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Feminism for the 99%
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Feminism for the 99%

A Manifesto

Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya and Nancy Fraser
Verso Books, 2019
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Controversial
  • Bold
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Recommendation

You can’t claim to support women’s liberation without championing marginalized women in unpaid, precarious jobs worldwide, say professors Cinzia Arruzza and Nancy Fraser of the New School, and Tithi Bhattacharya of Purdue. They advocate for inclusive feminism that heeds the concerns of all women, whatever their ethnic and economic background. The authors criticize the lapses and blindspots of modern feminism (which they criticize as representing the 1%, not the 99%), but biased social systems are clearly their real enemies.While some readers may find the authors’ call for social change controversial, they speak passionately on behalf of neglected women around the world.

Summary

Modern feminism is obsolete. It’s time for a new wave.

Liberal feminism primarily serves managerial-status women in the global North striving to attain positions of corporate or military power. Contemporary feminists may use such words as “diversity,” but that doesn’t necessarily encompass the need to address systemic challenges that prevent many women from achieving a level of success. Those who enjoy a level of economic, cultural and social advantage could, at times, be blind to the struggles of other women. 

Liberal feminists encourage women to “lean in” to achieve corporate power, but often don’t consider whom they may “lean on” – the underpaid migrant or minority women performing their caregiving or housework. Feminism shouldn’t center around just dividing up workplace management responsibilities. The rest of the women in the world – the 99% – need a feminist wave that protects their interests as well.

On International Women’s Day in 2017, workers around the world went on strikes together, reigniting feminism with a militant spirit from the past that today’s feminism lacks...

About the Authors

Cinzia Arruzza is an associate professor of philosophy at the New School for Social Research, where philosophy professor Nancy Fraser is the Loeb Professor of Political and Social Science. Arruzza is also the author of A Wolf in the City, and Fraser also wrote Cannibal Capitalism. Tithi Bhattacharya, an associate professor of South Asian history at Purdue University, also wrote  Social Reproduction Theory and The Sentinels of Culture.

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