This is one of the first passages in The Moment of Lift containing specific U.S. Progress is due largely to expanded use of contraceptives, which accelerated thanks to two initiatives begun in the prior administration - first, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program.and second, the birth control benefit in the Affordable Care Act.' We are 'at a historic low for teen pregnancy and a thirty-year low for unintended pregnancy. Capitalism is at work here, not feminism - until Gates brings her focus home.įirst, she offers a reasoned justification for her own identification as a Catholic who supports abortion rights and contraception access, a position that has earned her the Vatican's rage. If women get to time and space their pregnancies, their children will have better lives, and both mothers and children will be more productive in the labor market. The answer appears in the third chapter, after a long exploration of Gates' determination to expand global access to contraception, which she calls 'the greatest life-saving, poverty-ending, women-empowering innovation ever created.' Her argument is a perfect example of what the social critic Anand Giridharadas calls 'win-win' thinking.

(And, for transparency purposes, the Gates Foundation is an NPR funder.)

Taking that claim at face value makes the question even more pressing: What exactly is this book for? She could want acclaim, but she writes frequently about how shy she is, how uncomfortable with public advocacy. These programs are highly impressive and worthy, but why write an entire book about them? Why devote time to book touring rather than lobbying the U.N.? Surely, Gates does not expect readers' engagement with The Moment of Lift to seriously impact the Gates Foundation's work, and presumably she doesn't need money. It's possible, of course, that the sole purpose of The Moment of Lift is to publicize the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's sex- and gender-focused programs, which range from funding community centers for sex workers in India to providing access to contraception in Kenya. She writes often about lifting women up, but it can be difficult to tell how she expects readers without tech fortunes to do so. Gates goes long on heartwarming anecdotes, short on argument.

What are the terms on which to evaluate a book that is equal parts memoir and mission statement, inspirational slide deck and social critique? What is the book trying to achieve?įor much of The Moment of Lift, it's impossible to tell. Writing about Melinda Gates' philanthropic manifesto The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World poses a certain critical challenge. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title The Moment of Lift Author Melinda Gates

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