Feminism and the Construction of the Opposition “Gender vs. the People”

Abstract

The New Feminist Wave has triggered two reactions that are not new but are updated by the massive and global nature of the movement: an instrumentalisation of feminism, shaping what Laura Martínez-Jiménez calls “neoliberal post-feminism”, and an upsurge of conservative populism that is redoubling its anti-rights militancy as part of its programme in face of the neoliberal crisis (as can be seen in the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling in the United States).

Goals. In this contribution I will examine both reactions (which are sometimes read as opposites) as two distinct but complementary sides of the configuration of what I call the shift from the historical gender vs. class opposition to an updated gender vs. the people opposition.

Methodology. The article will be divided into three sections: (a) placing the New Feminist Wave within the social movements reacting to the crisis of neoliberal capitalism, (b) pointing out the main cleavages in the construction of the opposition gender vs. the people, (c) criticising the individualist interpretation of women's rights based on an appropriation of the Social Reproduction Theory.

Findings and Conclusions. The construction of the opposition gender vs. the people is based on a de-inscription of feminism from the set of movements that emerged in the heat of the neoliberal crisis, and on the construction of women's rights as (neo)liberal-individual rights. In the face of this operation, it is necessary to deepen the theoretical (and political) perspectives that understand gender demands as a fundamental part of the rights of the working-class to set the conditions for their social reproduction.