Citation

Blackledge P. Soc. Theory Pract. 2018; 44(3): 297-321.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Florida State University Center for Social Philosophy)

DOI

10.5840/soctheorpract20186439

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this paper I argue that Frederick Engels's The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State remains a fundamental resource for anyone wanting to understand the oppression of women as a capitalist form. By re-examining the strengths and weaknesses of Engels's historicisation of women's oppression through the lens of the debates opened by second wave feminism, I argue that, once properly understood, we can overcome the limitations of Engels's book to point to the kind of unitary theory of women's oppression essential to a strategy adequate to the needs of the struggle for women's liberation.

Language: en