by S. Sarker
| Flickr/ruminatrix |
Is the F-word necessary any more? And why should democratic socialism be anywhere near it?
This is the Democratic Socialists of America site! What does the F-word (feminism) have to do with it? Well, to me, socialism is not only about class in/equities, as is most commonly understood. It is, yes, in this era of rampant neoliberal capitalism that spreads like an amoeba across the world, also about the exposing of hegemonies. It always has been. I promise not to use any more –isms, the three used so far should suffice, and I’ll quickly offer my understanding of ‘hegemonies’ before moving on.
Hegemony, as Antonio Gramsci in his Prison Notebooks (1928-1935) used it, indicated not only the “dominant system” but also the overwhelming power such a system exercised by appearing to be the norm, the normal, the normative. And he was addressing Mussolini’s dictatorship.
Capitalism and class stratification not only appear to be the norm, but are even normalized so as to seem natural and invisible. The fear and anxiety of political conservatives all over the world about socialism and feminism are not because economic power or social power will be redistributed, but because they expose how capitalism justifies economic inequality and patriarchy justifies social inequality.
Source: Is the F-word Necessary?
