Rae Lesser Blumberg is William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology. She received her Ph.D. from Northwestern in 1970 and joined the Sociology Department at the University of Virginia in 1998. She is also Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego.

Her academic work revolves around two theories. First is a general theory of gender stratification found in such works as Stratification: Socioeconomic and Sexual Inequality (Wm. C Brown, 1978); “A General Theory of Gender Stratification” (Sociological Theory 1984); and Gender, Family, and Economy: The Triple Overlap (Sage 1991). The second is an evolving theory of gender and economic development as described in such works as “Making the Case for the Gender Variable: Women and the Wealth and Well-being of Nations (U.S.A.I.D. 1989) and Engendering Wealth and Well-being: Empowerment for Global Change, edited by Blumberg, Cathy Rakowski, Irene Tinker and Michael Monteon, (Westview, 1995). Largely in pursuit of her theories, she has worked in over 40 countries on every continent except Antarctica.

Gender Stratification, Gender and Development, Theory, Comparative Sociology, Third World Development, Comparative Urbanization Ph.D. (1970) Northwestern University.

Selected Publications

Books

• Blumberg, Rae Lesser
  Familial Organization: A Quest for Determinants
  New York: The Free Press, 1977.

• Blumberg, Rae Lesser
  Stratification: Socioeconomic and Sexual Inequality
  Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown, 1978.

Edited Books

• Gender and Development: The Economic Basis of Women's Power
  Edited by Rae Lesser Blumberg and Samuel Cohn, Sage Publishing, April 2019

• Gender, Family, and Economy: The Triple Overlap
  Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1991.

• Cathy A. Rakowski, Irene Tinker and Michael Monteon
  Engendering Wealth and Well-Being
  Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995.

• Development in Crisis:Threats to human well-being in the Global South and Global North
  Routledge, 2016.

Articles

See Priva Cook: Gender Bias Pervades Textbooks Worldwide