radical america - vol 7 no 4&5 - 1973 - july october

8/8/2019 Radical America - Vol 7 No 4&5 - 1973 - July October

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RI

AECvol 7, nos. & 5 $2

special double issue:

WOMN'S LABOR


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RIL

AECJuly-October, 3 Volume Numbes

INTRODUCTION

THE EARTHLY FAMILY, Lse Vogel WOMEN, T UNONS AND WORK, OR .

WHAT S NOT TO BE DONE, Selma James

E CARROT, THE STCK, AND THE MOVEMENT,Sheila Rowbotham 3

WOMEN'S LABOR, WOMEN'S DISCONTENT, Angela Weiand Eisabet Wilson I

WOMEN WORNG, photoaphs by Jey Bendt Ann Popkin

DOMESTIC WORK AND CAPITALISM, Ia Gestein

BRITISH WOMEN'S LIBERATION AND THE WORKING CLASS

NTRODUCTION

THE FGHT FOR FAMLY ALLOWANCES

WOMEN AND HOUSNG STRUGGLES

GHTCLENERS CAMPAGN

BBLOGRAPHY

3

vr raphic: Lucia Venaelli, Coyight 3 Luca Veaelivr Dsig Macia Salo Rizzi

Editos: Fank Bodhead, Paul Bue, Magey Davies, Linda Godon,Jim Geen, Michael Hisch, llen Hunte, Jim Kaplan, Donna al,Jim O'Bien, Wesley Poft, Paddy Quick, Becky Tippens

Aociate Editos Jackie Di Salvo, Elen DuBois, Matin Gabean,Ann Godon, Dck Howad, Roge Keean, Mak Levitan, Mao

Montano, Mak Naison, Ban Peteson, Paul Rchads, Mcael

Schuman, Stan Wei


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Introduction

Oer e pas few years i as become clear a ere

are a leas wo differen womens moemens in e UniedSaes ne of em a liberal feminis moemen, an organic coninuaion of e lae nineeen cenury women'srigs moemen is ery muc alie I goes farer ane earlier moemen in some respecs pusing for equal-iies far more subsanial an mere legal rigs forequal work equal pay equal social saus een do wedare sugges i for repec

ere is also e womens liberaion moemen usinga word liberaion e womens liberaion moemenwen far beyond equaliy I raised e slogan and an imageof e oal liberaion of alf of umaniy from all forms ofexploiaion And few aciiss in e moemen doubeda e liberaion of women would require e liberaionof all, wic in urn would require e aboliion of class


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socey he ovee dd o usuay descre se assocals s easos were o aly dy bu co-

e o buldg a ass suggle I ha coewoe e hey were boh opposed o ad a par o he NewLe. Fo exglreds o sude pocos o woeeve beore volved adcal pocs woe shaedbad expeeces ad crcal eelgs owads he New LeFo he vey begg o woes lbeao woewee axous o avod soe o he New Le's eos Mayhough o heseves as socass beore ecogzg polca es he ow expoao as woe Ths ewrealzao dd o erey add o copleely asored he vso o a socals socey ad a socalsovee. They hoped ohe woe who shaed he ewudesadg o he exploao o woe woud also coeo shae wh he he ealzao ha a socals soceywas ecessay o ed ha expoao

Thee s a shap dscouy he bewee he woesbeao ovee ad he lbeal es o NW adMs agaze The gea eouces ha he lbea e-s leades have a he dsposal have helped he brghe ssue o woe o he coscousess o he asses bu has o bee rased a socals coex

Ths should o supse us he ohe had he wo-e s berao cause s sl here adedly secaa ad

dsogased bu sll alve Al ove he couy hee aresocals ess workg o specc pojecs a heahclc hee a school hee day care ogazg orgazgwoe eployees Ad here ae eve oe coscousessrasg ad dscusso groups o adcal woe aew paces here are eve hrvg ogazaos The appae dese o woes lberao s a age projeced

a o by he dsappeaace o ay adca ewspapesale ad eale by he deceased aeo gve o heovee he ass eda ad o soe exe by hedecle o woes lbeao ogazaos. Bu ha decle os cases cae o eal coadcos adaures ha wee prese ro he begg o heovee


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Despie his some have fe ha he womens beraionmovemen was smohered by he bera womens move-

men ha fear of coopaion has ead some o he suspi-cion ha some of he issues of feminism hemseves eadineviaby o seking souions wihin a capiais framework ha women and womens issues are somehow singuary coopabe hese judgemens wi no sand up ocarefu scruiny however Firs whie he bourgeoisie maymake some reforms ameioraing womens oppression icanno make he fundamena changes which he womensiberaion movemen has demanded wihou aboishing isefas a cass Second he coopive effec of ibera feminismseems o us an ineviabe consequence of any reform move-men here is no evidence ha women and feminis issuesare more subec o i han workers and union issues, orhan backs and issues of back iberaion

hird hisricay reform movemens have ofen heped

awaken expecaions and consciousness and hus pushedpeope o he Lef We mus beware of eing fear of coopaion drive us o posiions of isoaion or o a docrineof he worse he beer Fourh, and mos basic, he coopaion of women by ibera feminism is nohing comparedo he cooaion of men by sxism isef Sexism does farmore han provide a reserve cheap abor force drugsmen wih priviege, and weakens he enire working cass

wih divisions and fase vaues may even urn ou hasome degree of equaiy for women wi be a precondiionfor sociaism in advanced capiais counries, raher hanan ineviabe produc of he sociais revouion Cerinymany of he probems of he exising sociais counriesand sociais movemens auhoriarianism rigidiy ackof reiance on he masses are infuenced by he socia

and psychoogica paerns of mae supremacyWe do no mean o sugges ha bera feminism shoudno be aacked On he conrary ibera feminiss shoudbe consany pushed from he ef wih concree de-mands and programs more radica han he ibera feminiseie can accep Meanwhie he Lef can aso earn fromhem for some of heir successes have been earned bywork no us bough wih money For exampe we woud


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gue ha a uch hgher perceage o workgclasswe dey wh NW ad local lberal woes groups

ha wh he radcal woes lberao groups I herreorg ssueoreed problesolvg coscousessberal es groups have developed cocree deadsad projecs ha are udersadable ad sesble o ayddle ad workgclass woe They have lauchedcapags h ca be wo ad ha ca ake possbleor woe her orgazos o eel ore powerulha hey have ever el beore

The bac laos o he woe s lberao ove-e o he cotrary were precsely he e areas Isably o develop cocree progras hs does o ealograge deals bu hgs ha ca be wo) ad abva-lece abou esablshg srog orgazos had o doo doub wh s class bass The ddleclass collegegraduaes who predoaed he ovee could acd persoal soluos o soe o her probles

proessoal jobs hubads wh lesure o share hehousework oey ad he eooal secury abou oeyha eable he o lve whou holdg a seady job Srogad la orgazaos are alos always creaed bypeople or who collecve aco s he oly eas o -provg her lve ad or who here are o dvdualsoluos Bu he seeg wardess he uchalko-aco yle o large seges o he woes oveewas also a ecessary phase o a pora culural rasorao The rebrh o es our geerao owoe has requred a rasorao o coscouses asprooud o ore so ha ha whch creaed he NewLe Ths s because he woes ovee we beyoda absrac coet o jusce o ghg or our owlberao Sued by our ew udersadgs abou sexs

udersadgs ha were o objecvely ew bu hadbee suppresed exreely eecvely our culure adhsory ay woes lberao had o go hroughperods o deep persoal chage a he cos o reedousaous o eergy I coscousessrasg was ec-essary o ve ew procese as well as elaborae a ewcoe or our polcal work because a es aalyss


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had eveaed how unsocalist much o the poce of po-itical wok n the New and Old Left had been Thi con-

sciousnessaising took a long time because so many women wee coming into the movement who had no expeienceat all of political paticipation, who had to build thei con-fidence and stuggle against passivity; and also becauemany women, made cynical by arogant and ieponsibeleadehip in the maledominated Left, felt ambivalentabout all eadehip. The eult of all thi wa oten educ

ing the politica acivity level o groups to the lowet com-mon denominatoStill, today we ae fa ahead of where we wee fou yeas

ago Lage segment of the Let have been educated, at leaton an eementary evel, about exim; thouand of womenhave begun to think politically about thei own situationfo the fist time; we have thown a new and potentiallymilitant foce into the geneal unret in the ociety I the

middleclas bae o the movement weakened it poitically,it also gave u the tendency to undeetimate our ownachievements It i good that women ae increasingy concened about the faiure of the women' libeation move-ment to oganize moe woking class women But unfo-tunately many of the curent dicussions of that poblemtake an abstact fom, going to exteme o selcondem

nation and cass baiting Thi lead some middle claswomen to foget that even a middle clas womens move-ment, i mateiaist and militant coud make a geat con-tibution

Howeve thee cannot be a evoutionay women s move-ment unles it is built aound wokingca women Theailue to each moe wokingcas women came onlypatly om youth and cas arogance and moe fom theact that it was hadly even tied I The ingoupine owomen's ibeation wa legenday (athough not moe sothan that o the whoe New Let) With the exception o theincreasing numbe o open lebians, ventuing out intohangouts ke ebian ba whee thee ae aways manywokingcass women, most women in the movement con-tinued to make thei ivings and do thei sociaizing and

political "wok among colege and poesional people

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On the other hand, where there are healthy women's or-ganizing projects in this country, we hear too little abou

them, partly because they often cling to their isolation asa protection against being smothered by other movement"women

Meanwhile the decline of the organized New Lef hastaught us another painful lesson: that the women's libera-ion movement was much more dependent than it hadthought on being surrounded, so to speak, by a general,

albeit maledominated, socialist movement. We need a so-cialist feminist organiztion that is part of a general so-cialist movement But in a period in which we have neither,it is imporant to work on both We hink i is important tosquelch any remnants of the fantasy that a womens movement can make a revolution itself is equally importantto squelch the apparent rebirth of the nineteenth centurymale sociaist wish (it hardly deserve being caled a the-

ory) that the woman quetion can be dealt with satisfacto-rily by mae leadership At this period it seems absolutelycrucial tha the role of sexism be continuingly analyzed andfought both in womens organizations and in mixed onet is especially imortant however that the women's poli-tics that continue now be mas work

It is this conviction that leads us to publish the collectionof materials from the British womens liberaion movementin this issue Although some of these piece are a year orso old, they have not had enough attention here in the US.Britain is a more classconcious country than the US-its womens movement define itself as socialist and hassought to reach workingclass women as its main priorityThe projects described here are not triumphant, but wemust learn from our failure We would like in the future

to publish in Radical America many decriptions of suchorganizing projects from within the US. t woud be evenbetter if we could get not mere descriptions but actuallyanalyses of successes and failures and the lessons learned.

We are also convinced that a lot of theoretical workneed to be done about this situaion of women We shouldnot allow our concern for political practice to ead to a re-birth of the antiinellectual attitude that have tradition

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aly alced he Aeca e ad pacualy he wo-e ovee The deveope o a ocal e

aay o ocey ju begg Eve a bac caaay o ou couy coplee pacualy owoe

Soca have geealzed abou he wokg ca Aeca wh vey e kowedge o Vey ew o uhave goe beyod wha we ead bougeo ewpapead exbook vegag he acual copoo o he

wokg ca Aeca ad he aue o wok adhoe expeece The woe ovee pacua habough ceag heoecal accepace o he ac hahe expeece o he wokg cla a a cla ake paceo u he hop bu ao a hoe bed bapakad ove heae bu he oao ha houd go oh ew aewok oly ju begg o be colecedThe popoo o peope evce ad whecola eco o he ecooy lage ad gowg bu le habee we o he aue o he wok expeece.

Fo woe h ack o udeadg ha a eve oebac coequece ha we do eve have good deoo wha ca o woe We kow ha o oo log wo-e have bee aued o cay he ca poo o heahe ad he hubad. We ae begg o kow ha

ca a copex o a ple caegoy ha cla de-cbe oe elao o he ea o poduco a wea haed culua expeece houghou le o chld-hood o od age Wha ca ae eceae Sce wok o ocazed o ay o he h gh appea oake he o poeaa Wha doe ea he weaccep a deo o he poleaa ha wll clude abe aoud o Aeca woe ly 2 o Ae-ca woe wokg o pay wok poduco ) Wha ca do houewve beog o Wha doe ea he we oa acoy woke ad he we o a chool eache do exacyhe ae kd o wok o exacly he ae budge aehey he ae ca We ae o quaelg abou hedeo we ae obecg o he ubace o a polcha woud udeeae he poace o woe wok-

e boh pad ad upad o a evouoay ocalovee.


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us mu of te teoretil wrk we need must beginwit te most bsi questions ne of tese refleted in

mny plaes in tis issue, is bout ousewifery s a obe teoretil question of weter ousewifery is produ-tie labor tat is do ousewies produe exange alueand are tey terefore united s a ls by te ommonteft of te surplus alue tey produe is important be-ause it as implitions for prtie e debate mustalso be amplified by people wo e ad experiene in

organizing ousewies We need anlyses of te atul workinoled in ousewifery: te skilled and unskilled partste onsiousness reted by lening nd te ideology ofleanliness by taking are of oters and te ideology ofserie et

We do not tink of any of te piees in tis issue s de-finitie Nor do we see ourseles now or eer as definingte proper rea of womens politil work But we tink itwould be damging for te Left to onlude from te ex-periene of te lst four years tt te womens libertionmoement is finised it is finised, so is te use ofsoilism we re entering period wit less politialebulliene mong students nd exstudents tose groupstat were, fter ll te main bsis of te women s liber-tion moement tere seem to be oter setors of te so-

iety more silent in te 190s tt re beginning to spekup now reisely i tere re possibilities for inresedworkinglss militny in te next dede it is ruialnow tat soilist feminist nlysis be deeloped, rguedfor publily, and put into prtie

Linda GordonFor te Rdil Ameri editors


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oa bag ca a a dx o h gh owo bao a a a oca oc ow hg

achd h o uch poaou dop o h o a bgg o xa ad aa hoy a a pacc

o upgy h hoca xpo ood adad h appaac o h obao o h coadco ha a oxpod o oca o coud aady b d

opg ad ddua wo aady og h hThu 9 bougo oud odxpo By Fda h F Myqu Ad 9 a Max wa od u MchWo Th og Rouo pubhd h Bhjoua w L Rw

A h wo bao o dopd ha 9 ad ay s ay wo bga o ack hocay ad pacc h pob o dopga aay ad agy ha woud b boh adMax A ub o poa ac appad hpod Mawh 97 Ju Mch pubhd Wo-s Ea a ok bad o h a ac Mchbook hu bca h ghy ay aaab xpo-so o a Max aay o co ou o h

copoay wo bao o A uch d ad dd qs a cca xaaoI wha oow I ha bg by ookg coy aMch book ad h go o o a ga dcuo owha I b o b h ajo quso od d-opg a appoach adqua o da wh h cu ua-o o wo Fay I w cod h pcao I o agy ad o h dop o a okg cao h Ud Sa

II MICHES WMAS ESAE

Sou Max appoach o od ha upo ow ccuad oy aou o pubcaoFo h ao ao w houd wco h xpao o

wha wa ay a o ac o a ad bookMoo bcau Mch w o a oca p


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specive, se is abe o offer imporan insigs on a num-er of urgen issues hese observaions consiue one of

e mos vauabe aspecs of er ook. oman's Esae isno owever, an easy book o read I is frequeny ard oundersand wa exacy, Mice is rying o say euninformaive caper ies and many subeadings confuse,raher an ep, e reader e incorporaion of e 19arice esseniay uncanged, ino ree differen chapersof e book is awkward, and resus in a kind of ineecadisconinuiy Finay, he srucure of Mices argumen

can ony e grasped wi difficuy. For a ese reasonsi is necessary o ground a criique of e book in a carefusurvey of wa, i seems, Mice has acuay said (

e book is divided ino wo pars I e firs Micereviews e ackground and deveopmen of he women'siberaion movemen e opening caper, e Backgroundof he Sies, ocaes he movemen in is immediae is

orica conex. I Caper wo, Mice moves on o a riefskec of he deveopmen of e movemen in Europe andNor America and of is Campaigns, Organizaion, andConceps" Chapers hree and Four rapidy survey whaMice cas he Poiics of omen's iberaion. Undeis eading Mice discusses endencies she considers obe dangerous (anarchism, errorism, sponaneism secar-ianism), he probem of reformism, e isory of sociais

eory on women (Bebe, Fourier, Enges, Beauvoir), ande recen deveopmen of radica feminism" (Mie, Fire-sone) e eigy pages of Par One us range over a vaserrain of probems. e discussion is necessariy spoy,e argumens incompee. a makes is secion vau-abe is he sarpness of Miche's criiques

Mos immediaey usef is a series of brief reviews inCaper Four in wic Mice pierces o e core of heinadequacy of boh radiiona and mode feminis eorySe discusses he esseniay scemaic approaces of En-ges and Bebe and ceary ocaes hem in e absence ofa sraegic conex Se criicizes (peraps no severeyenoug) Beauvoirs amagam of aisorica ideaism andcrudey economis sociaism in e Second Sex. Se noesha Mies Sexua Poiics surveys e various mecha


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ss by whch sexs s esabshed ad aaed buleaves us "wh a sese o he ado ad chaoc ad equacobuo o each ad al o he vaous sexs echa-ss o he aeace o paachy. he lack o sucue o causay Mlles aalyss s "hee heoo o paachy as a lcal syse sel adMche goes o o hooughly ccze hs oo FallyMchell us o Fesoe s he Daecc o Sex Fohose o us who wee boh sulaed ad aoyed by hebook Mchels devasao o s splsc aeals

o oe hsca ha s daeccal s ossasygMchells crque o Fesoe s pa o a exesve

dscusso o a ed she cals "adcal es oppo-so o beaos Bely beaoss see heoppesso o woe as oe hough a ajo oe) o heay oppessos expeeced by dee people pe-socas socees adca ess coted s he a-

jo ad pay oe al socees p ) Mchel agues ha he cooao s peaue "Pehaps heuue he bgges sgl heoecal bale wl have o beha bewee lbeaoss wh a socals aayss adess wh a adca es aalyss Bu ha uuehas coe oo soo. he colc s peaue because e-he goup has ye developed a heoy he paccewhch s ha heoy s codo o poduco has oly jus

begu p 9) houghou Woas Esae Mchel e-lgey coros he ay aesaos o "adcal e-s Pehaps he soges ague s ha adcaless cosuc oo gd a heoy ro es -sc he oo o udeeaed ale doao ohe eaes o he laes es sply gves a heoecalo o he way oppesso s usuay expeeced. I salso soewha equvae o a woke seeg he eploye

hsel as he oy eey spy because he sees d-ecly esposbe o he dvdual exploao hs sa asec o he oppeo o expoao ad shoud obe goed bu o should be ade o sad o he oasuao we sply develop es coscousessas adca ess sugges) we wll ge o pocal co


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sciousness, bu e equiaen of naiona cauinism amongird Word naions or economism among workingcassorganizaions simpy a sefdireced gaze a sees onye inerna workings of one segmen ony is segmenssefineres oiica consciousness responds o a formsof oppression (pp 9394)

Srucuray, ar One of Womans Esae buids e necessary bakground for Mice o ask Were are we go-ing ? (pp 99) Se suggess a we ae o deeopour feminis consciousness o e fu, and a e same ime

ransform i by beginning a scienific sociais anaysis ofour oppression e wo processes mus go on simuane-ousy feminis consciousness w no naray deeopino sociaism, nor soud i: e wo are coexensie andmus be worked on ogeer (p 93) Mices sress ereand rougou e book on e need for eory is an impor-an conribuion, and one a beongs ceary o e moemen of e seenies Again and again se poins ou a aspecific eory of womens oppression mus be deeoped.A e same ime se argues a radica feminis consciousness mus deeop simuaneousy wi sociaisanaysis of e oppression of women. I sor we soudask e feminis quesions, bu ry o come up w someMarxis answers (p 99) And eory is of course reaedo sraegy: rofound conradicions in e posiion of

women caused e rise of e moemen; i is ese aae o be sudied if a poiica sraegy is o be eoed(p 79)

n ar wo of Womans Esae Mice pesens erown anaysis of e Oppression of Women" Se reprinse main argumens of e 9 essay, wi addiions asugges a subsequen deeopmen of er inking I is erea e book suffers mos from e juxasiion of newinsigs o e uncanged earier argumen e arioussecions w ies ike Commens and Concusions do nosmoo oer is disjuncion beween wa was possibe in9, before e rise of a isibe womens moemen, andwa Mice coud now do based on e experience of eas fie years One wises a se ad aken er own ar-gumen for e simuaneous deeopmen of feminis con

1


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trctre, and attac te weaet in in the cominationThi may then coe the int of departre for a genera

ranformation hat i the itation of the different tctres today? hat i the oncrete sitation of the womenin each of the poiion in which they are inerted?(p her ne chapter tche rvey the fortrctre of the itation of women in ngand a amp-ification and itration of her anayi

itche then retrn to the Genera oncion of the

9 artice for an anwr to the qestion of trategy Thecrrent ituation o each of the four trctre i qicyand raher piciay examined itche concde thatproduction, reproduction, and ociaization are a moreor es tationary in the West today, and Sexuaity i theparticuar strcture that i the ite of the mot contradic-tion (p 47). Sexuaity is thu identified by itche asthe "wea in At this point, Mitche turn to a consider

ation of trategy, which must incude both immediate andfundamenta demands, in a inge critique of the whole ofwomen's ituation, that does not fetihize any dimensionof it (p 48). n this wy, Mitche fees abe on the onehand to init on the iberation of the three dometic fnc-tion (Reproduction Sexuaity, and Sociaization) from theiroppreive monoithic fuion and on the other to ca

rather traditionay for the entry of women into the phereof Production on a bais of tre equaity thi chapter,itche' anaytica approach reveas both it strength andit weanes; ha come bac to these beow

The remaining three chapter of Woman' Etate ggetthe very fruitfu direction in which itche anaysi hadeveoped since the pubication of the 9 artice hapterEight on The deoogy of the Famiy recognizes the famiy

a a crucia ideoogica and economic unit with historicadimenion; it briefy urvey the contradiction betweenthe famiy and the ocieties in which it ha been embeddedIn hapter Nine Pychoanayi and the Famiy, itcheaunches an examination of the oppression of women, menand chidren inide the modern nucear famiy, with partic-uar emphai on Freud The fina chapter Out From

Under

, i a fine ummary of the contradiction facing


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women in te sixties teir response in te form of a wom-ens iberation movement te dangers confronting tat

movement today and te specia conficts invoved werewomen are bot wage aborers and maintained personswitin te famiy Tese ast tree capters indicate atension between te teoretica apparatus taken over fromMitces 1966 artice and a newy intensified focus on tefamiy a tension tat remains unresoved

Scattered trugout omans Estate are a number ofsensitive strategic observations Mitce argues convinc

ingy tat t is ony in te igy deveoped societies of teest tat an autentic iberation of women canbe envisagedtoday (p 11) Se stresses correcty tat te most eementary demand is not te rigt to work or eceive equapay for work te two traditiona demands but te ritto equal work itsef (p 149) Se sees ceary tat tepresent contradictions witin te famiy and between tefamiy and te socia organizations surrounding it are ex-posive and indicate te eventua dissoution of te fam-iy a fuure aready visibe witin te conditions of capitaism ( 18) Most mportant Mitce attacks te simpistic formuae of ortodox sociaism observing tat testrategic concern is te iberation of women and te equaity of te sexes not te aboition of te famiy Te conse-quences of tis demand are no ess radica but tey areconcrete and ositive and can be integrated into te reacourse of istory Te famiy as it exists at present isin fact incompatibe wit eiter womens iberation or teeqaity of te sexes But equaity wi not come from itsadministrative aboition but from te istorica differentiation of its functions. Te revoutionary demand soud befor te iberation of tese functions from an oppressiveonoitic fion" (p 10) Gone forever are te abstract

and scematic sogans of nineteent century sociaismMitces 1966 artice widey circuated as a pampetas been one of te most infuentia contributions to wom-ens iberation teory Its differentiation of te content ofour ives into four constituent categories eed te deve-oping womens iberation movement to articute experienceand begin to act on it Its Marxist perspective firmy


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grounded in ineigen criiques of te Marxist cassics,"gae us sreng to confron bot dogtic Marxism nd te

emerging endencies owards radic feinis Aougmany o us began impiciy or expicity to deeop questions about e rtice it didn't see necessary at tatpoin in e isory of te moement o spe em ouoday condiions ae canged and te receied iteratureof womens iberaion is being subeced o rgorous reexamination as par of e process of buiding n adequateanaysis for women e awkward uxaposiion in oman'sEsae of Mices 1966 argumens o tinking based oner more recent experience is in itsef a knd of mue confronaion, a preude to a criique at seeks expici expression.

Quesions about Mice's srucura anaysis of woman'ssituaion arise in our main areas Firs, e discussion ofe specific sae o e separae strucures" is weak

a aiure tat as (or soud ae) consequences in teream of straegy. o mainain in 1971 ta productionreproduction nd sociaization are a more or ess saionary in e est today in ta ey ae no canged forree or more decades" is ceary incorrect As Mitceerse someties recognizes, e conradicions arisingou of rapid canges in a four of er srucures" forme ery conex for e deeopent of e woen's iberaion moeent Her faiure o idenify conemporarycanges in e strucures" is accompanied by a generayindequae isorica ision e probem is suficientyacute o ca te enire anaysis ino quesion

Second te iew o Producion" presented in oman'sstate is open to seere criticis Mitce sees oppression as e essentia situation of women; ence er per-

ceptie commens on e effects of oppression and eramagaation of women to oppressed peopes" ike bcksand peasants Bu Mitce exaggerates te isoaion ofwoen from producion: e conteporary famiy can beseen as a riptyc of sexua, reproducie nd sociizatoryfuncions (te woans word) ebraced by producion (teans word) Indeed, se speaks of e excusion ofwoen from production soci uman actiity" (p 148


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Thee are meant to be tatement about women today butthi view of women eentia (and hitorica) excuion

from ocia production dominate the boo Exampe ofwomen invovement in ocia production appear uneaiya exception or pecia cae : fied abor in precapitaitocietie (pp 004; the peaant famiy (pp 555the women wage worer who are excuded fom the po-ibiity of autonomou deveopment of caconciounebecaue their participation a a huge ector of the wor-

ingca wor force remain merey a painfu and arduouformaity (p 8 itche' peritent devauation ofwomen productive activity mut be chaenged

A third probem in itche' anayi i her treatmentof the famiy Again and again the famiy i dicued a acrucia tructure Women are een a imprioned in theirconfinement to a monoithic condenation of function re-production ociaization exuaity] within a unity the

famiy (p 48 but that unity ha itef no articuatedanaytica exitence

Finay itche ue of a tructurait approach inmaing a arxit anayi of women ituation ha beena ource of difficuty Not nowing what to mae of it andacing any guidance from itche a to what exacty imeant by a "tructure mot reader have been forced totae the tructuraim in an eentiay metaphorica way

To continue to do thi i unfair to the erioune ofitche contribution, for he mean what he ay :Woman' condition mut be een a a secific truc-ture which i a unity of different eement The variationof woman' cndition throughout hitory wi be the reutof different combination of thee eement we wi thuhave not a inear narrative of economic deveopment (DeBeauvoir ) for the eement wi be combined in differentwy at different time n a compex totaity each inde-pendent ector ha it own autonomou reaity though eachi utimatey but ony utimatey determined by the eco-nomic factor Thi compex totaity mean that no contradiction in ociety i ever impe A each ector can moveat a different pace the ynthei of the different timecae in the tota tructure mean that ometime contra


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dictions cancel each other out and sometimes they reinforce one another Because te unity of womans condition

at any time is in this wy the roduct of sever structuresmoing at different aces it is always overdetermined' The concrete combination of the four key structuresof womans situation roduce the comex unity of herosition; but each searate sucture may have reached adifferent moment at any gien historical time Each thenmust be examined searately in order to see what the

resent unity is and how it might be changed ( 100101)The adequacy of Mitchells discussion of the individualstructures has already been questioned The method thatsets u this system of structures must also be evauated

These then are the four man asects of Mitcells anaysis of womens situation that must be challenged : te concrete anaysi of the structures te view of Produc-tion; the treatment of the fmy; and te use of te structuralist method Te inadequcies in these four areas areof course related; nd any comlete critique of Mitchellshould attemt to del with all of them (3) wt follows shll insted setc te outlnes of an altenate aoc

FOCUS : WOMAN VERSUS FAMLY

The coice of aroriate categories is basic to ny anlysis A miste ere can skew te whole rocedure Marx'sthought is articularly usefu because of his dee aware-ness of this roblem e delt wit it most cleary in hisntroduction to the Critique f Politicl Economy A fewof his observations can be cited here although the fullforce of his aroach to tee questions cannot be con-

veyed Marx considers that "in the study of economic categories as in te cse of eery historical and social scienceit must be borne in mind that as in reality so n our mindte subect in this case modern bourgeois society is givenand that the ctegories are therefore but forms of exres-sion manifestations of existence and fequently but onesided asects of this subect tis definite society. n other

words the categories of bourgeois society serve as theexression of its conditions nd the comrehension of its


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own organiztion A category can have no other exitenceexcet a an abtract oneided reation of an aready given

concrete and living aggregate Wt woud ie to rgue i tat to build a teory of

women iberation around te category "women ( wenMitcel cll reetedy for "ecific teory of womenoreion) i mite We ve focued too intenelyon one ect of our ubect nd tu rrived at category women tt exree it too narrowy Te ource ofte mite i eay to identify : a women invoved in aocil movement towrd our own ibertion we quite nt-urlly too oureve a te ubect nd te categorywomen it arorite exreion But our ubect ibroder tan ourelve and te ctegory troug whic weould buid our anlyi i te family

To ugget tt we oo at te fmiy a an unleantyfmiir ring and do not in any way wi to abndon con

temorry feminit inight into te cematic btractionof "claical ociit teory nor for exame Mitchellroer initence tt the trtegic concern i te ibertion of women and te equlity of te exe not the boitionof te fmily diagree owever wit te common aumtion that te robem of women oreion i devlued wen ttemt re mde to nyze te famiyreciey wat we c i an dequte anyi of the famiy Only wit uc an nyi will we be be to get out ofte ime into wic our ttemt at a "teory of women' oreion have ed u

Te locu of te robem of te iberation of women ndte equlity of te exe i in fct te fmily An invetigation of te famiy it economic ocia ychoogica ndideoogic functioning will enabe u to undertnd nd

act on te contrdiction in the live of women The focumut go beyond women to te famiy Wht we mut nyzei the ituation of a the fmiy member women chi-dren and men

A wtc in focu from women to the family wil ao heu to mae better ene of our own hitory Our excuiveconcern with women ha in fact made our actua hitory awomen oaque to u We argue about the rehitoric divi


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si f lab betwee te sexes, but we d t yet ave agd gas te ecet isty f te family as a duc

ig ecmic uit i wic wme's lab was sciallyecgized Te extet f wmes degadati ude caitalism ly becmes fully clea we we ecgize wataeed t te family wit te advet f caitalism A de-sciti fm a Bitis "Ret f te Sciety f Betteig te diti f te P is elquet, if eas ex-aggeated : "Te wife is lge able t ctibute e

sae twads te weekly exeses

a kid f de-sdecy se sits dw uable t ctibute aytig tte geeal fud f te family ad cscius f edeig te sevice t e usbad excet tat f te meecae f is family 5 Wme ad cilde wee exectedt be caable f vidig f temselves by eteig itte ductive life f te ecaitalist cmmuity Temee cae f is family culd still seem a gim vcati

ideed aud 800 aitalism as deied wme aticiati i te scially ecgized ductive cesses fsciety; me ad cilde ave bee tust, as evebefe utside te vey fuctiig f te dmiat systemf ducti, tat is, fm scial existece

aitalism as, f cuse, als evealed, f te fisttime, te ssibility f a tue equality f te sexes i -

ductive activity ad i sciety as a wle ee agai, tefamily is a ma aea i wic tis ssibility is develig as te ctadictis betwee te ctemay fam-ily ad te scial atue f ducti deee Te delieati f te ecise caacte, te eset situati, ad tetetial develmet f tese ctadictis is te imlicitsubect f may f te witigs fm te wmes libeatimvemet; tey ca be see as ctibutis twads a

cmeesive citique f te family Juliet Mitcell suggests, f examle, tat ude caitalism te scial atuef ducti ted t este te family t its scial fm a scial gu f idividuals ( 58 te wds,te futue is eaed i te eset Te emegece fwmes libeati as a scial fce i fact beas witesst Maxs cmmet tat umaity "always sets itself ly

suc tasks as it ca slve; sice lkig at te matte


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more closely i will always be found ha he ask iselfarises only when he maerial condiions for is soluion

already exis or are a leas in he process of forma-ion (6his approach o an analysis of he family as he major

caegory in which o siuae he condiion of women hasbeen used, and in cerain aspecs deeloped more exensiely, by Pegy Moron and Mariarosa Dalla Cosa. haI hae ried o do here is o locae i heorecally as hemos fruiful wy for our analysis o proceed

V MENS ORK HE FAMILY

A key problem is o analyze, precisely he work womendo in he family. A number of effors hae been made oconsider his quesion wihin a Marxis perspecie Mar-gare Benson argues ha under capialism women work o

produce usealues ha are consumed wihin he familyWomen work bu i is jus no wge labor and so is nocouned heir work is no worh money is hereforealueless, is herefore no een real work Peggy Morondiscusses he family percepiely as a uni whose funcionis he mainenance and reroducion of labor ower," heremos of he work is done by women Hodee Edwards ain-ains ha women are bodilyowned slaes who produce

he commodi laborpower he slaeowners are said obe working class men who sell heir labor power o hecapialiss For Edwards, an auhenic slae mode of pro-ducion has somehow suried ino capialism in he formof female slaery a he same ime she speaks of womenas being exploied because hey produce a capialis commodiy laborpower Mariarosa Dalla Cosa assers hadomesic work no only produce s use alues bu is an es-

senial funcion in he producion of surplus alue iehrough he mainenance and reproducion of laborpower]"In his way she confuses being necessary o he sysem wihbeing producie in he sric sense; she speaks generallyof domesic labor as producie and of women as exploied(7 ) hese analyses, unlike Julie Mihells, all approachhe work of women in he family from he poin of iew of

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prductin Tey cnfrnt t arying degrees, te biusissues tat arise: at d wmen prduce ? at is te

scial meaning f teir labr ? Hw is tis labr t beunderstd as a part f te capitalist mde f pructin ?Teir answers embedded i mre geeral discussi te wmens liberatin mement and f strategy, are nte wle inadequate. Te prblem f deelping a Marxistanalysis f wmens dmestic wrk must be examined mredirectly.

Marx discussed te wrk wmen d witin te familynly ccainally and een ten rater bliquey Fr example, in is analysis f feudalism e identified te familyas te mst elementary unit f prductin: te family iste indiidual direct prducer Tus Marx referred againand again t te direct prducers agricultural actiity andte rural me industries cnnected wit it and t teindispensable cmbiatin f agriculture and dmestic in-

dustry A selmanaging peasant prduces is wn meansf subsistence independently as an islated labrer witis family Marx examined te situatin witin te familywen e remarked tat te patriarcal industries f apeasant family exibit a spntaneusly deelped systemf diisin f labr. Te distributin f wrk witin tefamily and te regulatin f te labrtime f te seeralmembers depend as well un differences f age and sexas upn natural cnditins arying wit te seasns Telabrpwer f eac indiidual by its ery nature, per-ates in tis case merely as a definite rtin f te wlelabrpwer f te family But Marx was less interestedin te indiiduals tan in te family as a prducing unit tatmay itself dispse f sme surplus labr He examined frexample, te case f rent in kind: Te surplusprduct

wic frms te rent is te prduct f tis cmbined agricultural and industrial family labr [and it is by nmeans necessary fr rent in kind wic epesents tesurpluslabr t fully exaust te entire surpluslabr fte rural family Marx studied te family as a wle asa prductie unit, because it is ere tat e saw a pssiblemecanism fr cange in te feudal system 8)

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Marx tus ad good reason to focus on te wole labor-power of te family under feudalism is point of iew

oweer made im neglect not only womens labor but allindiidual labor in te feudal family n addition Marx likeis contemporaries ws imprisoned witin a male per-spectie tat ultimately distorted is understanding of tefaily and of womens productie actiity in general Awaretoug e ws of te problem of te euality of te sexesMarx inariably approaced it from te standpoint of a man

Tus for example it is alwys te relation of man towman" tat is te direct natural and necessary relationof person to person (9 n conidering te feudal familyMarx tended to dealue te social meaning of womenslabor despite is obseration tat production was organizedaccording to an essentially natural and spontaneous diisionof labor For example e pointed out tat te product andsurplusproduct of te large estates consists by no means

purely of products of agricultural labor t encompasseseually well te products of industrial labor altougdomestic andicrafts and manufacturing labor are secondary occupations of agriculture wic forms te basi Ibut e assumed agriculture to be te exclusie domain ofmen (10) Wen it came to capitalism Marx forgot strangely te istoric contribution of women and cildren

to te precapitalist indispensable combination of agri-culture and domestic industry tat e ad described sowell nstead e took te bourgeois nuclear family wit itsdealuation of womens and cildren's work as an implicitnorm and raged against wat e saw as its iolation andimpending doom at te ands f te emerging capitalistsFor example e carcterized macinery (e te passagefrom manufacture to industry) as enrolling under te di

rect swy of cpital eery member of te workmans family witout distinction of ge or sex ompulsory work forte capitalist usurped te place not only of te cildrensplay but also of free labor at ome witin moderate limitsfor te support of te family Marx is suggesting ere ttin preindustrial society te usband's work was supposedto coer te costs of maintaining te wole family: Te

alue of laborpower was determined not only by te labor

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time necessry to mintin te individul dult lborer butlso by tt necessry to mintin is fmily I contrst,

mcinery, by trowing every member of tt fmily on tote lbormrket, spreds te vlue of te mns lbor-power over is wole fmily (1 1 ) Mrx ws in fct wrongIn tese pssges e ws projecting bourgeois model ofte nucler fmily onto te pst, s if it were te socilstructure of preindustril workers

Mrx nlyzed cpitlism from te point of view of cp

itl He never looked t te problem of te mintennce ndreproduction of lborpower from te stndpoint of teworking clss In is writings, womns domestic lborbecme s invisible s mbiguously devoid of socil exist-ence s it s become in relity It is necessry, tere-fore, to reconstruct te fmily witin Mrxist nlysis ofcpitlism beginning wit n exmintion of te meningof womns work in it We must consider te problem ofdomestic lbor from te point of view of tose wose tskit is

Mrgret Benston first pointed out tt in te fmilyunder cpitlism te domestic lbor of women producesusevlues for direct consumption witin te fmily Herobservtion ws quickly ccepted Anoter wy to look ttis is to sy tt womns lbor in te fmily is essen

tilly useful lbor, ie productive ctivity of definitekind nd exercised wit definite im (12) It is lbor tts n essentilly qulittive crcter o sy tt wom-ens lbor is useful lbor is qulittive in crcter, isentirely equivlent to sying tt it produces usevluesfor direct consumption e reformultion voids fetis-istic prllel to te production of commodities, nd it

enbles us to see te sitution more clerly Women, in-sofr s tey do work witin te fmily perform purelyuseful lbor tt is tey produce usevlues for immediteconsumption Men insofr s tey re wge lborers employed by te cpitlists, lbor to produce commodities;tt is teir lbor s dul crcter, for it cretes botusevlues nd excngevlues Most men do some purelyuseful lbor t some times (usully witin te fmily) virtully ll women re committed to life of suc lbor, l

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though they my in addition be wge worers Women andmen thus move in essentiay different productive wordsthe wonder (and the probem) is that these words are infact totay interoced

Usefu abor i one of the few universas arx acnow-edged : far a abor is a creator of usevaue isusefu abor it i a necessary condition independent of aforms of society for the existence of the human race it isan eterna natureimposed necessity without which there

can be no materia exchanges between man (sic)and Natureand therefore no ife (13) t is ony under the dominationof capita that abor creates exchangeaue as we as useaue The abor of the indiiduas in the precapitaistfamiy for exmpe is above a usefu. Moreover it isreatiey unienated : o matter then what we may thinof the parts payed by the different casses of peope them

seves in this ociety the socia reations between indiiduas in the performnce of their bor apper at aeents as their own mutu persona reations and are notdisguised under the shpe of socia reations between theproducts of bor (1) roductie actiity under capitism become subect to extreme forms of aienation To theextent that peope participte in stricty usefu abor theyhae one access into the possibiity of unaienated abor

For exampe the domestic wor of women is done in anisoated sitution apprenty outside of capitaist produc-tion and it has traditionay been considered to be unproductie of consciousness. Neertheess because it is pri-mariy usefu bor it has the power under the right conditions to suggest a future society in which a abor woudbe primariy usefu This is one of the sources of the con-

sciousness and strength that dries women into the fore-font of revoutionary moementWomen have very cear understnding impicit or

expicit tht their domestic abor essentiay invovesthe production of usevaues tht it is usefu abor Withinthe womens ibertion moement this has resuted in a indof twopronged anaogy between feudism and the famiyunder cpitaism n the first pace the mans wages aresaid to proide for a qusifeuda system of mintenance


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ad reprodctio o laborpower withi the amily For ex-ample, Beto maitai that each amily, each hoe-hold, cotitte a idividal prodctio it, a pre-idtrial etity, i the ame wy that aat armeror cottage weaver cotitte preidtria prodctioit (15) Thi delieatio o the amily a eetially aremat o a earier mode o prodctio dercore itreactioary character rom the poit o view o capitalitprodctio The aalogy ha, however, deiite limitatio

The amily wa the baic it o prodctio der edal-im, ad wome prodctive activity withi it wa a o-cially meaigl a that o me; wome dometic laborder capitalim bear a qite dieret relatiohip to thedomiat mode o prodctio additio, it i hard to prethe aalogy to a preidtrial prodctio it whe theborgeoi clear amily i o irmly achored i moder

capitalim thik we have leaed o, ad leared rom,thi aalogy becae we till lack a theoryThe parallel to edalim i draw i a ecod way whe

wome itatio withi the amily i likeed to that o theer Withi the amily, the woma i aid to take o therole o er, ad the hbad play the lord The relatiohip o domiio ad ervitde, eorced by coercio, thatexit betwee hbad ad wie do ideed bear a reem

blac to edal relatiohip Neverthele, thi aalogy,like that o wome to black, ha a almot wholly meta-phorical character Wome ad me (like er ad o-ble) caot i ay meaigl ee cotitte clae Ad edal relatio o prodctio caot really rviveito advaced capitalim i the Wet

Ayoe who trie to make a Marxit aalyi o wome

work in the amily evetally corot the qetio owhether dometic labor i prdctive i the Marxitee Some recet article gget, or example, that it i,ad that wome ca thereore be aid to be exploited robbed o the rlvale they create i the ame waya actory worker To wome ivolved i the womeliberatio moemet thi coclio i at irt glace at-tractive, or it coirm ad validate or dertadig othe importace o or work withi the amily, depite it


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soa nsby e dea a domes abor s pro-

due" urns ou, oweer, o be a ery superfa ap-proxmaon, and i we are o make an aurae anayss s neessary o examne e suaon more arefuye meanng of podue abor s ery eary re-sred: rodue abor, n s meanng for apasproduon s wageabor w, exanged agans earabe par of apa (e par of e apa a s spenon wages ), reprodues no ony s par of e apa (or

e aue of s own aborpower), bu n addon produessurpusaue for e apas ny a wageabor sprodue w produes apa" (6 bousy, wom-ens unpad domes abor n e manenane and repro-duon of aborpower an n no way fa under s defnon Womens abor n e famy under apasm s non e sr sense, produe s does no mean, ow-eer a s unprodue abor for unprodue abors abor w s no exanged w apa bu drelw reenue, a s w wages or prof (for exampe,e abor of a red buer or gardener) (17 I sor,womens domes abor under apasm s neer produe nor unprodue and we mus remember a weare deang ere no w mora judgmens (aoug bour-geo deoogy woud ke us o nk oerwse), bu w

eonom aegores I oer words, womens produeay n e famy does no fa under e apasmode of produon, sry defned (8 As Daa Cosapus , er abor appears o be a persona sere ou-sde of apa; e sress soud be on appears o be,oweer and e nsuffeny of Daa Cosas formuaoneary reognzed (19 Indeed domes abor may sef

be an eonom aegory e ndspensabe ompemenof wage abor us aoug women are no n e as-sa sense expoed neer are ey an exuded op-pressed mnory omens abor s performed n e eryear of e ondons of apasm

V SEX DIVISINS F LABR

I ae argued a we mus fous on e famy as eaegory roug w o undersand e suaon of wom

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n, and a w us rvs and dpn our anaysis of work won do wn faiy s is, of ourse, ony

a par of eoria ask, for e faiy us b undesood wiin e onx of doinan ode of produiona a gven paruar, sx dvsions of abor usbe exained in dai, and, a e sae ie, fo a fuyisoria poin of vew e one and, e sex divisionof abor in soe areas of produive aiviy eains sbsaniay unanged (abov a, in idbearing) n

oer and, e disribuion of work and e soia eaningof viruay a abor as anged roug isory and on-inues o ange oday.

Fo exape, i was noed above a Max was ineesed in e feuda faiy as a produing uni, a for i,

erefore, e aborpower of ea individua, by is veynaure, operaes in is ase eey as a definie porionof e wo aborpower of e faiy By onras, wesoud expore e division of abor wiin a woeI ay b, for insane, a a wife provides food, a grand-oer akes oing, a id does ores and a usbandainains ser, for an nire feuda faiy. In is way,

ea eber does a rain aoun of wa ig be aedindividua surpus abo wi is en disribued wiin efaiy Tese individa abors, aken ogeer, ake up e

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abr neessary mainain and reprdue he individualprduers h mprie he peasan family A similar divisin f abr bains hen he he abrper f hefamily is mbiized d surpus labr fr he rd. Ahugh men ere erainly ppreed in he feuda family heir abr had a regnized pae and funin ihinhe erms f feudalism A diviin f abr arding sexs bui in he feudal reains f prduin and mans labr ihin he famiy as sially meaningful

Angea Davis has disused he quie differen sex divi-sin f labr under he Amerian ave yem (20) Therehe ine beeen abr fr he planain ner and abr mainain and reprdue he individual lave s dransharply and invved nfiing sex divisins f abrThe blak man as hlly inegraed in he prduive fre ha rked he fieds f he slave planain In he rk she perfrmed fr he slavehlder here

fre "he blak mn as fred in equaliy ih heblak man She shared in he defrmed equaliy f equalppressin. In he rk f mainaining and reprduing heves n he her hand Afrian pariarha frms f exdiviin f labr survived bak men did m f hedmesi abr in he save uarer Davis expre hedialeialy expsive nequenes f his siuain. A-

hugh "radiinaly

dmesi rk is supped mplemen and nfirm mens infeririy in he Amerian lave syem he blak man "as perfrming hen labr f he save mmuniy hih uld n be di-rely and immediaely laimed by he ppressr. Thembinain f equaliy in prduin fr he panainner and nr ver he ny are f prduive aiviyn apprpriaed by he maer made he slave man spe-

ialy pen rebellin "Even a she perfrmed her huserk he blak man re in he slave mmuniy udn be idenial he hisrialy evlved female reSripped f he paliaive femae veneer hih migh haveenuraged a pasive perfrmane f dmesi ak sheas n uniquey apabe f eaving in he rp and ff dmesi ife a prfund nsiusnes f reisane

The blak man reaed a freh nen fr his defrmed

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equay (n work for e masel by nsprng and parc-pang n acs of ressance of every form and coor Secoud urn e weapon of equay n srugge agans eavarcous save sysem wc ad engendered e merecarcaure of equay n oppresson Davs anayss suggess a e conradcons n e sex dvson of aborunder e Amercan save sysem became one source of ensurreconary conscousness of save women (1

Sex dvsons of abor ave been n many ways comp-

caed and exacerbaed under capasm or exampe, eexperence of e ob s more and more dvorced from eword of e ome, as company dormores and owns arerepaced by suburbs, consumersm expands and famy feand esure are mysfed and feszed In oer words,e condons n wc surpus abor s appropraed bycapa are ncreasngy separaed from e condons n

wc e manenance and reproducon of e ndvduasaborpower akes pace Te rends n e sex dvson ofabor n eac of ese wo suaons mus be examned, ander nerreaonsps evauaed

Marx anayzed e acvy of manenance and reproducon of aborwer as ndvda consumpon" a proc-ess weren e aborer urns e money pad o m fors aborpower no means of subssence He descrbedndvdua consumpon as an essenay soaed processI s someng e capas may safey ave o eaborers nsncs of sefpreservaon and of propagaon Indeed, n ndvdua consumpon, e aborer be-ongs o msef and performs s necessary va funcons ousde e process of producon oer words,e manenance and reproducon of aborpower akes

pace ousde e reaons of capas commody produc-on, a s, ousde e word n wc surpusvaue sproduced or varous reasons, Marx rarey acknowedgeda ndvdua consumpon s a soca process operangroug a reavey sabe soca form, e famy Aoug s rue a under capasm e famy as been srppedof s former fu parcpaon n soca producon and can

o some exen be sad o ve ousde e process of pro-ducon, s aso cear a ndvdua consumpon s


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a ocial roce involvng labor ad intene interactionwith the world of caitalit commoditie (2)

t i in the area of "ndividal conmtion that the motevere ex diviion of labor in modern caitalit ocietyare to be fond The famly nder catalim i rimarilyan arena for the maintenance and rerodction of labor-ower Women have been aigned vrtally the whole br-den of thi neceary wor The hband contrbtion iin theory redced to the roviion of enough money fromhi wor for the caitalit to by the raw material for thewife' eful labor within the family. Thu with reect tothe labor reqired for the maintenance and reroduction oflaborower nder caitalim the diviion of labor betweenwife and hband i extreme A already oberved abovewomen and men eem from thi oint of view to move indifferent roductive here. The ey to ndertanding howthee two here are interloced i to ituate them in the

caitalit ytemThe wge i the loc of the interection between the

caitalit mode of rodction and the roce of individalconumtion Concerning te wgeorm Mrx remaredthat it extinguihe every trace of the diviion of theworkingday into neceary labor and rlulabor, ntoaid and unaid labor All labor aear a aid labore aw in "thi henomenal [wge] form which mae theactual relation inviible, the bai for all the mytification of the caitalit mode of roduction (3) Th theayment of wge conceal the ditinction between the laborneceary for the maintenance and rerodction of labor-ower and the urlu labor that create the urluvalearoriated by the citlit All labor aear a nece-ary labor to the worer, ince the wage aid cover the

cot of the maintenance and rerodction of hi labor-ower Moreover, the yment of wge for the exenditureof lborower by the uband digie the fact of the extreme ex diviion of thi labor nder caitalim Thectal wor of rerodcing and maintaining laborwer ierformed virtully otide caitalit commodity roduction tht i within the family with mot of the wor done bythe wife The linage between the caitalit mode of com

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modty prodcton and the process o the mantenance and

reprodcton o laborpower (ndvdal consmpton) assmes two aspects To the hsband t appears as the wage.To the wie t appears as the world o goods and servcesthe raw materals or the ecessary labor largely per-ormed by her The sex dvson o labor n the mantenanceand reprodcton o laborpower nder captalsm ths nvolves a ndamental mystcaton The hsbands neces-sary labor on the job appears to lose all ts sel character or hm; he sees t only n terms o exchangevaleemboded n the wgeorm that bys the means o sb-sstence The we conversely conronts the world ocaptalsm as t were composed o pre sevales (n-cldng the hsband's wage) watng to be consmed n thesel labor necessary to mantan ad reprodce the amly Locked n an ncreasngly brtal dvson o labor the

two sexes tend to experence the relatonshp between theamly and the captlst mode o prodcton rom vastlyderng ponts o vew Here s the root o the system ocontradctons nherent n the amly nder captalsm (2)

he pctre I have sketched s ntentonally abstractIt clares the condton o women nder captlsm byshowng a crystallzed orm pre conseqence o the se

dvson o labor wthn the aly hs abstract portrayalo woman as homemaker mst now be moded orthroghot the hstory o captalsm women have also par-tcpated n wage labor other words women have alwaysbeen ntensely nvolved the two spheres o prodctveactvty nder captlsm wge labor and the mntenanceand reprodcton o laborpower Moreover the actal st-aton o women men chldren and the amly s o corsean hstorcal prodct and s constntly changg Thesechanges mst also be lly examned and strategcallyevalated

The partcpaton o women n wge labor s amply doc-mented (25) Two longterm trends are especally sgn-cant. In 1890 only 18% o women over 16 years old were nwhat U S Government statstcs call the lbor orce; by

1969 3% were Smlarly n 189 ewer than one ot ove workers was a woman whle n 1969 nearly two ot o

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fve workers were. In other word, we are movng towrdsa stuaton n whch women wll be epresented n the laborforce n proporton to ther actual numbers n the pa-ton The s econd mportant trend s n the area of qal-tatve change. The women who work today tend to be oer :n 1900 the medan age of women workers ws 26, and n968 t had rsen to 40 ore and more women workers aremarred by 1967, almost three out of fve women workerswere marred (lvng wth ther husband) Increasng num

ber of women with chdren work n 1940, 9% of motherswth chldren under 18 worked; n 1967, the proporton hadrsen to 8% Th fgure can be further broken down accordng to the age of the chldren n 967, 49% of motherswth schoolage chldren (6 to 17 years) worked, and 29%of women with chldren under 6 worked. In short, the wom-en who work are ncreasngly a representatve crosssecton of all women Although varous fluctuaton have

been etenvely publczed for example, the moblzatonof women nto ndustry durng World War , and ther subsequent forced return to homemakng accompaned by theayng on of the emnne mystque the endurng tendency s for more nd more ordnary women to be thworkers and "homemaker, that s, to prtcpate nboth wage lbor nd the proce of the mantenance andreproducton of borpower

Se dvson of lbor on the ob are almot as severe aswthn the famly he entre occuptonal tructure hasbeen stratfed long se ne, makng t eay to perpetratenequaltes n pay. Mens ob my ometmes hft towardsbecomng women work (and conversey), but ntegratonof the sexe on the ob rre; equal pay s even rarer Atthe ame tme, there s perstent hstory of women

fghtng for men ob and or equa pay. Indeed, t s nthe phere of wge labor that the frst ucceful assautson ex dvson of labor were aunched, as early as thenneteenth century he ncreasng partcpton of ordnarywomen n wge labor, nd the contradctons they exper-enced there n ddton to those nherent n ther dometcwork contrbuted to the rse n the 1960s of women lberaton a a powerful socal force. h force has expreed

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self n he doman of wage labor as an aeeraed aak

on all aspes of he nequaly beween women and menworkers The legslaon of he sxes (196 Equal Pay A,Tle II of he 1964 Cvl Rghs A, Equal Rghs Amendmen), only now begnnng o be parally mplemened, s amere refleon of a generally qukenng hrus owrdsequaly n all produve avy

Well over a enury ago Marx and Engels noed ha adrve owards equaly of he sexes ws appearng mos n-

ssenly n he sphere of wage labor They suggesed han apals soey he varous neress and ondonsof lfe whn he ranks of he proleara are more andmore equalzed, and n parular dfferenes of age andsex have no longer any dsnve soal valdy for heworkng lass All are nsrumens of labor more or lessexpensve o use, aordng o her age and sex (6) Ths

progressve desruon of dfferenes of age and sex asall persons ener he sphere of apals produon waso open up he possbly for rue equaly realzable onlyhrough a revoluon o overhrow apalsm

Marx and Engels orrely analyzed he dales of hesuaon. Wha hey underesmaed were on he one handhe value of womens produve avy n domes laborand on he oher he poenal for he famly o a alongwh he sae as a ohesve fore of vlzed soey wh remans essenally a mahne for keepng down heoppressed exploed lass (7) Thus alhough Marx andEngels denfed he endeny under apalsm owrds heequaly of he sexes and he dssoluon of he fmly heyvasly msudged he onree ondons Wha hey saw asa bleak bu daleally promsng pure soon seemed o

be a wrong predon I he ourse of he nneeenh enury he famly ws reesablshed as an effen means omanan reprodue repress sablze and f neessarydvde he workng las s nly now n he seond half ofhe weneh enury have he poenally explosve onradons nheren hn he famly under apalsm oneagan appeared (8

Imporan hanges n womens work whn he famlyhave mad possble womens nreasng parpaon n


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wage abr Uni e end f e nineeen cenury, wmens prducie aciiy wiin e famiy was si enr

mus . Depending n e famiys siuain i cud incude:prcessing and cking fd (incuding a baking presering, picking canning, jey making, ec >; caring fr akicen garden, and fr pur, pigs, and cws; keepinguse (incuding making sap candes, ye, brms, ma-resses, ec. ; making and repairing cing and inens;bearing and raising cidren nursing (e dcring eyung, e sick and e dying Tus aug wmens dmesic abr ad aready s ms f is scia meaning,few married wmen in e nineeen cenury enered ewrd f capiais reains f prducin direcy As capiaism maured iruay a f wmens wrk wiin efamiy was a eas pary capiaized r sciaized Wmensi ck dress eir famiies, and keep use, bu eraw maerias are nw igy prcessed gds and ser

ice s purcased er e cuners f supermarkes, depar-men sres, and serice ceners. Oer funcins frmeryperfrmed wiin e famiy wi grea expendiure f imeand energy increasingy ake pace uside i Wmen sibear cidren bu ey deier em in spias raer ana me. Te sciaizain f cidren is mre and mree prince f arge educaina and cuura insiuins;pubic day care fr presc cidren is e ms recen

innain in is area Nursing and dcring ae beenargey prfessinaized and remed ffices and spias aug sme nursing si remains be dne wiine famiy A e same ime e deepmen f beercnracepin and impred ea care as mean fewercidren ess danger f dea r permanen injury, and anear end cidbearing

Te ieraure f e wmens iberain memen asexensiey dcumened e ineffcien and esigia aspecsf e famiy as a prducie uni fr e mainenance andreprducin f abrpwer I as disseced e unappysiuain f e wife and mer w is simuaneusy indispensabe (abe a fr e famis idegica funcinsf sabiizin and repressin and purpseess (especiayinsfar as e famiy is a prducie uni. Wa sud as


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be sressed are e posiie aspecs of e process: a seadymoemen owards e sociaizaion of e funcions of efamiy, and owrds e iberaion of women from e fam-iy as we know i. Because is moemen is occurringunder capiaism i appears on e one and a a endencyowards capiaizaion of domesic abor, and on e oeras an iniaion o women o become wage workers for cap-ia As Marx saw new, iger reaions of producionneer appear before e maeria condiions of eir exi

ence ae maured in e womb of e od sociey isef(9) Te maeria condiions for e iberaion of womenand e equaiy of e sexes ae a as deeoped, and aaround us e new reaions of producion srugge o esabis emees

Te eidence for e embryonic forms of ee new re-aions of producion is endes weer one ooks for i

in e ieraure of womens iberaion or absorbs iroug e bourgeoi media Raer an an organizedmoemen, ere is a cear moion owrds equaiy a moion inoing no us a narrow new ef secor bu ewoe working cas or exampe far from needing o besmased, e famiy is quiey undergoing a seady proceof dissouion Te diorce rae coninues o soar, and in-creasing numbers of women and men are remaining singeGreaer acces o conracepion and aborion as proidede mos imporn maeria basis for ese deeopmensTe pu for day care i making em een more possibeWiin e famiy genderdefined roes are being ca-enged In e area of wge abor segregaion and ob caegorizaion according o sex are being aacked wi omeucce Parime ob for men are being eriouy di

cued as a wy o moe owards equaiy of e exesAnd of course e women and gay iberaion moemensconinue o be crucia in giing expreion, sap and impeus o ee endencie

Te conergence of i genera moemen owrds sexequaiy wi e spi beween ife on and off e ob asreued in a pecuiary ignifican rend. Marx noed a

e ienaion of cpiais reaions of producion ead ineiaby o e grow of a person ife increaingy sep


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arate rom prodcte actty wage lar or the worker ony eels hmsel otsde hs work ad hs work

eels osde hmsel (30) The major area or hmaeelg has or some tme bee the amly ad actaleaton has bee part expressed throgh the separa-to betwee the amly (ste o the mateace ad repro-dcto o laborpower) ad the job (where srplsale sextracted rom the laborer) The extreme character o thss eparaton der adaced captalsm has ow dalectc

ally proded a rodabot bt gee approach towardsthe coscosess that t s ecessary to oerthrow captalsm the experece o prely sel labor. It was obsered aboe that wth the amly wome perorm sellabor ad thereore ca der the rght codtos haeaccess to a so o a le o aleated prodcte acty. The recet attempts to break dow sex dsos o labor with the amly are prodg smlar glmpses tome ay o the ads ad topa projects o the sxtesad seetes ca also be terpreted as attempts to explore or exted ths experece campg crats healthoods orgac armg ood cooperate cooperate chldcare comal lg o aros types ad so o Theseare oly topa soar as ther partal atre remaisrecognzed

l.RoNTP150-5.MOBRI

!\ . ON T (E.

J',GMEBODUN.


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MPLCA NS FR SRAEGY

he oion owrds he dissouion of he fmi he ib-erion of woen nd he equi of he sexes cn sued up s ovemen owrds free nd equ singe-hood Ech conribuing rend ends o pper in muipeguises I ddiion, ech usul ssumes number of con-rdicor fces ne rend sugges in perhps uopinfshion, he new socie Anoher my explore he ssi

biliy for ccommodion nd coninmen wihin cpiismFor expe he spi beween bourgeois nd rdic feminis is lredy cer h beween rdic nd sociisfeinism less so he dissouion of he fily cn poinowrds eiher iberion or disser (nd perhps boh) forwoen Conrcepion, ccess o borion nd d cre cnbe he bsis for relionships grounded in equi, or for

sexul expoiion in he ybo rdiion o for newkind of genocide. Acks on sex inequi in wge borcn cu ny wys s he recen discussion wihin heoveen over he Equ Righs Aeden hs shownere in fu wreness of he conrdicios inoved inconfroning hese issues, is where sreg us e forged

n soe quesions, he consequences of hese conrdicions for sregy hve been quie cer drwn he figh

L E T

'.

b. DUN:

F C

B,'Ola6 I

5 A AT

ULl ID

y c F Ofr aks Ap 15 971


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act the ncreasng willngness o captal to meet certan

o the emans or eqalty s srprsng ne mght compare the ery erent reslts o the black lberatonmoement oer the past teen years espte greater rgency an hgher leel o mltance sprea oer a werbase the black lberaton moement has been able to acheerelately mnmal aances an these at ery hgh costIt s necessary thereore to ealate the openness o captalsm to womens lberaton wth approprate sspconnly we learn what ths welcome means can we eelopstrategy accorngly

What we are wtnessng I wol arge s a raply acceleratng moement towars a staton that arx anEngels saw n embryonc orm n the nneteenth centry :the ssolton o the amly an the entrance o women ntowage labor on the bass o eqalty From the pont o ewo captalsm n crss steps taken n ths recton can bea ery real way to by te For exple Bebel sggestethat n the late nneteenth centry small procers threatene by monopoly captalsm tre to sae themseles byemployng the chep labor o women. (32) Toay cptalsmns tsel acng prolonge crss an looks agan towomen or way to ct ts costs The welcome t oers to

woens lberaton sggests that the entry o women ntothe wgelabor work orce wll be acltate an accelerate as a wy to lower the costs to the cptalsts o thelaborpower o the workng class as a whoe The moel othe borgeos nclear amly spporte by the wages o thehsban wll ten to be replace by a new stanar o amore egaltran amly n whch both hsban an we

work Een wthot an eroson o lng stanars ths wllenable captalsm to cheapen the cost o laborpower ornow two workers may earn as mch as one beoreA ore sgncant eelopment may be the ncreasngnmber o people who wll reman sngle possbly lng nloose collecte tatons once the materal bass o theborgeos nclear amly s eroe an rg sons o

labor n the mantenance an reprocton o laborpowercome to be challenge

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From te pont o vew o women, tese developmentsct two ways e tendency towards more egaltaran re-latons wtn te amly and te emergence o a new stand-ard o relatve eqalty on and o the job are clearly pos-tve steps towards te ntegraton o women nto socety onte bass o eqalty At te same tme, te entry o womennto wage labor represents a rther degradaton o orlves by captalsm Once agan women are beng moblzednto ndstry becase captal needs s o te extent tat

we are nable to resst ts moblaton, women today acea tre resemblng te deormed eqalty o eqal oppres-son experenced by Amercan slave women. And as wtte slave women tese developments cold moe s towardsa stronger poston rom wc to gt Moreover, precsely becase t s adanced captalsm rater tan a slaesystem tat wses to mpose ts deormed eqalty te

reslts wll be derent Weter te general standard olng wll all, wether te ncrease n nmbes o snglepersons wll be a more mportant trend tan tat o workngwes, weter a new norm o ree and relatvely eqalsngleood wll evole and ow all tese anes wll aeta revoltonary process tese are qestons that wll beanswered n te tre accordng to the natre and ntensty

o te css and te level o strggleoltcal organzng as p to now generally accepted te

peclarly alenated socal relatons tat arse wt cap-talsm. e separatons mposed by te organaton ocaptalst socety o ob om ome wage labor rom do-mestc labor, men om women all ave been seen asessentally nchangeable ntl ater te makng o a revo

lton Wat ts means n terms o organzng and poltcalwork s tat an nddals personal le as tradtonallybeen regarded as essentally separate rom poltcal actonAnd te conseqences have been qte predctably a warp-ng o bot personal and poltcal experence In partclar,women ave been on te wole orced to reman nvsble,stayng otsde te processes o cange or at mst taknga specal place alongsde t

I ave arged above tat te contradctons wtn advanced captalsm are mong s towards an eroson o sex

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divisions in both wge lbor nd domestic lbor This sitution hs importnt implictions fo politicl work No pe-

vious evolution hs hd vilble to it the kind of m teilbsis fo equity of the sexes povided by dvnced cpitlism his suggests I think tht the fight for socilismin the United Sttes will be different The new eft of thepst decde hs redy deveoped vious foms tht respond to this sitution miny though its stress on orgniztion outside th wkpce The evoutionry movement

of the futue is in the pocess of creting itsef There hsbeen quite necessry revivl of emphsis on wokplceognizing nd css questions but the issue of the sepr-tion of domestic fom onthejob experience hs in genelnot been det with dequtey For exmpe the problemof the etionships between women nd men, the questionof why women on nd off the job begin to move nd ognizethemselves nd the issue of in wht forms this cn best

tke pce l these emin to be worked out But thepocess hs only just begun It is ony in the course of thestugge itself tht evolutiony woking css movementwill be be to begin to eject to tnscend the divisions tht weken it And it is through this stuggle then,tht the el ibetion of women wil be shped, developed,nd eventully won

NTES

1 I hve benefited getly from numeous colective discussions of mny of the issues teted in this ppe. I wouldespecily ike to thnk those with whom I woked in theFeminist Studies Progm of the CmbridgeGoddrd Gdute Schoo nd lso the prticipnts in number of studygoups nd confeences ove the pst yer nd hf Myfiends I Gestein nd Lillin Robinson red sevelvesions of this pper; I m grtefu to them for ptientnd cefu citicism nd mny usefu suggestions I woudso ike to tke this oppotunity to thnk my own ethlyfmiy my mother nd fther my unt Ann my unceLester, nd my cousins Mimi nd Iv fo helping me to

survive the expeience of gowing up in the fifties

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ot N York non 1968 pp 46 44, 40 n gnsto gps hat hs ffc passags an n trs ofho ony hrogh xns rang an rrang ofarx. ha aso fon th xposton n B an,Anaon arg, 1971 gnray s an s-csss h parcar qson of cagors on pp 16

n hs an th foong scons, a forc to assa can acqananc h th ratr an sss ofon's raon, an th asc cagors of arxst

anayss, n orr to prsnt y argnts n as rf afor as poss

Qo n y nchck Won Workrs an th nstra oton 170180 non, 190 p. 9 nch-ck, oghr th Ac ark Workng f of Won nth Snh ntry onon, 1919 sppy nogh n-foraon o sktch th hsory of h changs n th fay

an n th s of on th th ant of capashpp Ars, nrs of hhoo A ca sory ofFay f onon 196 aso cors th sct. n athr cass on st rcogn h ass of th athorsn faor of h orn fay. Athogh ost ofns rngs ha tn to raty ahsorcaso ha r no to S, for xap : ggy oon,

A Woan's Work s Nr Don n Fro Fns toraon E Aach arg, assachsts1971 pp 1 17 an n Won Un ! Toronto : ana-an Won's Ecaton rss, 197 pp 4668 or arJo Bh Ann G Goron, an Nancy Schro, Won nArcan Socty : An storca onrton, acaArca, o. no 4 JyAgs 1971 pp asoaaa as a aca Arca paph

6 Kar arx, rfac o A onron o h rtqof oca Econoy,' n Kar arx an Frrck EngsSct Works n n Vo N York : ntrnaonashrs, 1968 p 18

7 argar Bnston Th otca Econoy o Wo-n's raon onhy o 1 no 4 Spr1969 pp 17 orton A Woans Work, c ao

n n o Ers, osork an xpotaton :A arxst Anayss, No or Fn an Gas A Jorna


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of Fal raton Jy 1971 9200; ararosa

Dalla osta Won an h Srson of th onty Racal Arca ol 6 no 1 JanaryFrary1972 pp. 67102 also prnt n a corrc an rsrson as part of a paphl tl Th or of Wonan h Srson of h onty Brstol nlan :Th Falln Wall rss 79 Rchon Roa ontplrBrso Frary 197 pp. 19

8 Karl arx aptal N York : ntrnatonal lsh-rs 1967 79079 1 796 807 78 79 Slarforatons occr n Karl arx conoc an hlosophcanscrpts of 18 N York : ntrnaonal lshrs196 an raptalst Econoc Foratons N York :ntrnatonal lshrs 196 an n Karl arx an Fr-rck nls Th Gran oloy N York : nrna-tonal lshrs 197 For th chans of chan n

fals s arx aptal 79; s also Th Tran-ston fro Fas o aptals . arc DoN York : Scnc an Socty 1967 sp th artcl y K Takahash

9 arx Econoc an hlosophc anscrpts p. 1Thr s of cors a contxt f not a sfcaon forarxs forlaton : arx as actly ar of th hs-

torc sornaon of on an chlrn o n10 arx apa, 78678711 . 9912 , 2; arx scsss th ofol characr

of laor on pp 161 21 ., 77

1 Bnson oltcal Econoy n 7 ao p . 1816 Karl arx, Thors of SrplsVal osco :rorss lshrs, 196 12; cf also pp 96 01 anatal 0809

17 arx Thors of SrlsVal 17; cf also pp19 1616, 186

18 , 07 arx s talkn hr aot h sral ofnpnn crafsn an pasants t h aks th n-ral pont hat th sncton tn proc an n-proct laor s prly conoc


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19. Dll Cost (n. 7 bove)! p. 74 (Fllng Wll Presspmphlet, p 26; see lso notJon p. 52 of the pmphle for

n explct sttement tht housewor s productve n heMrxn sense, tht s, s producng surplus vlue)

2. Angel Dvs Reflectons on the Blc WomnsRole n the Communty of Slves, The Blc Scholr, vol3 no. 4 (December 1971) pp 215; reprnted n The Msschusets Revew vo 13 nos 12 (WnterSprng 1972)pp 811.

2 1 Dvs never explctly drws ths concluson, perhps becuse she tends to lmt the concepts of producvectvty nd producton to wor done by the slves for thepntton owner.

22. Mrx, Cpt, I, 571573; Mrx remrs, somewhtengmtcly tht ndvdul consumpton s productve tothe cptlst nd o the Stte, snce t s the producton ofthe power tht cretes ther welh, but t seems cer

fom the context tht he s speng srcstclly On ndvdul consumpton see lso Theores of SurplusVlue, 166 297

23 Mrx Cpt, I, 539 5.2. The best tretment to dte of these contrdctons

nd of the fmy s poduce nd reproducer of lborpower s eggy Morton's A Womn's ork (n 5 bove);

s ee lso the rtce by Dll Cost (n 7 bove). Morton'srtcle (frst publshed n brdged form n Levthn, vo2 no. 1 My 197 pp 3237) whch n ery 197 lredytouched on mny strtegc nd theoretc nghts subsequently developed n the teture of the womens lberon movement, hs st not been recognzed s mjodocument nor ts des ssmted.

25 For trends n womens prcpton n the U. S.lborforce see, for exmpe Mry Bch Kevt, Revew nd Synthess of Reserch on Women n the ord of Work (Columbus, ho : ERIC, 1972); Robert W. Smuts, Women nd Worn Amerc (New York 1959); Albert Szymnks Trendsn the Amecn Worng Clss, Soclst Revoluton, vo2 no. 4 (JuyAugust 1972) 122; Lse Vogel, omen orers. Some Bsc Sttstcs (Boston : New Englnd

Free Press, 1971); nd the 1969 Hndbook on omen Wor

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rs u s Dpartmt o Laor, Woms Bra Bllti294

2 Karl ax a Frrick Egls, aisto of tommist arty i Slct Works i Volm, pp43, 42

2 Frrick Egls T rigi of t Family riatropry a t Stat, i Slct Works i Volmp 91 Egls is scriig t stat)

28 arx a Egls o cors r tir coclsios

rom t particlarly rtal a tror ralig, Britis xpric T gral tr tr ot to som-at ifrt mor lik t Amrica sitatio, o icis as t olloig aalysi

29 arx, rac, p 330 arx, Ecoomic a ilosopic ascripts p 110

1 Sic Agst o 1972, complt t irst r-

sio o tis papr a com aar tat t qstio ofa ag for osork may , alog it t ERA a pro-cti lgislatio, o o t maor isss corotigom a t momt) t Uit Stats, orgoissocial scitists ar iscssig osork i ays sg-gstig tat a arity o plas to spposly aliat ittrog a ag may soo tri For xampl, a mro attmps ar crrtly ig ma to qatiy t alof osork s : Jaita Krps, Sx i t arktplacAmrca Wom at Work Baltimor 1971) c 4 KatryE Walkr a William H Gagr, T Dollar Val oHosol Work H prplicatio mimo taca NYork : N York Stat ollg o Hma Ecology orllUirsity arc 197) a most rctly, al Saml-sos attmpt to ris t GN o icl t al o

osork t is a asy stp rom ts qatiicatios tococrt proposals tat t ag actally pai Grat Britai a taly t proposal o a ag or

osork is ig ps y som grops o t lt -ormatio o tis campaig is o cors somat ar tocom y y sorcs a : pp 52 5 3 o t FalligWall rss pamplt cit ao i 7; Giiaa ompi

Wags or Hosork mimo traslatio a circla-tio y amrig Eglan Woms Liratio April

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1972); Selma James Women, te Unions, and Work pamplet London : Crest Press, April 1972); and a talk given

b Mariarosa Dalla Costa and Selma James in Boston inMa of 1973 M impression is tat te proposal of a wagefor ousework as a quite different caracter in Britainand Ital from wat it migt ave if proposed in te UnitedStates Tis is largel because of te sarpl different is-tor and conditions in te tree countries First tere is atradition of statepaid famil allowances in Britain and

Ital and in England te amil allowance is paid directlto te wife Second, womens participation in te wagelaborforce as not canged appreciabl in Great Britain and asactuall declined in Ital b contrast in te United Statestere as been a significant and sustained increase in teproportion of women in te labor force And tird sex di-visions of domestic labor appear to be more severe anduncangeable in Britain and in Ital tan in te U S

In an case, te issue of a wage for ousework as notet been sufficientl clarified Te problem of for watwork te wage is paid mst be understood Te amil al-lowance is in essence a pament for te bearing and raisingo cildren Is it ten reasnable to invoke it as a precedentand basis for te demand to pa wages or osework ? Watwould be te effect of paing wages for ousework on te

possibilities for a breaking down of te sex divisions indome stic labor ? Wat is te relationsip between te pament of a wage for osework and te welfare sstem ?And wat abot te relationsip between tese issues andte question of wo pas usband, state, or usbandsboss ? All tese problems must be dealt wit carefull andfrom a class perspective

32 Agust Bebel, Woman Under Socialism New York19) p 1 7 3 Te great increase in female labor, espe-ciall in small indstries, tells te tale tat onl b dint ofa strong application of female labor wit its correspond-ingl low wages, can small production keep itself afloat,for a wile

Coprigt @ 1973 and all rigts reserved b Lise Vogel

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oppreive Ultimately the only demand which is not co-optable is the armed poplation demanding the nd o cap-

italism But we eel that at this moment these demands canbe a orce against what capital wants and or what we wantThey are intended to mobilize women both inside and"outside the women' liberation movement They couldprovide a perspective which would aect decisions aboutoca and nationa strggles. Aftr discssion and modiication they could become integrated and arreaching goals

which the women movement could come to stand orA vote taken on the fina day at Manchester decided thatthe demand would be raied on the irst day o the nextconerence Many roup are planning ocal discussionsbeore that time

April 8, 1972.

Thi is perhaps written as an open letter to womenattendin thi Manchester conerence It i imposible any longer to it in the protection of a groupand ee the potential of the movement sqanderedThi w hatily written, though it repreentmany year conideration It is not meant to bete final word not even o its author

****

There are more wys than one in which the wom enmovement can be coopted and be cut of rom the possibilitie of becomin an autonomou and revolutionary political movement One i that we will a it capitalism tointroduce and interate women into new facets o it exploitative relation The FANCIAL TIMES o March 91971, a mad clear to those backward capitalists whohave not realied it yet how useful we can be

The thouand o trained girls who come out othe univeritie evey year are desperately anxiou to ecape om the triple trap o teachin

nuring, or horthandtyping.

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Mny f ths grls r clrly f hgh bty nd

thy cnsttut pl frm whch skd mddmngmnt culd b drwn Thy wud b shrd wrkng nd cnscntus s nly grtfuutsdr culd b nd t s cncb tht nspt f th qul py gsltn, thy mght ntcst s much s ml qulnts, t lst n thfrst nstnc W w us such wmn, n ncrsng numbrs whn w rls tht thy st

nd fl b t rcgns thr quts. Untthn gd dl f tlnt tht s cstng t fmny t trn n ur unrsts w cntnu tb wstd nd Brtsh ndustry w h fd ts surc f rnwd nrgy nd ty tht sbfr ts ry ys

Ths us f rbn, t cpt th mst rtcut mnrty fr th purps f dpng cpt wth rnwdnrgy nd tty, s nt nw nd nt cnnd t wmnt s th rdng prncp f cptst dpmnt Thcn wrd whm th Brtsh ductd t sfgrnmnt, fr p, s rud by grtu utsdrsW nd t xmn hw w r t b usd csy ndcrfuly f w r t prnt urss frm rgnsngny t ssst cptls t b ss bckwrd nd n thprcss furthr nsng urss, rthr thn rgnsngt dstry t whch s th ny pssbl prcss f brtn

Anthr, but cnnctd, wy f cptn hs n smmsur lrdy tkn pc nd ts gnt hs bn ftrgnstns Thy h fcty cnncd ny f ustht f w wsh t m t wrkng clss wmn t ust b

thr thrugh thm r mr prsy, thrugh thrdfntns f th clss, thr rnttns nd thr kndf ctns It s s thugh thy h std blckng n pndr Thy chlng th dty f n utnmus wmn'smmnt thr drctly r by trtng wn, spy xpltd sctn f th clss, s mrgnl) ndrctly Fr thm th rl wrkng clss s wht, m

nd r thrty r rcsm, ml suprmcy nd gsuprmcy h cmmn ng Thy fcty wnt

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to mke us uxiliry to the gener struggle s if they

represented the generlistion of the struggle; s if thereould e generlised struggle without women, without menjoining with women for women's demnds.

A mor issue on whih we hve swllowed their orient-tion nd een oopted to deet our own movement hsbeen on the question of unionising women

e re told tht we must bring women to wht is lled trde union onsiousness. This phrse is Lenin's ndit omes rom pmphlet lled ht is to e donen mny wys it is brillint pmphlet but it ws writenin the erly dys of the Russin movement, in 1902 Leninlernt from the workers nd pesnts of Russi in 1905 nd1917 nd repudited good del o wht he wrote eforethese two revoluions Let people do not spek of Leninslor onlusions nd in my view muh of wht psses for

let theory (nd prtie) tody is pre1902 . n 1972 this is serious hrge, nd think it n be proved They nred Lenin nd quote him. But unlike Lenin they re notle to lern from the tions tht workers tke

The most obvious reent tion is undoutedly te mners strike believe mny women in the movement hvebeen woken y this gret woring lss event. Clss tion

shkes ll setions o the popultion in dys or weeks whennothing else hs moved them or yers e hve ll hd lep in onsiousness s result of the !o thelss Thereore wht we onsider possile is expndedThis is the immedite reson for our restlessness. e renot stisfied ny more to stnd side nd let the world goy Ater three yers of our movement, Northern relnd,Zimbwe nd then this strike e wnt to something,ut not just nything We wnt to build movement whihis t one politil nd new one whih speks speiillyto the needs o women

But wht hs be

radical america - vol 7 no 4&5 - 1973 - july october

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