Synopses & Reviews
"With the publication of the present volume, there will finally be available a representative selection of the thoughts of the leading woman of European socialism."—Angela Davis, from the introduction
"Clara Zetkin's arguments in support of women workers contain a logic which can be effectively employed today."—Angela Davis, from the foreword to the 1984 edition
Clara Zetkin was a German Marxist theorist who organized the first International Women's Day.
Philip S. Foner was one of the most prominent Marxist historians in the United States.
Angela Davis is a world-renowned scholar and author of Are Prisons Obsolete?
Review
"Clara Zetkin's arguments in support of women workers contain a logic which can be effectively employed today in defense of strong affirmative action programs, not only for women but for the racially and nationally oppressed as well
[her] analysis of the relationship between the woman suffrage campaign and the struggle of working women
is significant not only because of its important historical value, but all .. with respect to the class nature of such contemporary women's struggles as the campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment in the United States."
From the Foreword to the 1984 edition by Angela Y. Davis
"In January, 1915, the British journal Labour Woman wrote of Clara Zetkin: 'She is Socialist in her very fibre, and she is a fighter ready to face death rather than give way in any issue of import in the people's struggle.' [Zetkin] displayed these qualities in leading the largest women's socialist movement in Europe, in editing the most important woman's journal in Europe for over twenty-five years, in organizing working women into trade unions, in battling for women's suffrage and equal rights
in the battle against revisionism, and in her militant opposition to militarism, imperialism and the first World War
[She] was able to exert a powerful influence in the formation of socialist and communist policy on the woman question, and on the policy of a number of trade unions toward women workers
Clara Zetkin's writings and speeches are still too little known in the United States. With the publication of the present volume, there will finally be available a representative selection of the thoughts of the leading woman of European socialism."
From the introduction by Philip Foner
Synopsis
Essays and speeches from 1889–1933, long unavailable in the US, on women's equality, labor, peace, and socialism.
Synopsis
Here is an essential collection of essays and speeches from 1889 to 1933, long unavailable in the United States, on women's equality, labor, peace and socialism. Zetkin broke new ground by exploring the intersections of gender and class. In these writings, she describes the political process that ultimately allowed for socialized reproductionnamely the establishment by the Soviet revolutionary government of communal kitchens, laundries and child care facilities.
About the Author
Clara Zetkin was a German Marxist theorist, activist, and advocate for women's rights. In 1911, she organized the first International Women's Day
Philip S. Foner was one of the most prominent Marxist historians in the United States. A prolific author and editor, he tirelessly documented the lives of workers, African Americans, and political radicals. Because of his political affiliations he was shut out of academic employment for a quarter century.
Angela Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author. Davis was politically active during the late 1960s through the 1970s and was associated with the Communist Party USA, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party. Davis was a political prisoner and is now a world-renowned scholar and author of Are Prisons Obsolete?