July Bookclub: Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale: Women in the International Division of Labor, by Maria Mies
In 1986, Maria Mies, a German socialist, published Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale: Women in the International Division of Labor. In the nearly 20 years since, this text has become a key touch stone for those investigating the relationship between the global capitalist economy and the oppression of women.
Contextualizing her analysis within a dual discussion of varying feminisms as well as historical myths that essentialize womanhood, Mies argues that the oppression of women is both situated within and a catalyst of the capitalist world economy.
Mies’ analysis problematizes both the capitalist world economy and socialist governance/ideology, particularly for the divergent modes in which they nonetheless dominate women. Focusing on the international division of labor, Mies argues that feminized categories such as the housewife are essential to capital accumulation, and that the ongoing reality of violence against women demonstrates that the so-called “woman question” is not a secondary matter unrelated to the forces of production.
Key Questions from the text:
What do women have in common?
What is the relationship between capitalism and violence against women?
What is the relationship between national liberation and women’s liberation?
What forms of production are required in a society that does not rely on the exploitation of women?