Michelle Christine Smith

Michelle Christine Smith, an author specializing in rhetoric and gender, explores women’s roles in 19th-century intentional communities. She discusses the archival research behind Brook Farm, Harmony Society, and Oneida Community, revealing how they reshaped women's work amid industrialization. Smith argues that these utopian attempts weren't failures but rather setups for modern labor practices, including the birth control movement and the transformation of household roles. Her insights offer a fresh perspective on the intersection of gender, class, and race in historical labor dynamics.