Response: Labour and the varieties of Feminism.

AuthorCharles, Monique
PositionPEOPLE AND MOVEMENTS

In our last issue, Charlotte Proudman offered a strongly critical account of the Labour leadership's engagement with the feminist tradition. Here, two scholars of feminism and race offer their reflections on the arguments she raised.(1)

Race, feminism and intersectionality

Monique Charles

One of the challenges when discussing political ideas and ideologies is that almost all those we commonly talk about are rooted in patriarchal, heteronormative Eurocentrism. As a result, even the most radical attempts at political thinking pushing for equality, even in socialist frameworks, are often imbricated in these longstanding norms and fall short of their full promise. This is the very reason why intersectionality is so important. Dominant feminist narratives often implicitly focus on the issues and concerns of White women, undermining feminism's reach; feminism claims to speak out or push for progress for 'women' but too often leaves some behind or silences them. Feminism has often overlooked the contribution of Black women. Both first and second wave feminism relied on race and racism as a means for White women to seek power for themselves.

Proudman evokes intersectionality, yet almost completely overlooks it when it comes to race. Kimberle Crenshaw's work on intersectionality from the late 1980S onwards was able to identify, name and articulate the ways in which social structures can impact on a person based on the multiple vectors of intersectionality or compounding identities. Her work assisting Black women to articulate their position of multi-layered oppression was ground-breaking. It enabled Black women to be 'seen'. Their experiences, often hidden from broader narratives, were finally included in the third wave of feminism decades later. The concept of intersectionality blossomed alongside the popularisation of womanism and Black feminism in the 1980S and 1990S. It should be noted that these feminisms, often unnamed, existed experientially for centuries, laying the foundations that White feminism has built on.

Proudman's piece makes valid contributions that should be taken on board by the Labour leadership. The relative lack of attention to issues which disproportionately affect women is a matter for serious concern, though it's unsurprising in a society with norms which benefit, above all, rich White men. But when thinking about policy, we need to think about race, as well as gender and class.

Proudman addresses the realms of the private sphere--predominantly, child rearing and sex, specifically prostitution--areas feminism has centred on since second wave feminism (and indeed earlier). But to comprehend the experiences of Black women we need to understand their historically specific economic position and their different relation to the public and private. Black women's vulnerability whilst working, their exposure to enslavement and capitalist relations of power, has been detrimental in both their private and public spheres. Black women have always had little...

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