more on marxism and feminism
(A national workshop of AIPWA on the topics ‘Marxism and Feminism’ and ‘Man-Woman Relationship’ was conducted on 17-18 June at Almora in UP. Below we publish the paper on the first topic presented by DP Buxi.)
1.As Marxism and Feminism both provide respective theoretical basis, ideological mooring and practical guideline for women’s liberation, women’s movement cannot escape a dialogue between these two. Perhaps this is why discussion on Marxism and feminism resurfaces in every juncture of women’s movement with newer implications.
So, there is little scope of questioning the very relevance of discus-sion on these topics in a general sense. Of course, it does not automati-cally rule out the possibility of degeneration of the whole range of dis-cussion into a lifeless abstract exercise if it fails to relate to objec-tive dynamics of women’s movement in our country. We must be cautious against any diversion in the course of such a discussion provoked by the agenda set by feminism. Otherwise, it would create utter confusion and loss of initiatives on our part.
2.Let us appreciate the following factors, which would decisively in-fluence the objective dynamics of women’s movement in our country:
a)Emergence of the BJP’s communal fascist regime with Hindu fundamental-ist-revivalist trends and jingoistic overtones has posed the greatest threat to women’s assertion.
b)Growing liberalisation and globalisation drive has further margina-lised the working women in economic life and turned them into cheap labour without any right and social security.
c)Inspite of the phenomenal growth of medieval social oppression on women, ‘organised’ rapes in particular, resistance by women is facing stagnation in isolation from popular movement. On the other hand, political empowerment of women with the popular demand of 33% reservation of seats in state assemblies and the Parliament has emerged as a major issue.
d)In this backdrop feminists have receded to the background to a certain extent (either engaged in research work or in NGO-led activities on issues linked with environment, literacy, family planning or trade union rights of sex-workers); whereas leftist women’s organisations are taking more effec-tive role to assert themselves (on issues like 33% reservation, problems faced by working women, price-rise, campaign against communal fascism etc.)
3) In this situation where does our women’s organisation stand? Has it been able to rise to the occasion?
Perhaps our leading women comrades would agree with me that we are facing stagnation. We are yet to set a new dynamic trend, in response to the developing situation, in the ongoing women’s movement with an independ-ent mass base particularly among working women.
This is the challenge faced by our women’s organisation. Our discussion on Marxism and feminism must be linked with this challenge so that we can generate ideological clarity, a distinct vision and a practical motivation for making a breakthrough.
4) To start with, let us have an idea on the theoretical attacks of feminism on two basic positions of Marxism on the women’s question. This viewpoint is shared by all brands of feminism whether it is liberal, radi-cal or socialist. It may help us in deepening our understanding on line of demarcation between Marxism and feminism.
Firstly, on ‘domestic labour’ of women. Feminism claims that Marx’s theory of surplus value or concept of wage failed to appreciate the "value" of domestic labour of women which is the basis of enclosed family as unit of reproduction. According to them, Marx’s political economy failed to include the dynamics of family and was a victim of male-bias analysis.
Secondly, feminism rejects Engels’ observations and inferences of "Origin of Family, Private Property and State" as subjective and simpli-fied. Particularly, they are very much opposed to the acceptance of pre-historic matriarchy with "mother right" and better status; treating the emergence of private property as "World historic defeat of womenfolk"; linking the question of "patriarchy" with economic and class process.
From this theoretical framework feminism advocates ‘wage’ for domestic labour of women and considers elimination of patriarchy (pre-condition of women’s liberation) as absolute, separate or autonomous process in the realm of ideology and culture.
5) Repudiation of feminist perception it can be said that there is no scope of ignoring the value of domestic labour of women as it itself cannot generate any value in strict economic sense and as per the objective law of commodity economy. After all, Marx’s theory of surplus value deals with the dynamics of commodity and its created values to expose the "civilised" loot of value in capitalist mode of production where even labour power has turned into a commodity.
Still when Marx says, "The value of labour power was determined not only by labour time necessary to maintain his family", he only describes how domestic labour inspite of not creating values is getting indirect price in the process of wage determination in the capitalist system.
Taking indirect role to create values and getting indirect remuneration — this is the specific dynamics of ‘domestic labour’ of women. The only way to elevate the status of this labour is socialisation of household work and involvement of women in social production.
In ‘Origin of Family, Private Property and State’, Engels applied the historical materialist approach, in the light of observations of Morgan, to grasp the law of development of human society; adopted the dialectical method to understand different aspects in the course of development — their inter-relation including the principal aspect. He showed how equality was transformed into inequality and discrimination in human society. He put the emphasis on grasping the inter-relation between production and repro-duction — between production relation and gender relation. He analysed how the emergence of private property contributed both to the shaping of class society based on exploitation and to monogamy cum enclosed family based on patriarchy.
In his preface to the fourth edition of "Origin of the Family...", Engels said, "Until the beginning of sixties there was no such thing as history of family... The patriarchal form of family... was not implicitly accepted as the oldest form of family, but also — after excluding polygamy — identified with present day bourgeois family; as if the family had really undergone no historical development at all. The rediscovery of original mother right gens as a stage preliminary to father right gens of civilised people has the same significance for the history of primitive society as Darwin’s theory of evolution has for biology and Marx’s theory of surplus value for political economy."
Actually feminism negates the material basis of patriarchy and the course of development and separates the processes of production and repro-duction.
6) Now let us project the above debate in drawing a broad line of demar-cation between Marxism and feminism.
l While Marxism adopts the class approach to confront the women question, feminism adopts the gender approach to deal with any and every aspect of entire society; while the former takes a proletariat stand, materialist viewpoint and dialectical method, the latter follows bourgeois or at best petty-bourgeois stand, idealist viewpoint and metaphysical method; in contrast to Marxist understanding of grasping class conflict, feminism grasps gender conflict as the motive force of society.
l Marxism considers class and gender, economy and superstructure, produc-tion and reproduction, exploitation and gender discrimination, women’s movement and class struggle, women’s liberation and people’s liberation — and so on as interrelated aspects within the single entity of human socie-ty. Feminism understands these as separate entities related in mutually exclusive way.
l As a result of these differences, while the former can grasp the prin-cipal aspect of these interrelations in a given condition and the possibil-ity of its interchangeability, for the latter this interrelation is un-changeable.
l While Marxism accepts the relative autonomy and specificity of women’s movement, feminism advocates absolute autonomy of the women’s liberation movement. So whereas for Marxists women’s liberation movement is a part of the democratic revolution or national liberation movement or socialist feminism considers women’s liberation as a separate movement, complete in itself.
7) Coming back to the contemporary phase of women’s movement in our country, we must analyse the concrete practice of feminists in relation to objective demands.
a)Instead of developing a comprehensive response against the anti-women scheme of communal fascism, feminists are bogged down in some routine anti-communalism campaigns.
b)Instead of championing minimum wages and social security of working women, they are busy to championing TU rights of sex workers.
c)Instead of developing popular resistance against medieval social oppression on women, they confine themselves to isolated and formal pro-tests of women.
d)Instead of intensifying the campaign for political empowerment of women, feminists emphasise grassroots reformist work based on agency funds, which contribute to further depoliticisation of women.
Obviously, the ongoing practice of Indian feminists has the potential to create a diversion in the course of women’s movement. Infact, without a comprehensive response to the anti-women schemes of communal fascism, the populism of the BJP-regime — particularly on the women question — would influence women’s movement and create illusions.
The question of TU right of sex workers is not only a diversion from the burning problems of working women - the backbone force for women’s libera-tion, this amounts to justify and institutionalise prostitution.
So long as issues like ‘organised’ rape remain a ‘pure’ women’s issue and would not transform as broad democratic issue translated into popular resistance; so long as vested interests supported by the state and adminis-tration cannot be exposed behind this sort of medieval acts, struggle on this score will never assume newer dimensions.
Political empowerment of women and for that matter, politicisation of women is a crucial aspect of women’s liberation. In absence of this, even any militant women’s activism would remain vulnerable to political scheme of the political parties particularly of the ruling parties.
8) Now let us discuss on some problems of our women’s organisation grown out of the particular pattern of its development.
Firstly, we are late comers in the realm of open and specific women’s movement and when in early 80s we initiated women activities, feminists of Indian variety asserted in the women’s movement. Moreover, the feminists to set a tune of ‘autonomous’ women’s movement devoid of democratic content championed issues of medieval social oppression, which emerged objectively. Obviously, addressing the issues of social oppression of women and interac-tion including issue-based united action with feminists became the main aspect of our women’s activism in this stage. Of course, our women’s organ-isation never hesitated to integrate with ongoing democratic movements. It was a new experiment in contrast to both feminist trend and traditional left women organisation. Inspite of many achievements, this experiment has also created some problems.
As for example, an organic link could not be established between exclu-sive women’s activism and broad democratic or class movement. Our women activists participate in democratic movements or class struggles; but they perhaps cannot visualise the dimension of awakening of women in these broad movements. They can only see seeds of women’s liberation in the struggle for exclusive women issues. They are yet to realise that if democratic movements or class struggles do not have any dimension of women liberation and those ‘exclusive-autonomous’ movements do not have any class or democrat-ic dimension, these two aspects cannot be combined.
Therefore, our women’s organisation failed to develop its independent mass base. Moreover, it could not be instrumental in making a smooth tran-sition of our women’s activism in the changed situation of growing economic liberalisation and globalisation and threat of communal fascism.
9) As per the Sixth Party Congress guideline, the conflict between Marxism and feminism can only be settled through mass action. In the light of above discussion, such a mass action of women at the present juncture demands specific thrust on two basic tasks.
Firstly, we have to develop a comprehensive response to anti-women scheme of the communal fascist regime.
In this regard, we must strive to combine:
a)Ideological crusade against saffron fascism (based on democratic and anti-imperialist national tradition of Indian women).
b)Exposure campaign against its populism.
c)Positive practical movement on burning issues.
Secondly, organising and mobilising working women in a bigger way.
a)Initially we must take a flexible attitude on ways and means of organ-ising working women. Whether it is through organising TUs or throught the women wing of Kisan Sabha or through special forum, even under the direct banner of AIPWA - it hardly matters. Let us initiate the practice first and gather some experiences.
b)At the grassroots let us emphasise on immediate economic issues or on related issues and let AIPWA gradually develop a campaign to champion democratic rights, social security and dignity of working women.
c)Let us prepare a ‘guide book’ for organising working women. It would be meant for providing an overview of different aspects of working women, their real status versus formal rights recognised by the government and practical problems in organising them.
10) In conclusion, we must be able to make a demarcation in fighting patriarchy in society backed by feudal remnants and state and its remnants within our organisation. In the course of interaction with femi-nists in struggles against patriarchy, we must be able to eliminate the ideological overlapping of Marxism and feminism. In dealing with the prob-lems of women’s organisation we must be extrovert and forward-looking and establish a broad perspective that emerges in the given conditions.
Let us take the challenge posed by the communal fascist regime and go all out to mobilise working women as the motive force of women’s liberali-sation.