322–3. Constructing a Theory of Capitalist Patriarchy and Socialist Feminism. That two anthologies of Marxist Feminist writings have been published under the aegis of Materialist Feminism attest to the greater market value of ʻmaterialismʼ and publishersʼ power to decide what sells, rather than the existence of a theoretical convergence between MarxFem and MatFem. This, again, is of a twofold character: on the one side, the production of the means of existence, of food, clothing and shelter and the tools necessary for that production; on the other side, the production of human beings themselves, the propagation of the species. To sum up, Hennessyʼs version of MatFem is a blend of post-Marxism and postmodern theories of the subject. RealPage data converter [13], But what, precisely, does materialist mean in this context? Hennessyʼs views on the characteristics of MatFem emerge through her critical engagement with the works of Laclau and Mouffe, Foucault, Kristeva and other theorists of the postmodern. 1, no. For one thing, capitalism is in crisis. If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. <>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]>>/Type/Page>> Read Book Capitalist Patriarchy Case Socialist Feminism genres, like Paranormal, Women's Fiction, Humor, and Travel, that are completely free to download from Amazon. endobj More than that, they will be able to empower others in their social networks, such as their own children. Why Capitalism and Feminism Can’t Coexist, Get a discounted print subscription today. endobj 7. Barrett and McIntosh38 criticized Delphy on several grounds. 27 0 obj Our new issue – asking whether the US is a failed state – is out soon. Does reference to ʻmaterial conditionsʼ in general or to ʻthe material conditions of the oppression of womenʼ suffice as a basis for constructing a new theoretical framework, qualitatively different from MarxFem? [53] MATFEM (Materialist Feminism), which I created in December 1994 with Chrys Ingraham and Rosemary Hennessy, has had for years a stable membership of over 350 (it is currently 363). A second point of reference is the resurgence of feminism in the past decade, both in the United States and globally. In fact, after I had read it and looked over the table of contents, I thought a more adequate title would have been Marxist Feminism. Within the women’s movement today there is a varied dialogue in progress on the dimensions and meaning of Socialist Feminism. Such a conclusion might be politically satisfying, but it rests upon a functional notion of causality according to which all institutions or elements of the social system mutually interact and affect each other, and none is ʻmoreʼ causally efficacious than any others – that is, none can set parameters for the conditions of possibility and development of the others. Is this exploitation oppressive, meaning does it constitute cruel or unjust treatment? Although there are socialist women who are committed to under-standing and changing the system of capitalism, socialist feminists are committed to understanding the system of power deriving from capitalist patriarchy. CONSTRUCTING A THEORY OF CAPITALIST PATRIARCHY AND SOCIALIST FEMINISM Hennessy and Ingraham argue for the need to keep a connection between discourse, conceptualized as ideology, and the relevant ʻglobal analyticsʼ which oppress women: patriarchy and capitalism. In retrospect, the work produced by some British self-defined Materialist Feminists writing in the 1970s reveals that they were actually using and developing Marxist theory in ways that belied their critical stance towards Marxism. Simone de Beauvoir, criticallyreadingatwls.files.wordpress.com, View 2 excerpts, cites methods and background, 414. It is in their conclusion that the authors, aiming to demonstrate that materialism is not an alias for Marxism, outline the difference between MarxFem and MatFem as follows: Marxist feminism holds class contradictions and class analysis central, and has tried various ways of working an analysis of gender oppression around this central contradiction. In light of the above – and given the inherent ambiguity of the term MatFem – wouldnʼt it be more theoretically adequate and politically fruitful to return to Marxist Feminism? These contradictions also have histories, operate in ideologies, and are grounded in material bases and effects … they should be granted material weight in social and literary analysis calling itself materialist … these categories would include … ideologies of race, sexuality, imperialism and colonialism and anthropocentrism, with their accompanying radical critiques. It is a source of ʻreadingsʼ and ʻre-writingsʼ that rescue postmodern categories of analysis (subject, discourse, difference) from the conservative limbo of contingency, localism and pluralism to historicize or contextualize them by connecting them to their systemic material basis in capitalism and patriarchy. 43 0 obj Nothing demonstrates the failure of the so-called free market better than the looming climate catastrophe. The list has been mostly silent; once in a while someone will post the announcement of a book, or a call for papers. Female warriors: a reproduction of patriarchal narrative of Hua Mulan ... Neo-extractivism, the Bolivian state, and indigenous peasant women’s s... Social Identity Crisis? 53. But each upsurge of interest in the question is embedded in a particular context. To demonstrate, as they did, a dialectical understanding of Marxism, introducing in the analysis of the oppression of women the causal efficacy of the state, ideology, the family and other aspects of capitalist society, is to remain faithful its basic tenets, not to transform it. [42] But more important than the differences and similarities between my work and that of other 1970s Socialist Feminists, in the USA and in Britain, is the issue of the present resurgence of MatFem as a fashionable trend within feminist theory. Create a link to share a read only version of this article with your colleagues and friends. There is a widespread loss of trust in government, a waning faith in capitalism, and a resurgence of populism on both the Left and the Right. Ithaca College See all articles by this author. Landry and Maclean present an account of the development of feminist thought from the late 1960s to the present, divided into three moments: the encounters and debates between Marxism and feminism in Britain and the USA; the institutionalization and commodification of feminism; and ʻdeconstructive materialist feminismʼ. 2, 1995, pp. Finally, references to ideologies, exploitation, imperialism, oppression, colonialism, and so on, confirm precisely that which the authors intended to dispel: materialism would seem to be an alias for Marxism, a Marxism suitably modified, however, to grant materiality (meaning, perhaps, objectivity, reality and equal causal efficacy) to everything. 113–49. ^ Barbara Epstein, ʻWhy Poststructuralism is a Dead End for Progressive Thoughtʼ, Socialist Review, vol. XD. 23 0 obj 39 0 obj Capitalist Patriarchy and the Case for Socialist Feminism [Eisenstein, Zillah R.] on Amazon.com. The incredible technological and scientific advances of the past forty years could have been channeled toward dramatically reducing poverty, improving health care outcomes and the ecological sustainability of our production processes, and ensuring security in the supply and distribution of clean water, nutritious food, and adequate housing. 15 0 obj Although they define materialism in a philosophical and moral sense, and bring up the difference between mechanical or ʻvulgarʼ materialism and historical materialism, there is no definition of what materialism means when linked to feminism. Feminists are divided in their attitudes towards capitalism, their understanding of the material conditions of oppression, and the extent to which they link the success of feminist struggles to the success of anticapitalist struggles. Radical feminists and male leftists, in confusing socialist women and socialist feminists, fail to recognize the political distinction between being a woman and being a feminist. However, I have never self-identified as a Materialist Feminist; the label, in my view, misrepresented the dialectical nature of Marxism and obscured the actual Marxist nature of the works thus labelled. ^ Lise Vogel, Marxism and the Oppression of Women: Toward a Unitary Theory, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick NJ, 1983; Womanʼs Questions: Essays for a Materialist Feminism, Routledge, New York, 1995. ^ Jennifer Wicke, ʻCelebrity Material: Materialist Feminism and the Culture of Celebrityʼ, South Atlantic Quarterly, vol. [19]. Let’s parse this out a bit. MatFem, a term which may have been useful in the past to feminists who, despite their critical stance, remained firmly within the Marxist tradition, denotes something entirely different today. She is the author of The Smartphone Society: Technology, Power, and Resistance in the New Gilded Age and The New Prophets of Capital. Capitalist Patriarchy and the Case for Socialist Feminism | Zillah R. Eisenstein (ed.) Is the effort of struggling to redefine MatFem by reinserting MarxFem knowledges a worthwhile endeavour?

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