The Other Divide: Polarization and Disengagement in American Politics. By Yanna Krupnikov and John Barry Ryan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. 291p. $28.99 paper.

person who has known firsthand the feeling of discrimination and exclusion, and one who builds cross-racial alliances to advance racial and gender equity and a more inclusive democracy. Second, at the heart of this book, is an intersectional tale of the duplicities faced by the first woman of color to grace the halls of the United States’ legislative branch. Reading about the demeaning slights and misogyny that Congressmember Mink endured did not come as a surprise but leaves the reader with a great sadness. In today’s world, as women of color in politics grow in number and prominence, such injustices are still ever present, frommale members of Congress hurling sexually violent comments at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to the president of the United States calling his female colleagues “nasty women.” While still traumatic and hurtful, these defamations of character in contemporary politics are quickly condemned on social media, with viral videos, news columns, and commentary. As an historic first, Patsy Mink undoubtedly faced much isolation. She was exoticized, being called an “Oriental doll,” and rival campaigns flagrantly spread rumors that she was an ill-equipped mother, that she was a woman on the verge of mental breakdown, and that her daughter was developmentally disabled (p. 74). In response, she was a firebrand who called out injustices in her own party and unabashedly fought for a woman’s place in the legal profession and in the world of politics. Throughout the account, readers are met with a wellresearched political history that is paired with a rich narrative that reconsiders Mink’s place in feminist history. The authors reflect on the emergence of scholarship on feminism and intersectionality from authors such as Kimberlé Crenshaw, who emphasizes how race, gender, and other systems of inequality are interlinked. The authors argue that Mink’s identity as a racialized woman from Hawaii shaped her worldview and deeply influenced her style and strategy of political engagement. They contend that Mink promoted “intersectional feminist legislation” particularly during the last 12 years she served in Congress. As an antipoverty advocate, she protested the demonization of black women as “welfare queens” during the debate over welfare reform. She was a staunch advocate for the rights of immigrants as the 1990s saw an escalation of immigration enforcement measures in Congress; and during the period immediately following the attacks on September 11, she objected to the Patriot Act and other measures that would limit the due process and rights of legal permanent residents. Patsy Takemoto Mink left her imprint on countless policy accomplishments of the twentieth century, and the book’s retelling provides insights that speak to many contemporary literatures. Her reliance on cross-racial organizing and kinship ties in 1950s Hawaii is a lesson on electoral politics in racial and ethnic communities. Her coalition building within the women’s caucus in the 1990s to reject the appointment of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court and uplift the voice of Anita Hill defined third-wave feminism. Fierce and Fearless plants Patsy Mink firmly within the panoply of feminist history and makes clear her unique brand of lawmaking, one that combined her many identities as a woman of color and pioneer of intersectional legislative feminism. In this regard, the book is a must-read for scholars of intersectionality and will make an excellent addition to syllabi in a range of courses.