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Women and Socialism (Revised and Updated Edition)
Class, Race and Capital
More than forty years after the women’s liberation movement of the 1960s, women remain without equal rights. If anything, each decade that has passed without a fighting women’s movement has seen a rise in blatant sexism and the further erosion of the gains that were won in the 1960s and 1970s. Yet liberal feminist organizations have followed the Democratic Party even as it has continually tacked rightward since the 1980s.

This fully revised edition examines these issues from a Marxist perspective, focusing on the centrality of race and class. It includes chapters on the legacy of Black feminism and other movements of women of color and the importance of the concept of intersectionality. In addition, Women and Socialism: Class, Race, and Capital explores the contributions of socialist feminists and Marxist feminists in further developing a Marxist analysis of women’s oppression amid the stirrings of a new movement today.
Reviews
  • “Sharon Smith’s work, spanning decades of events affecting women, provides a valuable and uncommon perspective on the oppression and liberation of women. The book covers both theory of women’s oppression and the history and politics of women’s movements. Her understanding of the grounding of women’s oppression in class society, her vision of solidarity among women and men, and her critique of ideologies of sexism and the rollback of the gains of the women’s movement are tremendously important contributions to women’s studies. More than that, the accessible writing and incisive assessment of the movements gains and losses are indispensable for activists for women’s liberation today.”
    —Dana Cloud, Associate Professor, University of Texas, Austin
  • “Sharon Smith’s work, spanning decades of events affecting women, provides a valuable and uncommon perspective on the oppression and liberation of women. The book covers both theory of women’s oppression and the history and politics of women’s movements. Her understanding of the grounding of women’s oppression in class society, her vision of solidarity among women and men, and her critique of ideologies of sexism and the rollback of the gains of the women’s movement are tremendously important contributions to women’s studies. More than that, the accessible writing and incisive assessment of the movements gains and losses are indispensable for activists for women’s liberation today.”
    —Dana Cloud, Associate Professor, University of Texas, Austin

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