Abstract

We have entered an era in which a lot of political capital can be made from “defense” of the family and women's traditional place, mired exclusively in private life. In the face of a backlash which has been doing its best to engulf the second wave of feminism and take back whatever meager gains women have made since the sixties, discussions of women's active role in politics assume a great deal of significance. Here we have two books which explore some of the interconnections between the feminist movement and the left. Both volumes raise important questions concerning the historical and theoretical relation of feminism to social change.