Janet Freedman’s new book starts with a basic idea: talking and listening.

In “Reclaiming the Feminist Vision: Consciousness-Raising and Small Group Practice,” Freedman calls for the return of consciousness-raising groups, a form of political activism made popular in the late ‘60s. It was during that time when second-wave feminism was taking flight.

Freedman, a former professor and Dean of Library Services at UMass Dartmouth, retired from the campus in 2004. Five years later, she joined Brandeis University where she conducts research. Her new book stems from that work.

She first became politically active during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, a period of increased interest in women’s rights following the suffrage movement of the 19th century and early 20th century. While the first wave dealt primarily with voting rights, second-wave feminism broadened the scope, incorporating discussions of legal inequalities, family and the workplace.

“At that time, jobs were sex-stereotyped,” said Freedman. “It was even difficult for women to get credit without their husband’s signature on a credit card. There was a need for legislative action and that did happen in that period.”

Another defining characteristic of the second wave was women gathering together in small groups to discuss their own lives. This style of activism derived from similar methods used throughout the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. By exploring and expressing their own narratives, women were able to connect and unearth common experiences.

These discussions shed light on a society that held women to different standards and sparked a need to create social structures and responses within institutions to address change. Through raising awareness in a safe space, the personal became the political.

“One interesting part of this movement, is that my activism merged with my profession,” said Freedman. “Librarians organized to change the way subjects were described. We organized to make sure that books that responded to women’s lives around childbearing, birth control, abortion, divorce and lesbian rights were all represented in our collections.”

While the roundtable discussion has been a tool adopted and adapted at business meetings and in the classrooms of today, the feminist consciousness-raising practice waned during the ‘80s. In Freedman’s book, she argues the need for its return.

In 2009 Freedman joined what she described as a “feminist think tank” at Brandeis University. Her colleagues come from various professional backgrounds – artists, journalists, social scientists, among others. Now a resident scholar, her work with Brandeis gave her an opportunity to reconnect with the practices that first activated her interest in the movement.

Her book is the end product of four years of delving deeper into the literature, conducting interviews and exploring consciousness-raising groups as they exist today (primarily on the Internet). In her book, she writes that consciousness-raising groups are unlike a therapy session in that participants reframe the personal to a broader narrative about society.

This empowers individuals and emboldens them to create social change. The groups can also be used as a space to allow young girls to explore their own thoughts.

She writes that consciousness-raising groups “formed for and by girls can help them to survive and to thrive. Together girls can share and consider the meaning of their experiences, raise questions and take joint action.”

Part of her “reclaiming” is tied to the language of the movement. Freedman doesn’t think feminism should be like an exclusionary group that members walk into, but a universal belief that people – no matter their race, ethnicity, socioeconomic standing, sexual orientation or gender – should be engaged with.

“This is not a movement just for women. It began with an examination of our lives as women, but I define feminism as a movement for social justice,” said Freedman.