PHL323H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Nonviolence, Bargaining Power
Feminism and Resistance
When is violent resistance to gender oppression justified?
1.
How does being of a certain gender affect what kinds of resistance (violent or nonviolent)
one is justified in pursuing?
2.
Cis-gendered answers
•
Dworkin
Non-violence is patriarchal and inappropriate to the feminist cause
•
Compares feminism and anti-racism
Civil rights movement challenged racism whenever it occurred
○
They laid their lives on the line to protest segregation
○
Goal was to save black lives one by one
○
•
Male feminist allies have not adopted this approach
They only perhaps combat sexism when it is convenient, not whenever it appears
○
They don’t lay down their own lives
○
They don’t unsystematically save lives
○
•
Dworkin defines sexism as “the systematic cultural, political, social, sexual, psychological,
and economic servitude of women to men and to patriarchal institutions...”
•
High standards for allies
•
Claims women are more oppressed than racial minorities
Not just by the professional world, but by their own fathers, husbands, brothers, etc.
○
Racially oppressed people can at least retreat to their own community and family
○
Women are blood-related to their oppressors whereas this is usually not the case with
racial minorities
○
•
Redefining nonviolence
Not passive resistance, but the active prevention of violence
○
The latter is to be complicit or even encouraging it
○
E.g. someone punching your friend in the face
You could let them punch them and then punch them or get in the way
§
Dworkin would say the latter is nonviolent
§
○
Reducing the overall amount of violence is nonviolence
○
To be truly nonviolent, one must engage in traditional violence
○
Ghandi-style nonviolence perpetuates violence
○
Individual violent acts, if they prevent violence overall, are nonviolent
○
•
Why do these semantics matter?•
Feminist nonviolence is the active prevention of violence against women
Which acts? How can we prevent them?
○
We must look to the past and the present and find out specific details about the
systematic oppression of women
○
•
Delphy: The Main Enemy
Patriarchal oppression is not the same thing as capitalistic oppression
The former is not a consequence of the latter
○
Vs. Kollontai: sexism stems from patriarchal oppression, we must dismantle society
○
Delphy disagrees, says they are separate things
○
Different actions are required
○
•
Patriarchy = unpaid furnishing of labour by women
But capitalism does use the patriarchy to exploit labour out of women
○
Even though they are not the same thing
○
•
Dworkin’s sexism includes, but is not limited to, economic servitude of women to men. That
is Delphy’s patriarchy.
•
She's not a philosopher, she's a sociologist
Her PHD was on the economics of a farm
○
•
But her first move is very philosophically astute
Takes something glaringly obvious no one would ever disagree and turning into
something so paradoxical that no one would ever agree
○
•
Every society must produce and reproduce
What is women's role in this?
Domestic production and child-rearing
§
(Productive vs. domestic labour)
§
○
•
Women are not paid for other forms of work too
E.g. not being paid on farms in 1968
○
When men do work, they demand to get paid
○
Status of 'son'/'younger brother' is temporary, being a woman is permanent
○
Men not being paid could leave and start their own farm eventually
○
Women were much more socially stuck
○
Frye: women are oppressed as women, men are not oppressed as men
○
1)
No difference between goods produced by women and those by men
Just because something is produced and consumed in one unit, doesn't mean it
doesn’t have any market value
○
No boundary between domestic and productive labour
○
Turning raw material into consumable goods is labour
○
2)
There is no work that women do inside the home that is not payed outside the home.
Many of the processes involved in producing consumable goods have been
industrialized.
○
Many companies now sell labour that women used to do for free.
○
3)
Women still do unpaid work when they enter the workforce
Paid less, have less job security, largely confined to informal sectors - Moghadam
○
They continue doing domestic work for free
○
4)
Systematic practice of women furnishing men with unwaged labour in the home•
Consequences:•
Patriarchal oppression =/= capitalistic oppression
Industrial mode vs. family mode of production
○
Family mode totally appropriates labour of women
○
When in both, only domestic labour is exploited
○
Difference in relation to means of production
Wage-earner sells his labour at a cost determined by the value of services
§
They have the choice to take their skills elsewhere
§
Domestic labour is valued based on the goodwill of the man
§
Women do not have the same choice (at least not then)
§
○
Bargaining power of wage earners vs. married women prove the difference b/w
patriarchal oppression and capitalistic oppression
○
5)
Marriage is a form of slavery
Class = relation to means of production
○
Caste = destined by birth to be in a certain class
○
Women are a super-exploited caste
Domestic labour is unpaid
§
Compensation is un-proportional
§
Difficult for women to change employers
§
They are born into this situation, it is hard to leave
§
(sounds like slavery to me!)
§
○
Lenin: “Unfortunately, we may still say of many of our comrades, “Scratch the
Communist and a philistine appears” ... Could there be any more palpable proof than
the common sight of a man calmly watching a woman wear herself out with trivial,
monotonous, strength- and time-consuming work, such as her housework... Very few
husbands, not even the proletarians, think of how much they could lighten the
burdens and worries of their wives, or relieve them entirely, if they lent a hand in this
“women’s work.” (Collected Works Vol. 29, p.429)
○
6)
Political consequences:
Class of 'women' includes all women, regardless of class
Women shouldn’t be attached to the class of their husband/father, they don't
own any of the means of production
§
Unless she has joined the workforce, then she is a member of two classes
§
We assign women therefore to the class of "woman"
§
○
We must disestablish patriarchal relation to means of production by overthrowing the
bases of all known societies
More than disestablishing capitalism
§
Requires a revolution
§
○
•
Nonviolence is preventing violence and the patriarchy is a form of violence against women
So feminist nonviolence is the complete overhaul of society as we know it
○
•
What has been done?•
Moghadam - Transnational Feminism
Rise of transnational feminist groups due to:•
Global capitalist economy1)
Globalisation 2)
Universal gender inequality3)
These groups respond to the globalised capitalist economy and universal patriarchy•
But do they go far enough to fix anything?•
Lecture 8
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
3:13 PM
Feminism and Resistance
When is violent resistance to gender oppression justified?
1.
How does being of a certain gender affect what kinds of resistance (violent or nonviolent)
one is justified in pursuing?
2.
Cis-gendered answers
•
Dworkin
Non-violence is patriarchal and inappropriate to the feminist cause
•
Compares feminism and anti-racism
Civil rights movement challenged racism whenever it occurred
○
They laid their lives on the line to protest segregation
○
Goal was to save black lives one by one
○
•
Male feminist allies have not adopted this approach
They only perhaps combat sexism when it is convenient, not whenever it appears
○
They don’t lay down their own lives
○
They don’t unsystematically save lives
○
•
Dworkin defines sexism as “the systematic cultural, political, social, sexual, psychological,
and economic servitude of women to men and to patriarchal institutions...”
•
High standards for allies
•
Claims women are more oppressed than racial minorities
Not just by the professional world, but by their own fathers, husbands, brothers, etc.
○
Racially oppressed people can at least retreat to their own community and family
○
Women are blood-related to their oppressors whereas this is usually not the case with
racial minorities
○
•
Redefining nonviolence
Not passive resistance, but the active prevention of violence
○
The latter is to be complicit or even encouraging it
○
E.g. someone punching your friend in the face
You could let them punch them and then punch them or get in the way
§
Dworkin would say the latter is nonviolent
§
○
Reducing the overall amount of violence is nonviolence
○
To be truly nonviolent, one must engage in traditional violence
○
Ghandi-style nonviolence perpetuates violence
○
Individual violent acts, if they prevent violence overall, are nonviolent
○
•
Why do these semantics matter?•
Feminist nonviolence is the active prevention of violence against women
Which acts? How can we prevent them?
○
We must look to the past and the present and find out specific details about the
systematic oppression of women
○
•
Delphy: The Main Enemy
Patriarchal oppression is not the same thing as capitalistic oppression
The former is not a consequence of the latter
○
Vs. Kollontai: sexism stems from patriarchal oppression, we must dismantle society
○
Delphy disagrees, says they are separate things
○
Different actions are required
○
•
Patriarchy = unpaid furnishing of labour by women
But capitalism does use the patriarchy to exploit labour out of women
○
Even though they are not the same thing
○
•
Dworkin’s sexism includes, but is not limited to, economic servitude of women to men. That
is Delphy’s patriarchy.
•
She's not a philosopher, she's a sociologist
Her PHD was on the economics of a farm
○
•
But her first move is very philosophically astute
Takes something glaringly obvious no one would ever disagree and turning into
something so paradoxical that no one would ever agree
○
•
Every society must produce and reproduce
What is women's role in this?
Domestic production and child-rearing
§
(Productive vs. domestic labour)
§
○
•
Women are not paid for other forms of work too
E.g. not being paid on farms in 1968
○
When men do work, they demand to get paid
○
Status of 'son'/'younger brother' is temporary, being a woman is permanent
○
Men not being paid could leave and start their own farm eventually
○
Women were much more socially stuck
○
Frye: women are oppressed as women, men are not oppressed as men
○
1)
No difference between goods produced by women and those by men
Just because something is produced and consumed in one unit, doesn't mean it
doesn’t have any market value
○
No boundary between domestic and productive labour
○
Turning raw material into consumable goods is labour
○
2)
There is no work that women do inside the home that is not payed outside the home.
Many of the processes involved in producing consumable goods have been
industrialized.
○
Many companies now sell labour that women used to do for free.
○
3)
Women still do unpaid work when they enter the workforce
Paid less, have less job security, largely confined to informal sectors - Moghadam
○
They continue doing domestic work for free
○
4)
Systematic practice of women furnishing men with unwaged labour in the home•
Consequences:•
Patriarchal oppression =/= capitalistic oppression
Industrial mode vs. family mode of production
○
Family mode totally appropriates labour of women
○
When in both, only domestic labour is exploited
○
Difference in relation to means of production
Wage-earner sells his labour at a cost determined by the value of services
§
They have the choice to take their skills elsewhere
§
Domestic labour is valued based on the goodwill of the man
§
Women do not have the same choice (at least not then)
§
○
Bargaining power of wage earners vs. married women prove the difference b/w
patriarchal oppression and capitalistic oppression
○
5)
Marriage is a form of slavery
Class = relation to means of production
○
Caste = destined by birth to be in a certain class
○
Women are a super-exploited caste
Domestic labour is unpaid
§
Compensation is un-proportional
§
Difficult for women to change employers
§
They are born into this situation, it is hard to leave
§
(sounds like slavery to me!)
§
○
Lenin: “Unfortunately, we may still say of many of our comrades, “Scratch the
Communist and a philistine appears” ... Could there be any more palpable proof than
the common sight of a man calmly watching a woman wear herself out with trivial,
monotonous, strength- and time-consuming work, such as her housework... Very few
husbands, not even the proletarians, think of how much they could lighten the
burdens and worries of their wives, or relieve them entirely, if they lent a hand in this
“women’s work.” (Collected Works Vol. 29, p.429)
○
6)
Political consequences:
Class of 'women' includes all women, regardless of class
Women shouldn’t be attached to the class of their husband/father, they don't
own any of the means of production
§
Unless she has joined the workforce, then she is a member of two classes
§
We assign women therefore to the class of "woman"
§
○
We must disestablish patriarchal relation to means of production by overthrowing the
bases of all known societies
More than disestablishing capitalism
§
Requires a revolution
§
○
•
Nonviolence is preventing violence and the patriarchy is a form of violence against women
So feminist nonviolence is the complete overhaul of society as we know it
○
•
What has been done?•
Moghadam - Transnational Feminism
Rise of transnational feminist groups due to:•
Global capitalist economy1)
Globalisation 2)
Universal gender inequality3)
These groups respond to the globalised capitalist economy and universal patriarchy•
But do they go far enough to fix anything?•
Lecture 8
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
3:13 PM
Feminism and Resistance
When is violent resistance to gender oppression justified?1.
How does being of a certain gender affect what kinds of resistance (violent or nonviolent)
one is justified in pursuing?
2.
Cis-gendered answers•
Dworkin
Non-violence is patriarchal and inappropriate to the feminist cause•
Compares feminism and anti-racism
Civil rights movement challenged racism whenever it occurred
○
They laid their lives on the line to protest segregation
○
Goal was to save black lives one by one
○
•
Male feminist allies have not adopted this approach
They only perhaps combat sexism when it is convenient, not whenever it appears
○
They don’t lay down their own lives
○
They don’t unsystematically save lives
○
•
Dworkin defines sexism as “the systematic cultural, political, social, sexual, psychological,
and economic servitude of women to men and to patriarchal institutions...”
•
High standards for allies•
Claims women are more oppressed than racial minorities
Not just by the professional world, but by their own fathers, husbands, brothers, etc.
○
Racially oppressed people can at least retreat to their own community and family
○
Women are blood-related to their oppressors whereas this is usually not the case with
racial minorities
○
•
Redefining nonviolence
Not passive resistance, but the active prevention of violence
○
The latter is to be complicit or even encouraging it
○
E.g. someone punching your friend in the face
You could let them punch them and then punch them or get in the way
§
Dworkin would say the latter is nonviolent
§
○
Reducing the overall amount of violence is nonviolence
○
To be truly nonviolent, one must engage in traditional violence
○
Ghandi-style nonviolence perpetuates violence
○
Individual violent acts, if they prevent violence overall, are nonviolent
○
•
Why do these semantics matter?
•
Feminist nonviolence is the active prevention of violence against women
Which acts? How can we prevent them?
○
We must look to the past and the present and find out specific details about the
systematic oppression of women
○
•
Delphy: The Main Enemy
Patriarchal oppression is not the same thing as capitalistic oppression
The former is not a consequence of the latter
○
Vs. Kollontai: sexism stems from patriarchal oppression, we must dismantle society
○
Delphy disagrees, says they are separate things
○
Different actions are required
○
•
Patriarchy = unpaid furnishing of labour by women
But capitalism does use the patriarchy to exploit labour out of women
○
Even though they are not the same thing
○
•
Dworkin’s sexism includes, but is not limited to, economic servitude of women to men. That
is Delphy’s patriarchy.
•
She's not a philosopher, she's a sociologist
Her PHD was on the economics of a farm
○
•
But her first move is very philosophically astute
Takes something glaringly obvious no one would ever disagree and turning into
something so paradoxical that no one would ever agree
○
•
Every society must produce and reproduce
What is women's role in this?
Domestic production and child-rearing
§
(Productive vs. domestic labour)
§
○
•
Women are not paid for other forms of work too
E.g. not being paid on farms in 1968
○
When men do work, they demand to get paid
○
Status of 'son'/'younger brother' is temporary, being a woman is permanent
○
Men not being paid could leave and start their own farm eventually
○
Women were much more socially stuck
○
Frye: women are oppressed as women, men are not oppressed as men
○
1)
No difference between goods produced by women and those by men
Just because something is produced and consumed in one unit, doesn't mean it
doesn’t have any market value
○
No boundary between domestic and productive labour
○
Turning raw material into consumable goods is labour
○
2)
There is no work that women do inside the home that is not payed outside the home.
Many of the processes involved in producing consumable goods have been
industrialized.
○
Many companies now sell labour that women used to do for free.
○
3)
Women still do unpaid work when they enter the workforce
Paid less, have less job security, largely confined to informal sectors - Moghadam
○
They continue doing domestic work for free
○
4)
Systematic practice of women furnishing men with unwaged labour in the home•
Consequences:•
Patriarchal oppression =/= capitalistic oppression
Industrial mode vs. family mode of production
○
Family mode totally appropriates labour of women
○
When in both, only domestic labour is exploited
○
Difference in relation to means of production
Wage-earner sells his labour at a cost determined by the value of services
§
They have the choice to take their skills elsewhere
§
Domestic labour is valued based on the goodwill of the man
§
Women do not have the same choice (at least not then)
§
○
Bargaining power of wage earners vs. married women prove the difference b/w
patriarchal oppression and capitalistic oppression
○
5)
Marriage is a form of slavery
Class = relation to means of production
○
Caste = destined by birth to be in a certain class
○
Women are a super-exploited caste
Domestic labour is unpaid
§
Compensation is un-proportional
§
Difficult for women to change employers
§
They are born into this situation, it is hard to leave
§
(sounds like slavery to me!)
§
○
Lenin: “Unfortunately, we may still say of many of our comrades, “Scratch the
Communist and a philistine appears” ... Could there be any more palpable proof than
the common sight of a man calmly watching a woman wear herself out with trivial,
monotonous, strength- and time-consuming work, such as her housework... Very few
husbands, not even the proletarians, think of how much they could lighten the
burdens and worries of their wives, or relieve them entirely, if they lent a hand in this
“women’s work.” (Collected Works Vol. 29, p.429)
○
6)
Political consequences:
Class of 'women' includes all women, regardless of class
Women shouldn’t be attached to the class of their husband/father, they don't
own any of the means of production
§
Unless she has joined the workforce, then she is a member of two classes
§
We assign women therefore to the class of "woman"
§
○
We must disestablish patriarchal relation to means of production by overthrowing the
bases of all known societies
More than disestablishing capitalism
§
Requires a revolution
§
○
•
Nonviolence is preventing violence and the patriarchy is a form of violence against women
So feminist nonviolence is the complete overhaul of society as we know it
○
•
What has been done?•
Moghadam - Transnational Feminism
Rise of transnational feminist groups due to:•
Global capitalist economy1)
Globalisation 2)
Universal gender inequality3)
These groups respond to the globalised capitalist economy and universal patriarchy•
But do they go far enough to fix anything?•
Lecture 8
Wednesday, March 8, 2017 3:13 PM
Document Summary
Non-violence is patriarchal and inappropriate to the feminist cause. Civil rights movement challenged racism whenever it occurred. They laid their lives on the line to protest segregation. Goal was to save black lives one by one. Male feminist allies have not adopted this approach. They only perhaps combat sexism when it is convenient, not whenever it appear. Dworkin defines sexism as the systematic cultural, political, social, sexual, psychologic and economic servitude of women to men and to patriarchal institutions . Claims women are more oppressed than racial minorities. Not just by the professional world, but by their own fathers, husbands, brothers. Racially oppressed people can at least retreat to their own community and famil. Women are blood-related to their oppressors whereas this is usually not the cas racial minorities. Not passive resistance, but the active prevention of violence. The latter is to be complicit or even encouraging it. E. g. someone punching your friend in the face.
