Capitalism, the Family and Personal Life

A founding document of 1970s socialist-feminism, Capitalism, the Family, and Personal Life originated the thesis that modern forms of women's subordination are grounded in capitalism's historic division between "public" and "private"-or, as we would say today, "production" and "reproduction." Eli Zaretsky's book also traces the later blurring of that divide-and with it, the possibility of a new, non-economistic view of socialism that would transform both domains, emancipating not just "labor," nor just "women," but whole human beings. His vision rests on a novel conception of "personal life" as a modern institution, specific to capitalism but pointing beyond it, simultaneously embodying and distorting emancipatory desires. Following this diagnosis, the book proposes a new, integrated political strategy that overcomes the mutual alienation of feminists and socialists.

Capitalism, the Family, and Personal Life resonated strongly in the 1970s but was eclipsed as the New Left waned and as separatist and liberal feminisms became hegemonic. Today, however, its arguments speak directly to the concerns of anti-capitalist feminists, artists and intellectuals. The time is right, accordingly, to revisit this classic work and put it into conversation with contemporary activism.

Along with the original 1973 work, this edition includes an introduction by Nancy Fraser, comments by leading leftwing thinkers, including Wolfgang Streeck and Tithi Bhattacharya, and new reflections by Eli Zaretsky.