Myra Marx Ferree

Faculty Affiliate and Seminar leader, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University (2020-2022).
Alice H. Cook Professor of Sociology (emerita), University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Affiliate, Weatherhead Research Cluster on Comparative Inequality and Inclusion (2025-2027; 2020-2022).
Headshot of Myra Marx-Ferree situated against a grey background
MFERREE@ssc.wisc.edu
Personal website
Scholarship

Research interests: Gender and politics, contentious social movements, shifts in meaning of partisanship; German and EU gender policy

Bio: Emerita Alice H Cook Professor of Sociology at UW-Madison; local resident since 2020; monograph Varieties of Feminism: German Gender Politics in Global Perspective; co-author Shaping Abortion Discourse: Democracy and the Public Sphere in Germany and the US; co-editor Global Feminisms: Transnational Women’s Organizing, Activism and Human Rights.   

Research summary: I am using the research literature and secondary data to explore the shifting meaning of the US political binary of masculinity (Rep) and femininity (Dem) in relation to reproductive justice issues, demographic changes in family structures, and ecological awareness. With “green as the new pink” and whole local populations at risk and in movement, how are marriage, migration and misogyny reshaping the US party system even beyond the impact of MAGA political mobilizations.  

This information is accurate as of the affiliate year indicated. (updated 09.01.2026)