Rosalind P. Petchesky

Rosalind Pollack Petchesky (born August 16, 1942) is an American political scientist, and Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Hunter College, City University of New York. She is the founder of the International Reproductive Rights Research Action Group (IRRAG).

Early life and education Rosalind Pollack Petchesky was born in Bay City, Texas to Roberta Friedman and Simon Pollack. She grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma in a Liberal Zionist family.

Petchesky graduated from Smith College summa cum laude, and has a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. She previously taught at Ramapo College.

Career Petchesky is known for incorporating differing theoretical frameworks, including ethics, political philosophy, history, political science, and others, into the study of reproductive rights.

From 1972 to 1987 she was Professor of Political and Social Theory at Ramapo College of New Jersey. In 1987 she was hired as Professor of Political Science and Coordinator of Women's Studies at Hunter College in New York. Petchesky lectures widely and is the author/editor of many professional articles and numerous books. an international journal in women's and gender studies.

Activism Petchesky describes her youth as "involved and influenced" by the Civil rights movement. She stopped attending synagogue when her father and rabbis did not support her anti-racist activism. She says that a class at Smith College under Ibrahim Abu-Lughod was her first interaction with a Palestinian. Following her retirement from academia, she dedicated herself to Anti-Zionist organizing with Jewish Voice for Peace.

On October 27, 2023, Petchesky was the oldest person arrested at Grand Central Terminal in a protest calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza war. She organized a group of more than 30 Jewish seniors to participate. She was also among a group of 18 Jewish elder women who chained themselves to the White House front gate prior to the annual Hanukkah party.

Awards 1995 MacArthur Fellows Program

Works The first edition was winner of the American Historical Association's 1984 Joan Kelly Memorial Prize in Women's History. Second revised edition: 1990.

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Petchesky R. P. & Alexander M. (2014). Debt. Feminist Press at the City University of New York. Farmer, E., Petchesky, R. P., Sills, S., & Erakat, N. (2021). A land with a people : Palestinians and Jews confront Zionism : a collection of personal stories, history, poetry, and art. Monthly Review Press.