Feminism, Political Economy and the State

Feminist struggles have targeted corporate capital, male-dominated social structures, and patriarchal ideas and culture. The contest with the state, however, has provided the most substantial focus. The public sector is an employer of great numbers of women; women are the largest consumers of state services; the state regulates both the capitalist economy and the private household; struggle with the state has brought about change that is favourable to women's lives. Or has it? This collection looks at struggles in education, health care, and welfare in Canada, Latin America, and Europe. It includes thirteen brilliantly nuanced reports from the front lines of the feminist revolution. In these accounts the contradictions of women's struggles are made clear. Each victory has its victims. State reforms lead to new contradictions and provide new terrain for the struggle. Readers of this book will be exposed to different modes of understanding the state. They will advance their understanding of how the struggle against the state is to be shaped. And they will be energized to carry on the struggle.