CTSJ 234 Materialist Feminism

Is there such a thing as a "woman's condition" and can that condition be explained by examining the economic dimensions of women's history? Is the violence that people are disproportionately exposed to based on gender race sex and sexuality only a tool in the production and reproduction of economic classes or do these identities and experiences require an analytic framework that transcends economic relations? In this course we will consider a particular intellectual tradition that engages these questions: Materialist Feminism. We will begin our readings by considering texts by Marx and Engels that form the backbone of this tradition. We will then consider texts from American British and Italian traditions of thought and activism that include feminists working in national and transnational Women of Color traditions. Readings will include Michèle Barrett Hazel Carby Carolyn J. Eichner Silvia Federici Combahee River Collective Mariarosa Dalla Costa and Selma James Angela Davis Friedrich Engels Rosa Luxemberg Karl Marx Heidi Hartmann and Denise Riley. Emphasis Topic: Feminist and Queer Studies.