"Most of us feel that the feminist rebellion has crossed all barriers of class, race and imperialism, because women everywhere are victims of sexism and male dominance. We, therefore, feel that there is a realistic base for international solidarity among women, or for global sisterhood. On the other hand, we cannot close our eyes to the stark fact that women of all classes in the West, and middle-class women in the Third World, are also among those whose standard of living is based on the ongoing exploitation of poor women and men in the underdeveloped regions and classes." Maria Mies, p. 1

Study Questions for

Maria Mies, Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale
Chapter 1: What is Feminism?

Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale is the most difficult book we will read this semester. I expect that some parts of it will be very difficult for you to understand.Use the following questions to guide you through the readings. If some parts are still beyond you after a while, skip over them, and bring questions to class. - Donna Hughes

Where are we today?

Why is the Women's Liberation Movement "perhaps the most controversial" of social movements?
Why is feminism deeply threatening to many people?
What does "the personal is political" mean?
Why is feminism seen as a threat to the unity of the working class and other oppressed groups?
Why have some women in the "Third World" avoid the word "feminism"?
Why did these same women eventually start using the term?
Explain the conflicts between grassroots feminists and feminists from national and international bureaucracies.
What is the situation of the international women's movement as Maria Mies sees it?
What is one of the most sensitive areas of the women's movements in the USA and Europe?
Why is there a heavy emphasis on cultural differences?
What divisions among women and people of the world are created by capitalist patriarchy?
What is the problem of adding women to existing social theories?

"Powerless groups, particularly if they are totally integrated within a system of power and exploitation, find it difficult to define reality differently from the powerful. This is particularly true for people whose material existence depends largely on the goodwill of the powerful."  p. 15

Explain this quote.
Define "fair-weather feminism." What are its limits?
What Maria Mies describes as "roll back strategies" we call "backlash." Characterize backlash.
What is "housewifization"?
What is the effect/purpose of cutting state expenditures on welfare?

What Is New About Feminism?
Continuities and Discountinuties

Why is women's history important?
How is the First Wave of the Women's Liberation Movement connected to the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789?
Why is Maria Mies critical of "cultural feminism"?

"The belief in education, cultural action, or even cultural revolution as agents  of social change is a typical belief of the urban middle class." p. 22

Explain this quote.
Conceptually, explain the difference between "sex" and "gender."
Consider the following quote: "Sex is as much a cultural and historical category as gender is." p. 23

Discontinuities: Body Politics

How did the focus of the Women's Liberation Movement move from the public sphere to the private sphere?
"Body politics" was the topic around which the Second Wave fo the Women's Liberation Movement organized. Explain.
What was one of big issues at the beginning of the Second Wave?
What issues emerged from consciousness raising (C-R) groups?
Why did the participation of women in the public sphere not solve the problem of patriarchy?
How did women come to understand that violence against women is political?
How is violence against women political?
Why does the examination of violence against women lead to radical questions?

Discontinuities: A New Concept of Politics

What does the term "autonomous" mean?
What are "autonomous" women's groups?

Discontinuities: Women's Work

How did feminists challenge definitions of "work" and "non-work"?
[Don't worry about the long discussion of recognizing women's unpaid labor within Marxist theory, p. 32-35. The important thing to understand is that feminists called for the recognition of women's unpaid labor as work.]

Concepts
Exploitation or Oppression/Subordination?

Define "exploitation."
Why does Maria Mies not use the terms "inequality" and "discrimination"?

Capitalist-Patriarchy

Why does Maria Mies use the term patriarchy?
What is capitalist patriarchy?

Overdeveloped-Underdeveloped Societies

Explain Maria Mies' use of the terms "overdeveloped" and "underdeveloped."

Autonomy

Define autonomy in relation to the women's movement?
What is the meaning of autonomy?