Beyond Female Masochism: Memory-Work and Politics (Questions for Feminism) [Hardcover]

Frigga Haug (Author), Rodney Livingstone (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1992 | ISBN-10: 0860913589 | ISBN-13: 978-0860913580

Frigga Haug, one of Germany's best-known feminist and Marxist critics, develops here a profound challenge both to women's oppression and to what she sees as women's 'collusion' in that oppression. Rejecting the essentialism of much feminist writing today, along with the denial of subjectivity that still permeates Marxism, Haug explores the connections between Marxist theory and the emancipation of women, a project which necessarily involves, as she explains, 'diverting a powerful and long-standing anger into detective work'. Under the headings of Socialization, Work and Politics, she combines the fruits of these investigations with the influential 'memory-work' she has pioneered with women's collectives, to throw startling new light on a wide range of themes and issues: personal ethics and public morality; daydreams, domesticity and consumerism; privatization, new technologies and the restructuring of the workplace; the evolution of women's politics in Germany; the future of socialist feminism in the wake of Communism's collapse. Above all, this is a book which strives to find new links between the micro-politics of daily life and the evolving structures of capitalism. 'If we could find out why and when our hopes for life were buried,' Haug argues, 'then we could try to take our history in our own hands.' Beyond Female Masochism provides the materials, and inspiration, to do just that.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In these invigorating and original essays, Frigga Haug bravely goes against the fashionable grain, working through dream, memory and experience and revealing theoretical contours for a much-needed reorientation of socialist feminist politics." - Sheila Rowbotham --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Verso Books (April 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0860913589
• ISBN-13: 978-0860913580
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,458,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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