social Justice. She was Chair of the Women's and Gender Studies Department from 2000-2003, Director of the masters program in Gender/Cultural Studies from 1998-1999, and Chair of the Department of Economics from 1992-1995.

Professor Biewener received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her research has addressed the French Socialist government's financial policies in the 1980s, community development and social economy projects in the United States and Canada, and debates at the intersection of poststructuralist feminism and postmodern Marxism. Currently she is engaged in a collaborative research project with Marie-Hélène Bacqué, a professor of Urban Studies at the Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre, that traces the genealogy of the term "empowerment" in the fields of gender and development, urban politics and social work. They are completing a book, Pourquoi l'empowerment? which will be published in 2012 by the French press, La Découverte. Recent publications include "Different manifestations of the concept of empowerment. The politics of urban renewal in the United States and Great Britain," forthcoming in the Journal of Urban and Regional Research, and "Empowerment, développement et féminisme: Entre projet de transformation sociale et néolibéralisme," in La démocratie participative : histoire et généalogie (La Découverte 2011).

Professor Biewener teaches Women and Work, Women in the World Economy, Feminism and Economic Difference, Organizing for Social Change, Economic Development and Principles of Microeconomics. As of 2012-2013 she will also be overseeing the Economics Department Internship program.