Nancy Fraser is a professor of philosophy and politics at the New School for Social Research. She is the author of Fortunes of Feminism, Unruly Practices, and coeditor of, most recently, Feminism for the 99%.
Marxists have a powerful critique of exploitation in the capitalist workplace, but our analysis can’t stop there. A comprehensive analysis of capitalism, Nancy Fraser argues, must also account for the social relations that make the official economy possible.
Political theorist Nancy Fraser tells Jacobin that we face several crises at once: in the economy, in social reproduction, in the environment, and in politics. Without dramatic intervention, we may end up with “cannibal capitalism.”
For feminists, this election presents a clear choice — between advancing the interests of 1 percent of women and fighting for the liberation of the rest. Bernie Sanders is on the side of the 99 percent.
Women workers, people of color, and white men in the Rust Belt may not see each other as natural allies. But as Nancy Fraser tells Jacobin, there is a path to uniting the social majority — so long as we recognize our common enemy in capitalism.
The likes of Hillary Clinton have tarnished the name of feminism, associating it with neoliberalism and anti–working-class politics. For Nancy Fraser, feminism has to be about overthrowing corporate power, not giving it a female face.