Abstract
Capitalist racist patriarchy is how Zillah Eisenstein (1998) characterizes global inequalities and the hierarchies of difference they constitute. This article assumes that feminist theory aims not only to empower women but to advance critical analyses of intersecting structural hierarchies; that this entails not only a critique of patriarchy but its complex conjunction with capitalism and racism; and that such critique requires rethinking theory. Through a critical lens on devalued (feminized) informal work worldwide, the article explores how positivist, modernist and masculinist commitments variously operate in prevailing theories of informality-including those of feminists-with the effect of impeding both intersectional analyses and more adequate critiques of capitalist racist patriarchy.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 5-35 |
| Number of pages | 31 |
| Journal | International Feminist Journal of Politics |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1 2012 |
Keywords
- Critical theory
- Difference
- Feminism
- Feminist theory
- Gender
- Global political economy
- IR
- Informal economy
- Intersectionality
- Masculinism
- Modernism
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Gender Studies
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Sociology and Political Science
- Political Science and International Relations