Capitalism Critique - Books

A sharp deconstruction of contemporary white feminism, revealing how the performance of 'sass' and 'girl squads' serves to consolidate privilege rather than dismantle oppression.

One of Ms. Magazine's Most Anticipated Books of 2023. Continuing the trajectory of the Combahee River Collective, this collection brings together scholars, activists, and writers to examine how carceral liberalism masquerades as freedom while perpetuating oppression, critiquing the confluence of neoliberalism, incarceration, and patriarchy.

UnHerd columnist Mary Harrington introduces 'reactionary feminism,' critiquing modern feminism as serving only elite professional women. She argues technological progress commodifies women's bodies and reproductive abilities, calling for a fundamental reassessment of what 'progress' means for most women.

Critiques elite feminism and proposes an anti-capitalist feminist vision, linking women's liberation to economic justice, racial equality, and environmental sustainability.

A critical examination of how neoliberalism has co-opted feminist discourse, transforming it from a collective movement for social justice into an individualized pursuit of personal empowerment that serves corporate interests while abandoning the vast majority of women.

Halberstam challenges success standards in heteronormative capitalist society, exploring the productive potential of failure as a form of resistance. Through analysis of popular culture and queer theory, the author proposes 'low theory' as a mode of thinking and writing, redefining failure not as deficiency but as a strategy for subverting mainstream values.

A groundbreaking feminist re-examination of capitalist primitive accumulation that reveals how violent control over women's bodies became foundational to capitalist development.

Journalist Barbara Ehrenreich goes undercover to investigate the impact of the 1996 welfare reform act on the working poor in the United States, revealing the brutal reality of low-wage labor and the struggle for survival.

This foundational work of ecofeminism reveals how the development paradigm threatens survival itself through violence against nature and women. Through the experiences and perspectives of rural Indian women, Shiva demonstrates how patriarchal development models simultaneously destroy ecosystems and marginalize women, arguing for women's central role as biodiversity custodians in ecological regeneration.

This groundbreaking book introduces the concept of 'emotional labor' through an examination of how service workers, particularly flight attendants, are required to manage their emotions as part of their job. Hochschild explores how capitalism commercializes human feelings and the gendered implications of emotional work in the modern economy.

A groundbreaking work of ecofeminist scholarship that examines how the Scientific Revolution transformed Western culture's understanding of nature from a living, nurturing organism to a dead, mechanical object to be exploited. Merchant reveals the intimate connection between the domination of women and the domination of nature.