Friedrich Engels published his The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State in 1884. He argued that women’s oppression arose with the development of classes in society. Most feminists of the 1960s and 1970s recognised Engels’ work as a key text, whether inclined to agree with or oppose him. Yet for all the debates about the book, there is very little understanding of the actual content and importance of not just Engels’, but also Marx’s contribution to establishing the basics of a fight for women’s liberation.
Cecilia Judge and Adam Bottomley outline how Australian Services Union members won what has been described as the most significant victory for gender pay equity since the 1970s.
Diane Fieldes looks at the impact on the family of women's increased participation in the paid workforce.
Louise O’Shea analyses the position of women today. Engaging with recent feminist and Marxist discussions of women’s oppression argues that Marxism offers the only satisfactory theory and strategy for women’s liberation.
Sandra Bloodworth reviews a new book by Clare Wright, Forgotten Rebels of Eureka. The historical material in Wright’s book not only confronts the masculinist narrative of Eureka which has dominated Australian historiography, but also confirms some key Marxist arguments about women and social struggles.
Liz Ross shows that, in spite of brutal exploitation, women textile and garment workers from the industrial revolution in nineteenth century Britain to Bangladesh today have defied the stereotype of passive victims.
Sandra Bloodworth examines the widespread sexual violence in our society: from intimate partner abuse, to paedophile priests, to attacks on the elderly, the disabled, the mentally ill and children in institutions which supposedly “care” for the oppressed and vulnerable.
Katie Wood draws together a rich history of working class struggle for equal pay for women. Unlike some historians who present equal pay as a "feminist" issue won by women's mobilisations against men's resistance, she shows that it has been a union issue since the nineteenth century.
Sandra Bloodworth looks at the impact of identity politics on some of the best feminist and social historians of the Russian revolution.
Jordan Humphreys argues that Foucault’s explanation of sexuality under capitalism can be incorporated into a Marxist understanding of sexuality and serve to clarify and enrich it.
Sarah Garnham critically examines theories on the left that have emerged in response to identity politics.
Sandra Bloodworth revisits Engels’ arguments about the origin of women’s oppression.
In this important piece, Sandra Bloodworth critiques feminist theories of women's oppression, focusing
In an important article later republished as a pamphlet, Tess Lee Ack outlines a Marxist theory of women's oppression and a strategy for liberation
In this groundbreaking piece, Sandra Bloodworth critiques bourgeois feminist approaches to understanding and combating rape and sexual violence.
In this wonderful piece, Janey Stone draws upon the outpouring of articles, pamphlets, books, songs and poems produced by participants and supporters, many of which are completely forgotten now, to explore the role of women in the British Miners' Strike of 1984/85.
Marxist historian Sandra Bloodworth commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Commune, recounting the breathtaking events and providing an assessment of their ongoing political significance.
Sarah Garnham presents a wide-ranging critique of identity politics and its toxic impact on the fight against oppression.