MARXIST FEMINISM
Socialist Feminism, Marxism, Feminism, Women's Movement, Women's
Liberation Theory
Marxist Feminism is a form of feminism
which believes that women's oppression is a symptom of a more fundamental form of
oppression. Marxist Feminism postulates that women are not oppressed by men or by sexism,
but by capitalism itself. If all women are to be liberated, capitalism must be replaced
with socialism.
Marxist feminists believe that private property leads to
economic inequality and negetive social relations between men and women. According to
Marxist feminism theory capitalism should be replaced with socialism in order to achieve
equality and positive social relations between men and women. .
In Frederick Engels' (1820-1895) writing, women's
oppression originated with the development of private property and of regulated family and
marital relationships. Men's control of economic resources develops with settled society
and the development of separate spheres of life for the two sexes.
In capitalist societies, women become segregated into the
domestic sphere and men into the outer world of paid work. Economic and social inequality
between the sexes is increased and women's' subordination in marriage, the family and in
society in general is intensified.
Engels assumed that socialist revolution, through which
the means of production would become common property, would result in the development of
equal access to paid work for both men and women and the consequent disappearance of
gendered inequality between the sexes.
Whether women encounter the criminal justice system as victims, offenders, or
system personnel, they frequently find themselves being denigrated on the basis of their
sex. We begin by analyzing the relationship between the sexist biases of criminal justice
and other institutions and the capitalist economic system. After establishing that sexism
is not mere prej udice against women but rather a function of capitalism, we move on to
discuss the implications of Marxist feminism for six aspects of criminal justice: females
and the law, criminology of women, females as victims, processing of females by the
criminal justice system, incarceration of women, and employment of women as criminal
justice system personnel. In the course of the discussion we present a number of
recommendations which would further the goals of not only sexual but also economic
equality. - Marxist Feminism: Implications for Criminal Justice - Nicole Hahn Rafter,
Elena M. Natalizia - Crime & Delinquency, Vol. 27, No. 1, 81-98 (1981)
Women in development: liberalism, Marxism and Marxist-feminism. - Bandarage A
Abstract: This article contrasts liberal, Marxist, and Marxist-feminist positions on
economic modernization and Third World women. Liberal feminism, rooted in a belief in the
inherent viability of the capitalist system, asserts that underdevelopment in the Third
World is caused by traditional values and social structures. It is argued that the basis
for development lies in the diffusion of values, capital, technology, and political
institutions from the West. The goal is to accomplish the fuller integration of women into
the formal sectors of Third World economies. The limitation of this approach, represented
by the Women in Development school, is its insistence that women can be integrated into
more fulfilling forms of employment within the hierarchical political-economic and
ideological structures of the capitalist world system. Unlike the liberal perspective, the
Marxist perspective argues that poverty is a structural feature of a capitalist system
that prioritizes profits over human needs. Women's oppression is regarded as inextricably
linked with class oppression, precluding the liberation of women within the prevailing
capitalist world system. The Marxist perspective helps us to understand the interaction of
sexual oppression with class oppression and imperialism. However, it is less useful in
understanding issues such as the cultural and psychological dimensions of sexual
stratification or the changing relations between men and women under capitalism. A
synthesis between Marxism, which focuses on the effects of the economy on women, and
radical feminism, which is concerned with the structure of male domination, enables a
dialectical analysis of patriarchy and capitalism. Marxist-feminism has the potential to
analyze the realities of the feminization of poverty, female-headed households, changing
sexual mores, and the presence of the patriarchal state. To be of value, Marxist-feminist
analysis must take into account the experiences of poor Third World women rather than
apply the white middle class experience globally. The issue of women in development must
become central to feminis theory if feminism is to transcend its middle class bias.
The Struggle Over Lifelong Learning: A Marxist-Feminist Analysis.
Mojab, Shahrzad; Gorman, Rachel
Abstract: Political and economic upheavals in the 1990s have left their mark on adult
education. A major source of change is globalization of the capitalist economy and its
restructuring, which make extraordinary demands on education, particularly adult
education. Lifelong learning has become an ideological distraction shifting the burden of
increasing adaptability to the worker and a ray of hope for a more democratic, engaged
citizenry. A Marxist-feminist framework explains complex social relations that underpin
the lifelong learning debate. Marxist feminism views feminism as a conscious intervention
in the hierarchically organized regime of gender power. Instead of achieving prosperity
for individual workers, reorganization of adult education is concurrent with emergence of
a newly segmented working class. Talking about lifelong learning for a unified workforce
is actually talking about a highly stratified group. By differentiating skills along lines
of race and gender, workers with a wealth of skills, knowledge, and experience are
devalued; the commodity value of white male labor continues to rise. An ever cheaper, ever
more adaptable workforce is the only way to ensure continued growth of profit in a global
capitalist system. As a citizen-centered project of social change, lifelong learning must
invigorate its ties with social movements, without which it fails to achieve its full
potential.
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