In memoriam of Sociology Professor Nancy Chodorow, a foundational feminist scholar

Nancy Chodorow, an esteemed sociologist, psychoanalyst and professor emerita at UC Berkeley, passed away on Oct. 14. She was 81. 

Chodorow joined the Berkeley Sociology Department in 1986 after graduating from Radcliffe College in 1966 and receiving her Ph.D. in sociology from Brandeis University in 1975. 

While at Brandeis, she studied under sociologist Philip Slater, whose work on mother-son relationships inspired Chodorow to examine why there was no extensive literature on mother-daughter relationships. Her research on them ultimately culminated in her dissertation, later published as The Reproduction of Mothering. The 1978 book became one of the most influential works of feminist study and gender theory, transforming the field of psychoanalytic feminism. 

“Major intellectual achievements require dissatisfaction with the status quo,” said Gabriel Chodorow-Reich, Chodorow’s son. “The Reproduction of Mothering began with my mother’s dissatisfaction with the imbalance between the study of mothers and sons and the study of mothers and daughters.”

This dissatisfaction, he added, was later channeled into the creation of the Gender and Women’s Studies Department at UC Berkeley, which Chodorow had a hand in developing alongside English Professors Emerita Elizabeth Abel and Janet Adelman and former Chancellor Carol Christ. 

Chodorow’s revolutionary theories on feminism and gender bridged the fields of sociology and psychoanalysis. She studied how mothering shapes psychological development and social roles, suggesting links between girls’ gender development and the strength of their relationship with their mother, among other topics. 

“Nancy Chodorow was one of the founding figures of second wave feminist theory,” said Berkeley Social Sciences Dean Raka Ray. “She revolutionized feminist theorizing by bringing together the psychoanalytic and the sociological, emphasizing the role of the structure of the nuclear family in creating the early psychic formation of men and women. I was fortunate to experience her brilliance and clarity when I arrived at Berkeley as a young feminist sociologist, and will always be grateful for her mentorship.” 

After The Reproduction of Mothering, Chodorow would go on to author five other books, including; Femininities, Masculinities, Sexualities: Freud and Beyond; The Psychoanalytic Ear and the Sociological Eye: Toward an American Independent Tradition; and The Power of Feelings: Personal Meaning in Psychoanalysis, Gender, and Culture. She also authored more than 60 articles and book chapters, influencing countless scholars both within and beyond the field of sociology.

“Throughout her career, Nancy crafted pioneering essays and books that bridged the worlds of individual and society, psyche and structure. She reconceptualized our understanding of gender, family, sexualities and individuality,” said UCLA sociology professor and psychoanalyst Jeffrey Prager. “Nancy was a rare, bracing voice that will be sorely missed.”

“Nancy Chodorow was a bold, courageous innovator,” added Berkeley Sociology Professor Emerita Ann Swidler. “She used psychoanalytic ideas not to explain individual behavior but to develop a distinctive account of broad (indeed, universal) patterns in human societies: persistent differences in identity formation and psychic tendencies between women and men, and even the constitution of gender itself. Her work has been widely influential in fields from American Studies to literature and throughout social sciences.”

“Nancy Chodorow was a genuinely innovative thinker,” added Berkeley Sociology and Law Professor Emerita Kristin Luker. “She brought together two bodies of literature: psychoanalysis, which saw the self primarily as an internal process, and sociology, which saw the self as primarily external, created in interaction with others. Perhaps her contribution is clearest in her book The Psychoanalytic Ear and the Sociological Eye, which taught sociologists to listen to people as well as observe them.”

During her time as a professor at Berkeley, Chodorow was also a practicing psychoanalyst, serving as a faculty member at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute, where she graduated from in 1993. After her retirement, she moved to Cambridge, Mass., where she served on the faculty of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and as a lecturer on psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

“The Reproduction of Mothering grappled with the role of the mother (and, therefore, also the father) at a time when society was in transition from one where most women did not have full careers outside the home to one where most did. My mother had two: her career as a sociologist at Berkeley, and her psychoanalytic practice,” said Chodorow-Reich. “Somehow this did not keep her from developing extraordinary friendships; from her enjoyment of the arts, including museums, symphonies and opera; from her love of cooking; from caring for her parents as they aged; from her large extended family; and, most important to me, from mothering my sister and me and grandmothering our children with tenderness, love, devotion, patience and guidance.” 

Nancy is survived by her children Rachel and Gabriel Chodorow-Reich and their spouses, her husband Carl Salzman, his two children and seven grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at Temple Israel in Boston, Mass., on Oct. 17 at 11 a.m. ET, followed by a burial service at Mount Auburn Cemetery at 1 p.m. ET and a reception to follow. Parking for the funeral will be available on the Riverway; just drive to the temple and attendants will direct you. Those that plan to attend are asked to RSVP here. The service will also be livestreamed here. 

The family is also planning a memorial over the next few months, and Professor Chodorow’s former students and colleagues are planning a memorial session at ASA in August. Those interested in helping can contact Dave Harding at [email protected].