A selection of Socialism Today articles
Engels and women’s liberation
Socialism Today No.181, May 2014
The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, by Friedrich Engels, has long been considered by Marxists an important text regarding the origin of women’s oppression, and has been criticised by those promoting alternative explanations of women’s second-class status in society. What is its relevance for women’s struggles today?
Re-imagining the family
Socialism Today No.272, November 2023
This article reviews a fascinating book which traces the evolution of domestic labour in class society and offers a glimpse of what socialism could mean.
Introducing Marxism: How can women’s oppression be ended?
Socialism Today No.263, December/January 2022/23
What are the origins of women’s oppression and how can socialism offer real choice and liberation for women?
The roots of women’s oppression
Socialism Today No.262, November 2022
This is an introduction to a new edition – published by Sozialistische Organisation Solidaritaet, the German section of the CWI – of the influential book The Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner, first printed in 1986.
A manifesto to change the world?
Socialism Today No.228, May 2019
What is the relevance of social reproduction theory to today’s struggle against women’s oppression? What force is needed to end the discrimination and division rooted in the capitalist system? Can the global women’s movements become the main agency for change?
Boy troubles
Socialism Today No.280, September 2024
Growing alienation from the ideas and institutions that have historically underpinned capitalist social and economic relations is affecting all strata of society – including young men. This article looks at changing gender norms and an alleged ‘crisis of masculinity’.
Socialists debate identity politics
Socialism Today No.236, March 2020
The relationship between fighting women’s oppression, identity politics, and the struggle for socialism is a feature of many debates in the workers’ movement internationally. This article draws up a balance sheet of the mistakes made on the question by the Irish Socialist Party, which were central to the division that took place in the Committee for a Workers’ International in 2019.
Roe lost but the struggle goes on
Socialism Today No.259, July/August 2022
In June 2022 the US Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling which recognised a constitutional right to abortion. This represented the biggest attack on women’s rights in the US for the last 50 years. How was this possible? And how can reproductive rights be defended and extended today?
Debate: how to fight sexism and change the world
Socialism Today No.258, June 2022
A debate between Woman’s Place UK and the Socialist Party on whether the fight for trans rights conflicts with women’s rights.
Women, rebellion and revolution
Socialism Today No.32, October 1998
In 1918 women in Britain won their first major victory in the struggle for the right to vote. Theirs was an historic struggle which inspired thousands of women in their fight against inequality and discrimination. But with women’s lives transformed by economic and social changes over the past few decades, just how relevant is the movement for the vote to women today?
The inspirational life of Eleanor Marx
Socialism Today No.186, March 2015
Eleanor Marx played a pivotal role in the mass strikes in the East End of London in the 19th century and campaigned for a mass workers’ party. She was to the forefront of the struggle for women’s rights and for international solidarity.
Covid, capitalism and women’s double burden
Socialism Today No.241, September 2020
How have patterns of women’s work changed in Britain since the industrial revolution and what did Covid-19 reveal about gender inequality in society?
Making the labour movement a safer place for women
Socialism Today No.168, May 2013
How should workers’ organisations respond to allegations of gender harassment and abuse?
A pioneer socialist feminist
Socialism Today No.245, February 2021
Sylvia Pankhurst was a major figure in the working-class movement of the first decades of twentieth century Britain, fighting for the rights of women and the working class as a whole.
Women and the revolution
Socialism Today No.275, March 2024
The Communist Women’s Movement (1920-22) inspired tens of thousands of women following the Russian revolution.
Women and the early Labour Party
Socialism Today No.236, March 2020
The critical role played by women activists in the formation and development of Britain’s labour and trade union movement is often overlooked. This review attempts to redress that balance.
Sex and socialism
Socialism Today No.226, March 2019
This article explores how profit-driven capitalism imposes restrictive gender roles on women and how things could be different under socialism.
Women and the family – After the Wall
Socialism Today No.43, November 1999
As part of a series ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, this article looks at the position of women in the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.