A-Infos (en) Anarkismo.net, Back to a materialist feminism by Irene - Libertarian Alternative (fr) [machine translation]

From the latest book by Roland Pfefferkorn, "Gender and gender relations", we propose a 
way to read and understand the multiple dimensions of persistent inequalities between men 
and women. ---- In "Gender and gender relations," Roland Pfefferkorn is an introduction to 
the concepts used to address social inequalities men / women. In particular, his approach 
emphasizes the contribution from the work of materialist feminism. This leads him to 
highlight the ambiguities of the notion of gender and to show the theoretical advantages 
of the analysis in terms of gender relations. In the introduction, the author puts into 
perspective the history of sociology in recalling that it was not until the 1970s, by the 
work of women activists and feminist scholars, this discipline is bound to take into 
account the social fact of inequality man / woman.

Back to a materialist feminism

In "Gender and gender relations," Roland Pfefferkorn is an introduction to the concepts 
used to address social inequalities men / women. In particular, his approach emphasizes 
the contribution from the work of materialist feminism. This leads him to highlight the 
ambiguities of the notion of gender and to show the theoretical advantages of the analysis 
in terms of gender relations. In the introduction, the author puts into perspective the 
history of sociology in recalling that it was not until the 1970s, by the work of women 
activists and feminist scholars, this discipline is bound to take into account the social 
fact of inequality man / woman.

Break with the naturalism

In the first chapter, entitled "Breaking the naturalism ', the author is led to emphasize 
that the break is the materialist feminist approach compared to previous outlook, before 
the 1970s, turned to the concepts of social roles. As part of a continuity with the Second 
Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, the theories of Christine Delphy, inspired by an unorthodox use 
of Marx, here are fundamental. The author recalls how the concepts were built of 
"patriarchy", the "domestic mode of production" of "domestic work" as autonomous 
categories of capitalism. However, they face certain limits according to him: "By 
underestimating, in our view, the real changes that have occurred, even though they are 
very partial and sometimes difficult to interpret, neglecting the increase in margins 
empowerment of women in recent decades, Christine Delphy is forbidden to take into account 
the historicity and the dynamics of domestic mode of production, it registers its 
conceptualization in a fundamentally creationist "(p. 38). It ' is that the approaches in 
terms of sexual division of labor and the concept of gender relations that some paradoxes 
are resolved. They thus allow the exploitation of women think, more and more numerous on 
the labor market together in the domestic and productive.

The gender concept

The second chapter is devoted to the study of the notion of genre in which the author 
highlights the ambivalences that have led to the widespread success of this term. It is 
possible to note, for example, among the analyzes it conducts, the contrast between two 
kinds of theories. This notion seems to be initially confused with that of gender. The 
author recalls in this respect the theories of Colette Guillaumin on the construction of 
the "sex class of women" by the sexing, that is to say, "private and collective ownership" 
of women. It has shown how the notion of genre, as used in queer theory, leads to reduce 
the contrast between feminine and masculine in its normative dimensions and issues of 
sexual identities. Thus it is leads, in the third chapter of his book, Critical analysis 
of the concept. There are basically three. Firstly, through culturalist and ultimately 
idealistic notion in postmodern theories, such as queer theory, leads to neglect the 
material basis of economic construction of gender. The second criticism is that 
naturalization is done under cover of the distinction between sex and gender as social 
construction. Last dimension, the thesis of the plurality of postmodern genre dissolves 
the social relationship class which nevertheless is clear at a macro-sociological.

Centrality of work

The last chapter is thus devoted specifically to the notions of "sexual division of labor" 
and "gender relations". The author points out, drawing Daniele Kergoat, that the notion of 
social relationship means "a voltage across the social field and makes certain social 
phenomena are issues around which social groups with conflicting interests" (p. 96). This 
concept highlights the antagonistic character of society, and thus the centrality of the 
concept of work. The gender relations are constructed from the sexual division of labor, 
but also the control of sexuality and reproductive function of women. In addition, Danièle 
Kergoat showed how the social relations of gender, 'race' and class should be analyzed in 
their consubstantiality and coextensivity with each other. Ultimately, the analyzes focus 
on social conflict in terms of relations of gender, compared to that of 'male domination', 
can think better articulation between the reproduction of relations of domination and 
transformation of these relations through collective struggles for emancipation. In 
conclusion, the author returns on the distinction between articulation of social relations 
and theories of intersectionality. The latter, from the U.S. intellectual context, have 
the effect of granting, as queer theories, an important place to the cultural and identity.

A radical current forgot

By focusing on theories from the materialist feminism, the book by Roland Pfefferkorn has 
the merit to highlight everything a radical trend analysis of inequalities men / women, 
hidden in the 1980s by the differentialism french feminism then in the 1990s by the 
reception of queer theories and analysis in terms of Bourdieu male domination. Yet in the 
wake of the analyzes of patriarchy by American feminist Kate Millett, author of The 
Politics of the male in 1970, the work of theorists such as Christine Delphy, 
Nicole-Claude Mathieu, Colette Guillaumin, Wittig, or Danièle Kergoat present specificity 
to support their criticism of social inequality between men and women on an economic 
basis, but not reduced. In particular, the notion of "gender", these theorists have shown 
before how queer theories sexual identities were merely social constructs. They have thus 
initiated a critique of heteronormativity that is not reducible to a simple critical 
standards, but which finds its basis in an analysis of socio-economic conditions of sexual 
categories. So, do we forget often that it's not only the side of Foucault, but also to 
Monique Wittig, Judith Butler was seeking inspiration for his theory of deconstruction of 
the genre. Irene AL Paris Nord- is Libertarian Alternative, June 2012, No. 218
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