Socialist-Feminism and the Conceptualisation of Work in the British Women's Liberation Movement, 1968-1999

全球冠状病毒封锁再次引发了关于家庭劳动分工和“工作”在社会中的地位的辩论（德尔马，2020年；霍根，2021年）。然而，这一主题在20世纪中后期被社会主义女权主义（一个在英国妇女解放运动（BWLM）中具有广泛影响的理论团体）所审视。这一时期是一个相当大的社会和政治变革时期，去工业化和新自由主义挑战了工作场所、家庭和家庭的传统观念（Harrison, 2011）。社会主义女权主义在此基础上试图拆除父权资本主义社会，声称女性受到经济依赖于男性的限制（Campbell & Charlton, 1978; M/F Editorial, 1978）。正如著名的社会主义女权主义者米歇尔·巴雷特所说，工作是最重要的；女性的压迫是无法解释的，如果不了解……工作和家庭中的劳动分工”（Barrett, 1988）。本研究将探讨这些概念，它们在五个主题上的分歧和交集，以理解为什么社会主义-女权主义从20世纪70年代初挑战工作与母性之间联系的活跃辩论舞台，转变为20世纪90年代末努力为女性兼职就业和高等教育水平的增加提供理论支持的舞台（Segal, 1987; Skeggs, 1995）。BWLM包含了大量的社会转型理论，左翼活动家的参与使得社会主义女权主义从1968年开始得到越来越多的支持和理论的成熟（Bouchier, 1983; Kennedy, 2008; Binard, 2017）。本研究从1968年福特达格南罢工开始，该罢工通常被认为是BWLM的创始事件，并在运动消散后于1999年结束（Bruley & Forster, 2016; Watkins, 2018）。这将允许研究女性就业的增加，特别是职业母亲的增加，是如何迫使社会主义女权主义重新考虑工作的社会地位的。乔利的《姐妹情谊和之后》（2019）是本研究的关键文本，它广泛探索了BWLM的各种分支和活动。Moss（2019）和Stevenson（2016 & 2019）最近的出版物进一步强调了阶级和工作场所，以及这些如何促进女性身份的形成。这些作品对于社会主义-女权主义工作概念的语境化，以及它们与作为案例研究的罢工和集体的关系至关重要。最后，Stoller（2018）的工作对家务劳动和BWLM的研究很重要，特别是对家庭劳动包容性的困难的研究。本研究将利用这些来探索工作如何与政治和社会发展相交叉，以塑造社会主义-女权主义话语，并描述不同形式工作的女性经历。研究问题-社会主义-女权主义如何利用工作作为探索马克思主义和女权主义交集的一种方式？——女性就业的变化如何影响社会主义女性主义对工作的理解？社会主义-女权主义的工作理论是否反映了英国和左翼更广泛的政治和知识变革？-社会主义-女权主义在促成工作场所性别平等运动方面的影响力有多大？

Global coronavirus lockdowns reignited debates concerning the division of family labour and the place of 'work' in society (Delmar, 2020; Horgan, 2021). This theme was, however, examined in the mid- to late-20th century by socialist-feminism, a theoretical grouping with extensive influence in the British Women's Liberation Movement (BWLM). The period was one of considerable social and political change, with deindustrialisation and neoliberalism challenging traditional ideas of the workplace, the home, and the family (Harrison, 2011). Socialist-feminism acted within this to attempt to dismantle the patriarchal, capitalist society, asserting that women were constrained by their financial dependence on men (Campbell & Charlton, 1978; M/F Editorial, 1978). Work was paramount to this, as prominent socialist-feminist Michèle Barrett stated; female 'oppression is inexplicable without an understanding of...the division of labour at work and in the home' (Barrett, 1988). This research will explore these notions, their divergences and intersections across five themes to understand why socialist-feminism transitioned from being a lively arena of debate in the early-1970s that challenged the link between work and motherhood, to one that struggled to theorise increases in female part-time employment and higher education levels in the late-1990s (Segal, 1987; Skeggs, 1995). ContextThe BWLM contained a plethora of theoretical strands campaigning for societal transformation, with the involvement of leftist activists allowing socialist-feminism to grow in support and theoretical sophistication from 1968 (Bouchier, 1983; Kennedy, 2008; Binard, 2017). This research begins with the 1968 Ford Dagenham strike, often cited as the founding event of the BWLM, and ends in 1999 after the movement had dissipated (Bruley & Forster, 2016; Watkins, 2018). This will allow for an examination of how the rise of female employment, particularly working mothers, forced socialist-feminism to reconsider the societal position of work. Jolly's Sisterhood and After (2019) is a key text in this research for its extensive exploration of the BWLM's various strands and campaigns. Recent publications by Moss (2019) and Stevenson (2016 & 2019) further this in their emphasis on class and the workplace, and how these contributed to the formation of women's identities. These works are essential in contextualising socialist-feminist concepts of work, and how they related to the strikes and collectives used as case studies here. Finally, the work of Stoller (2018) is important for its examination of household work and the BWLM, especially the difficulties of inclusivity within domestic labour. This research will draw on these to explore how work intersected with political and societal developments to shape socialist-feminist discourse and characterise female experiences of different forms of work. Research Questions- How did socialist-feminism use work as a way of exploring the intersections between Marxism and feminism?- How did changes in female employment impact socialist-feminism's understanding of work?- Did socialist-feminist theories of work reflect wider political and intellectual changes in Britain and the left?- How influential was socialist-feminism in shaping campaigns for gender workplace equality?