Women's Liberation

Women's Liberation

• Women's liberation and the trans debate

  

  Debates around the questions of the oppression of trans people and the oppression of women are intensifying. Sometimes positions are being expressed in ways that do not help us to move forward in the struggle for liberation. Counterfire is publishing the following document as a contribution to the discussion. 

• Is a society without oppression possible? - explainer

  

  In the seventh part of a series of socialist explainers, Elaine Graham-Leigh analyses where oppression comes from and if it can be overcome

• The Equal Pay Act at 50: a bittersweet celebration

  

  That women workers’ pay in the UK continues to lag significantly behind that of men underlines the limits of legal change under capitalism, argues Susan Ram

• Engels was right, class society and women's oppression aren't inevitable or irreversible

  

  As part of our series on the revolutionary Frederick Engels, on the 200th anniversary of his birth, Elaine Graham-Leigh looks at Engels' The Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State

• Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time: books that made me a socialist

  

  A startling fusion of science fiction and feminism selected by Dave Randall    

• Film Review: Misbehaviour is misjudged

  

  Women's liberation struggles deserve to be made into films, but Misbehaviour is not one of them says Penny Hicks

• Why the working-class, socialist history of International Women’s Day matters today

  

  On International Women's Day, Katherine Connelly looks at its origins in the socialist and feminist movements led by working class women

• 10 years of Counterfire

  

  Marking ten years since the launch of Counterfire, Alex Snowdon reflects on why the organisation was set up and some of what we have achieved in the last decade

• Labour in vain? – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on post-Corbynism and the trans debate

• Bernie Sanders vs the Democrat establishment – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on democratic socialism, witch-hunting and the fight for women’s liberation

• Cyprus: an attack on women everywhere

  

  We must all do our part to fight systematic rape culture, writes Elly Badcock

• ‘All Sorts of Woman’: review of Selina Todd’s Tastes of Honey and the National Theatre’s A Taste of Honey

  

  Selina Todd’s biography of Shelagh Delaney contains an urgent political message and a new performance of Delaney’s most famous play shows us how radical she was, finds Katherine Connelly

• Unelected judges deny the right to strike - election briefing 14 November

  

  Lindsey German on the attack on the posties and women’s work

• 7 black heroes that changed the world

  

  For Black History Month, Counterfire asked activists today to tell us about their black hero and how they provide inspiration in our struggles today

• Abortion and same-sex marriage legalised in Northern Ireland, despite DUP opposition

  

  Laws banning abortion and same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland have been repealed after a failure to restore Stormont, reports Elly Badcock

• Waspi women: stung by the state – weekly briefing

  

  Lindsey German on the abuse of pension provision, ruling class paranoia and XR’s protests

• Ibsen in Calcutta: A Doll's House reimagined through the lens of British colonialism

  

  Tanika Gupta's reimagined Ibsen shines a light on the class-based oppression inherent to colonialism, finds Ellen Graubart

• Power to the People

  

  Democratic rights don’t fall from the sky, they are fought for and won, insists Alex Snowdon

• “Life-long member of the non-pretty working classes” - All Woman review

  

  In All Woman, Kathy Burke has tackled ‘beauty’ and ‘motherhood’ and next up is that big messy hot potato of ‘relationships’, writes Sofie Mason

• Vote with your feet – weekly briefing

  

  Recent events have demonstrated the inextricable link between democratic demands and the fight for socialism, argues Lindsey German    

• Football as resistance: women kicking back against bigotry

  

  Shadia Edwards-Dashti, journalist and Actonians football player, highlights the significance of women's football beyond the pitch

• Tory values meet the rights and wrongs of women - weekly briefing

  

  The nasty party displays its true colours as it flounders towards a new stewardship, observes Lindsey German   

• A Suffragette in America: Reflections on Prisoners, Pickets and Political Change - book review

  

  Katherine Connelly’s edition of previously unpublished writing by Sylvia Pankhurst shows her deepening socialist politics, finds Lindsey German

• Trump's America: women under attack

  

  As the fightback against a raft of anti-abortion laws in the USA gathers steam, it can't be left just to establishment liberals to lead it, argues Kate O'Neil

• Brexit, Boris and the battle ahead - weekly briefing

  

  Tory collapse is only half the story; Corbyn’s Labour needs to sharply recalibrate around anti-austerity and class politics, argues Lindsey German

• A history of International Women's Day

  

  In this article, originally published in 1998, Lindsey German traces the history of International Women's Day - initially a celebration of the struggle of working women fighting back over suffrage and conditions at work

• International Women's Day and revolution

  

  102 years on from the Russian Revolution, we publish Alexandra Kollontai writing on the history of International Women's Day

• Labour pains: Watson, witch-hunts and what we do next - weekly briefing

  

  Recapturing the Corbyn moment means going beyond the Labour right's fixations with Brexit and antisemitism, argues Lindsey German  

• The revolutionary life of Sylvia Pankhurst - Counterfire Media Podcast

  

  Tom Lock Griffiths talks to biographer and activist Kate Connelly about Sylvia Pankhurst and why the militant socialist and suffragette is still powerfully relevant today in this episode of Counterfire Media's Podcast

• Our ten most popular articles of 2018

  

  The most popular articles on Counterfire this year

• Westminster's first woman, 100 years on

  

  Constance Markievicz was the first woman MP at Westminster - Jacqueline Mulhallen marks the centenary of her election

• Counterfire's books of the year - part one

  

  We asked a few leading campaigners and performers from the left what books have inspired them over the last twelve months

• Marxism and Feminism - Counterfire Media Podcast

  

  Feyzi Ismail talks to Hester Eisenstein on current trends in Feminism and Marxism, #MeToo, intersectionality and reformulating issues of class as central to feminist theory and practice in this episode of Counterfire Media's Podcast

• Talk about equality is cheap, but paying women a decent wage is much too costly - weekly briefing

  

  Less glass ceilings and more grassroots is the key to reviving the role of women’s liberation in our struggle, argues Lindsey German 

• Glasgow refuse workers respect picket lines in solidarity with women’s pay strike

  

  Strike action in Glasgow spreads, showing the power of solidarity of men and women workers, reports Vladimir Unkovski-Korica

• Ship, iceberg... you know what happens next - weekly briefing

  

  Tory calamity combined with Jeremy Corbyn's increasing consolidation of the mainstream puts a premium on extra-parliamentary activity for rest of the left, asserts Lindsey German 

• Why summer holidays are a time of dread and not joy for many families

  

  We are not a poor society, and should not be failing our children like this, argues Kelly Grahan

• Frankenstein at 200

  

  On the anniversary of Mary Shelley's masterpiece, Jacqueline Mulhallen looks beyond the cliches and finds a fable laced with powerful and timely commentary

• After Irish referendum victory, we must fight further to expand women’s rights

  

  This fantastic leap forward was a product of grassroots campaigning, but the battle is far from over, argues Amy O'Donoghue

• The bigotry of Arlene Foster won’t stop women on the march - weekly briefing

  

  The democratic shockwaves of women’s liberation can still create real problems for our rulers, writes Lindsey German   

• Victory as Ireland votes to repeal the 8th amendment

  

  As the results from the referendum in Ireland come in, it looks as though the Irish people have voted overwhelmingly to repeal draconian anti-abortion laws, Elly Badcock reports

• Ireland's opportunity for equality

  

  Friday's referendum is a vital step in the fight for women's equality in Ireland, argues Amy O'Donoghue

• Too rich to fail - weekly briefing

  

  “One rule for them and one rule for us” is a key mantra for neoliberalism and it has to be destroyed, argues Lindsey German 

• Spanish women take to the streets to demand justice for women and an end to male violence

  

  The acquittal in Pamplona is not an isolated case. Women are taking to the streets and demanding justice, reports Steph Pike

• BBC Proms takes a step towards equal gender representation

  

  Richard Pratt takes on some of the arguments being made against the decision by BBC Proms to hire as many women as men as composers for the festival

• Time's up Theresa - Counterfire Freesheet March 2018

  

  Brexit, Corbyn and the Labour right, gender pay gap, commodification of universities and more...

• As a trans woman, this is the unity I want to see

  

  In the trans debate we need less heat and more light, argues Kristina Jayne Harrison

• Sylvia - theatre review

  

  A sold-out annex theatre was treated to Jacqueline Mulhallen’s moving, informative and funny performance, Sylvia, the radical Suffragette leader

• 'If women stop, the world stops': a view from the mass women’s strike in Spain

  

  After huge strikes and protests in Spain, the message on the ground is to stay in the streets

• Sylvia Pankhurst and the working class suffragettes

  

  Jacqueline Mulhallen reflects on the radicals who helped reshape global democracy

• The gender pay gap is a disgrace

  

  While new legislation aimed at addressing this ongoing inequality is welcome, only collective action can end it, argues Steph Pike

• For International Women’s Day my hero is Ahed Tamimi

  

  International Women's Day is not just about the struggles of the past. It is about the recognition of women fighting now

• The War? The Suffragettes? How did women win the right to vote?

  

  On the centenary of women winning the right to vote, Katherine Connelly explores how they fought for their rights and resisted war

• Behind every ‘successful’ woman there’s another woman doing the work - weekly briefing

  

  Feminism is a double-edged sword for those fighting for women’s liberation, argues Lindsey German

• The return of idealism: identity and the politics of oppression

  

  The pervasion of identity politics limits our ability to truly liberate ourselves from oppression, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh

• Statue commemorating working class Suffragette Alice Hawkins unveiled

  

  Marking a hundred years of some women winning the right to vote, a statue of Suffragette Alice Hawkins was erected in Leicester. Jacqueline Mulhallen reports

• Marxism, Social Reproduction and Women’s Liberation with Lindsey German and Kate Connelly - video

  

  At an important Counterfire discussion, Lindsey German and Kate Connelly speak on women's oppression and how gender roles are played out within the structure of capitalism

• Sex, power, and money: parliament and politics - weekly briefing

  

  How far will this challenge to male privilege be allowed to go, asks Lindsey German 

• We carried the Revolution on our shoulders - book extract

  

  In this second book extract of The Women's Revolution: Russia 1905-1917, Judy Cox describes the involvement and militancy of women during the October Revolution and the Civil War.

• The Women's Revolution - book extract

  

  In this first of two extracts of The Women's Revolution: Russia 1905-1917, Judy Cox describes how the unnamed, uncredited women of Russia were at the forefront of the February Revolution in 1917

• Marxism and Women's Liberation

  

  Judy Cox welcomes Marxism and Women’s Liberation as a timely and valuable discussion of the causes and consequences of women’s oppression

• Get your rosaries off my ovaries: thousands march in Dublin for #Strike4Repeal

  

  A new generation of female activists is refuelling Ireland’s reproductive struggles, observes Kara Bryan 

• Strike 4 Repeal: International Women's Day in Ireland

  

  On International Women's Day, thousands of women in Ireland went on strike and took to the streets reports Amy O'Donoghue

• Standing up to Trump

  

  Campaigners from across the country gathered together to discuss and plan for Stand up to Trump, a coalition with a plan to take on the US president

• Socialists and mass protest: thoughts on the Women's Marches

  

  How should socialists orient to mass protests?

• Not my pussy: protest trumps pessimism

  

  The weekend’s magnificent demonstrations are a cue to reinvigorate left politics as a whole, suggests Ellen Graubart  

• Women's March: this is what democracy looks like - photos

  

  5 million people. 670 protests. 75 countries. The Women's March was the biggest global protest event since the 2003 protests against the Iraq War.

• Marxism and Women's Liberation

  

  Buy online: A cutting edge guide to the way class and women's oppression intersect, and how emancipation must be linked to system change

• Ched Evans rape case: back to women on trial?

  

  The issue of rape cannot be separated from a society that commodifies women and sexuality, and demeans both men and women, argues Judy Cox

• Burkini ban: the Islamophobia that lies beneath the beach secularism

  

  Is France's left doing enough to challenge the new wave of state Islamophobia, asks John Mullen 

• Burkini ban: taking the anger back to the French state

  

  Friday night’s central London emergency protest shows how Islamophobia must be countered, reports Katherine Connelly 

• Don't thank the EU for equal pay

  

  The principle of equal pay was won through struggle, writes Lindsey German

• Farage: sex, lies and Islamophobia

  

  Nigel Farage's latest outburst is part of a growing sexualisation of racism, argues Lindsey German

• Always in the front line

  

  Women workers have been at the forefront of every new wave of struggle

• Women's liberation: we think it's time

  

  The anti-austerity movement is an opportunity to force women's liberation onto the political agenda says Yasmin Dahnoun

• What is it with some feminist Labour MPs?

  

  Jess Phillips and her colleagues are stooping to new lows by misusing feminism to attack Jeremy Corbyn argues Lindsey German

• Sexual assault allegations exacerbate German racism

  

  Sexism and racism have to be challenged without bowing to the far right, who are using sexual assaults to attack refugees, argues Kaveh Yazdani

• The tampon tax is misogynist: what we can do to stop it

  

  The tampon tax is alienating and unnecessary, but we are doing something about it, writes Laura Coryton

• Suffragette: on the side of the rebels

  

  Suffragette is a compelling and moving portrayal of the courage of ordinary women who dared to challenge the power of the British state

• Jeremy Corbyn and women: a matter of policy not posts

  

  Media responses have pointed to the lack of women in the new shadow cabinet, but the policy response to austerity will have more impact on women's lives in the UK

• Jeremy Corbyn, feminism and the Labour leadership

  

  If the women candidates are unlikely to be successful in the Labour leadership election race it's down to politics not patriarchy argues Lindsey German

• Exquisite and hard hitting: 'Working from Home' by Julie McCalden

  

  Sue Tate reviews Working from Home by Julie McCalden at The Museum of Bath at Work

• Marxism and Feminism

  

  Marxism and Feminism explores the connections between capitalism and women’s oppression through a range of serious and perceptive arguments, finds Lindsey German

• Womens Liberation, class and Feminism: Lindsey German & Katherine Connelly | Dangerous Times

  

  From the session 'Women’s liberation, class and feminism today' at Dangerous Times Festival 2015

• Everyday sexism and capitalism

  

  With the feminist movement on the rise, Elaine Graham-Leigh appraises contrasting approaches to challenging sexism and the place of women in today’s system

• The fire last time: when ghetto riots rocked America

  

  Alastair Stephens looks at how riots changed American history and represented a historic challenge to the ruling order

• Work, Sex and Power

  

  The entire human history of exploitation and oppression is vividly summarised in Willie Thompson’s Work, Sex, Power, finds Mike Quille

• A Feminist Manifesto for the 21st Century

  

  Five years ago Counterfire was launched as an organisation on International Women's Day 2010, with the publication of A Feminist Manifesto for the 21st Century. It remains a timely analysis of the challenges that face us in the struggle for women's liberation

• Captive Revolution: Palestinian Women’s Anti-Colonial Struggle Within the Israeli Prison System

  

  Former detainee Nahlo Abdo's meticulous study reveals the hidden voices of Palestinian female political prisoners. Review by Ellen Graubart

• Montreal Massacre, feminism and hate crimes against women

  

  Those who accuse feminists of 'hijacking' the memory of the Montreal Massacre, in which 14 women were killed, couldn't be more wrong, argues Canadian writer and broadcaster Toula Drimonis

• Witches and bitches: Hollywood's horrible misogyny

  

  Completing the Horror Cuts trilogy, Jack Brindelli explores the political implications of possession and witch films, and examines just how deep Hollywood's fear of empowered women goes

• Marxism and the Oppression of Women: Towards a Unitary Theory

  

  Lindsey German welcomes a new edition of a classic of Marxist Women’s Liberation theory, which opens up rich debates over the nature and origins of women’s oppression

• Yes to women's equality - Scottish Independence: A Feminist Response

  

  Lindsey German reviews 'Scottish Independence: A Feminist Response' by Cat Boyd and Jenny Morrison

• Sylvia Pankhurst: Suffragette, Socialist and Scourge of Empire

  

  The importance and coherence of Sylvia Pankhurst’s lifelong activism is revealed by Katherine Connelly’s grasp of her political commitments, making this book an important new account her life

• Sylvia Pankhurst: Militancy and Mass Mobilisation

  

  Pankhurst’s commitment to working class politics offered a more fruitful strategy for the women’s suffrage movement, compared to the middle class strategy of the leaders of the WSPU

• Art and Conflict: Sylvia Pankhurst: Suffragette, Socialist and Scourge of Empire

  

  As a young artist at the turn of the 20^th century, Sylvia Pankhurst battled discrimination in the institutional art world, while also developing strong political commitments

• Sylvia Pankhurst: War and Imperialism

  

  Sylvia Pankhurst’s activism during the First World War demonstrated her unwavering commitment to anti-imperialism - a thread running through all her activity for the rest of her life

• Introduction to Sylvia Pankhurst: Suffragette, Socialist and Scourge of Empire

  

  In this extract from her book, Katherine Connelly explains the context and continuities of Sylvia’s many political engagements - too often ignored in standard accounts of her life

• How a Century of War Changed the Lives of Women: resisting war, asserting our liberation

  The introduction from Lindsey German's book How a Century of War Changed the Lives of Women looks at how and why the anti-war movement became a vehicle for women’s political action

• The Suffragettes, Black Friday and two types of window smashing

  

  'The argument of the broken window pane is the most valuable argument in modern politics', declared suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst