Gender and Feminism QUESTIONS WITH CERTIFIED ANSWERS

New Social Movements --emerged in the 1960s -challenged traditional political allegiances of .Western liberal politics .Worker-based movements (labor unions) .State socialism (Western and Eastern Europe) .broad-based and identity-based Broad-Based Movements -.Civil rights movements .Anti-Vietnam War activism .Environmental movement .Free speech on campus movement Identity-based Movements --Black Power Movement -American Indian Movement -Chicano/a Movement (La Raza) -Feminist Movement -Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement Identity Politics -"involve claiming one's identity as a member of an oppressed or marginalized group as a political point of departure." -identity becomes a "major factor in political mobilization." (Kathryn Woodward) Appealing to Identity Two distinct ways: Essentialist position --claims the group's uniqueness Ex: assumes women are more caring and peaceful because of their biological capacity to give birth -Problem: doesn't account for women who advocate war or for men who advocate peace Appealing to Identity Two Distinct ways: Non-essentialist position --Identities seen as -relational and dynamic, not static -multi-dimesional -fluid and evolving Ex: working-class feminists; gender queer feminists; feminists of color (Chicana feminists, Black feminists, Asian American feminists; trans-gender feminists) What's New About New Social Movements? --Critical of "class reductionism" of Marxism -Recognition of the complexity of multiple social divisions (gender, race, class, sexuality, ethnicity, disability, citizenship status) Karl Marx on class struggle --Capitalism-a small minority owns the forces of production ('capitalists or 'ruling class') main goal is profit -Class divisions in capitalist societies -Bourgeoisie-those who owned the means of production; the wealthy owner of business and factories; the ruling class -Proletariat- the working people whose labor produces profit for the bourgeoise business/factory owner; the working class -Communist revolution-workers unite; cast off their chains; build an egalitarian society Kollontai's critique (1909) --Experiences of working-class women are very different from those of middle-class and wealthy women -Asks if a single united women's movement is possible in a society based on class contradictions