EP. 637: MARXISM, LIBERALISM AND THE WOMEN'S QUESTIONS ft. Milena Steinmetzer & Alex Herbert

Read Alex and Milena's essay here: https://alexherbert.substack.com/

Introduction:

 

In the latest two-part essay from Alexander Herbert's Substack, he collaborates with Milena Steinmetzer to delve into the complexities of the "Women Question." The essay seeks to differentiate between liberal feminism, which has become somewhat orthodox in the United States, and Marxist or materialist feminism. As Herbert and Steinmetzer argue, the distinction is crucial for understanding the broader struggle for women's liberation within a class-based framework.

 

In Part 1 of the essay, they write: "As socialist activists and theorists, we’ve often found ourselves in situations where our friends and ‘allies’ question our feminist credentials or the type of liberation we seek for women. Part of the reason stems from a failure to understand the difference between liberalism and leftism (particularly in the United States, where the former president purposefully conflates the two). Even within ‘leftism,’ anarchism and progressivism advocate a type of feminist theory devoid of real class analysis that is more in line with liberal individualism than socialist collectivism. Another reason for the misunderstanding is the simple fact that liberal feminism benefits from being the oldest tradition, as the struggle for things like suffrage, equal pay, and equal rights aspire to equalize the sexes within a system that depends on individualist ideology. The assumption has been that 'womanhood' alone constitutes a 'community,' even though most people are willing to admit that the economic interests of women in the 1% are vastly different than those in the 99%."

 

This essay comes at a crucial time, especially as we approach the November presidential election, where identity politics will be on full display with Kamala Harris challenging Donald Trump. The discussion of feminist theory is more relevant than ever, especially when considering figures like Sheryl Sandberg, whose "lean in" feminism epitomizes the liberal model that Herbert and Steinmetzer critique.

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