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Endnotes 3: Gender, Race, Class and Other Misfortunes
The newest installment in this UK journal features articles on: Arab Spring; indignados; Occupy; England riots; austerity and anti-austerity; the logic of gender; class identity; Jasper Bernes on logistics, counterlogistics and the communist prospect; Chris Chen on race, and redefining central concepts of revolutionary theory—spontaneity, mediation, rupture.
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 1, 2022
M'ha encantat el text 'the logic of gender', suuuuper recomenable.
Però potser hauria d'haver començat a llegir endnotes pel número 1 i no el 3.
Però potser hauria d'haver començat a llegir endnotes pel número 1 i no el 3.
December 4, 2025
Notes
The Logic of Gender (Gonzales/Neton)
Criticism of binaries that have been assigned to gender differences
1. Production/Reproduction
- Covering of means of subsistence through wages does not produce ready-made labor power
- Domestic labor is not counted as such because it does not take place in sphere of production and circulation of values
- for labor power to have value some non-labor activities have to be cut off from the sphere of value production
- Terms: directly market-mediated spheres (DMM) and indirectly market-mediated spheres (inside DMM sphere the reproductive work needs to be market mediated cleaning companies; IMM could be daycare workers, as they are waged but not to produce value, payment covered by taxes)
o Socially necessary labor time is not directly part of IMM IMM do not work around Marktfähigkeit / the quick and efficient production of a commodity
o DMM relations are organized through impersonal domination whereas IMM-sphere mechanisms have to be upheld through direct violence or hierarchies
2. Paid/Unpaid
- Work which is not paid appears as non-work
- Once work is paid it is expected to adhere to the socially average performance (such is the case with commodified domestic work)
- The assignment of waged as social and the unwaged as non-social do not directly map with IMM/DMM-spheres (e.g. daycare are socially validated through wages but non-productive)
- Wage is ought to buy commodities necessary for reproduction but also services that are part of this production whether directly (nanny) or indirectly (public schools) ; what is not paid is non-waged activities which are (or therefore appear as) naturalized as part of the gendered sphere
3. Public/Private
- The private is all activities inside and outside the house. The home only is part of the many moments of the economic/the private
- The public (juridical/political sphere) is an abstract community where everyone is presented as equal – as capitalism requires everyone to be formally free to sell their labour power - while at the same time being unequal in reality (means of production)
- Women have historically sold their labour power indirectly through men (they have been laborers but not owner of their labor power): aspect of double freedom only recently applied to women (of the global north)
- Because differential freedom (in terms of legal status) directed women to the IMM sphere, why did the abolition of it not lead to the abolition of gendered sphere?
o The sex-blind labor market reinforces gendered divisions. Market functions according to the exchange value of labor power Women have historically been described as individuals who carry children and thus being at a social disadvantage to the labour market. Ohne direkt sagen zu müssen, dass Frauen weniger bezahlt werden, weil sie Frauen sind, kann genau dies getan werden
o Women become categorized as labour power with a higher social cost and therefore become labor power with a cheaper price (waged less)
4. Sex/Gender
- Gender is constituted by directing a certain group of people to a specific sphere of social activities. Genders are characterized as masculine/feminine
- But: sex is constructed as well as gender. Gender (under capitalism) naturalizes sex (gender fetish)
The Limit Point of Capitalist Equality (Chen)
- Wave of anti-racist upsurge lead to a reconfiguration of race
- Dynamics of reproduction of race
• Economic subordination (differences in wages)
• Racialized violence
- Ascriptive racialization processes cannot be named or identified because they are termed in race-neutral ways (security threat, illegal immigration, …)
- When these processes are mentioned in the context of racism they are often only understood as personal ideologies instead of institutional process that do not require individual racist beliefs
- Issue: reducing racial economic inequality as a side-effect of class
- Both cultural and economic stratification theories have framed racial inequality as a problem of unequal wealth distribution while treating economy as race-neutral (or even as an engine of racial progress)
o Downplaying the extent to which racial domination is organized by social institutions
- Reevaluating race as an identity
- Marx ignores the ex-peasants who were sent to colonies
- Race cannot be solely understood on the basis of wage relations but has to be understood in the context of racial violence
o Focus on wages makes racialized violence invisible or paints it as a side effect
o For racialized people, relation of hegemony becomes relation of terror (impersonal system of domination vs. domination through violence)
- Capitalism requires racialization of unfree labor and unfree labor is not incompatible with capitalism (feudalism, slavery)
o Racial domination is not an incidental side-product of capitalism
- Capitalism created scientific justification for racial subjugation of populations
The Logic of Gender (Gonzales/Neton)
Criticism of binaries that have been assigned to gender differences
1. Production/Reproduction
- Covering of means of subsistence through wages does not produce ready-made labor power
- Domestic labor is not counted as such because it does not take place in sphere of production and circulation of values
- for labor power to have value some non-labor activities have to be cut off from the sphere of value production
- Terms: directly market-mediated spheres (DMM) and indirectly market-mediated spheres (inside DMM sphere the reproductive work needs to be market mediated cleaning companies; IMM could be daycare workers, as they are waged but not to produce value, payment covered by taxes)
o Socially necessary labor time is not directly part of IMM IMM do not work around Marktfähigkeit / the quick and efficient production of a commodity
o DMM relations are organized through impersonal domination whereas IMM-sphere mechanisms have to be upheld through direct violence or hierarchies
2. Paid/Unpaid
- Work which is not paid appears as non-work
- Once work is paid it is expected to adhere to the socially average performance (such is the case with commodified domestic work)
- The assignment of waged as social and the unwaged as non-social do not directly map with IMM/DMM-spheres (e.g. daycare are socially validated through wages but non-productive)
- Wage is ought to buy commodities necessary for reproduction but also services that are part of this production whether directly (nanny) or indirectly (public schools) ; what is not paid is non-waged activities which are (or therefore appear as) naturalized as part of the gendered sphere
3. Public/Private
- The private is all activities inside and outside the house. The home only is part of the many moments of the economic/the private
- The public (juridical/political sphere) is an abstract community where everyone is presented as equal – as capitalism requires everyone to be formally free to sell their labour power - while at the same time being unequal in reality (means of production)
- Women have historically sold their labour power indirectly through men (they have been laborers but not owner of their labor power): aspect of double freedom only recently applied to women (of the global north)
- Because differential freedom (in terms of legal status) directed women to the IMM sphere, why did the abolition of it not lead to the abolition of gendered sphere?
o The sex-blind labor market reinforces gendered divisions. Market functions according to the exchange value of labor power Women have historically been described as individuals who carry children and thus being at a social disadvantage to the labour market. Ohne direkt sagen zu müssen, dass Frauen weniger bezahlt werden, weil sie Frauen sind, kann genau dies getan werden
o Women become categorized as labour power with a higher social cost and therefore become labor power with a cheaper price (waged less)
4. Sex/Gender
- Gender is constituted by directing a certain group of people to a specific sphere of social activities. Genders are characterized as masculine/feminine
- But: sex is constructed as well as gender. Gender (under capitalism) naturalizes sex (gender fetish)
The Limit Point of Capitalist Equality (Chen)
- Wave of anti-racist upsurge lead to a reconfiguration of race
- Dynamics of reproduction of race
• Economic subordination (differences in wages)
• Racialized violence
- Ascriptive racialization processes cannot be named or identified because they are termed in race-neutral ways (security threat, illegal immigration, …)
- When these processes are mentioned in the context of racism they are often only understood as personal ideologies instead of institutional process that do not require individual racist beliefs
- Issue: reducing racial economic inequality as a side-effect of class
- Both cultural and economic stratification theories have framed racial inequality as a problem of unequal wealth distribution while treating economy as race-neutral (or even as an engine of racial progress)
o Downplaying the extent to which racial domination is organized by social institutions
- Reevaluating race as an identity
- Marx ignores the ex-peasants who were sent to colonies
- Race cannot be solely understood on the basis of wage relations but has to be understood in the context of racial violence
o Focus on wages makes racialized violence invisible or paints it as a side effect
o For racialized people, relation of hegemony becomes relation of terror (impersonal system of domination vs. domination through violence)
- Capitalism requires racialization of unfree labor and unfree labor is not incompatible with capitalism (feudalism, slavery)
o Racial domination is not an incidental side-product of capitalism
- Capitalism created scientific justification for racial subjugation of populations
March 10, 2024
(He leído la edición en castellano de Ediciones Extáticas)
Me ha gustado mucho este tercer volumen sobre las teorías de la comunización, aunque honestamente me esperaba una exposición algo más sistematizada del género y la raza. Aunque se presentan debates muy desarrollados, no puedo evitar quedarme con la sensación de que ventila definiciones cruciales en un par de párrafos para seguir adelante con la exposición de su posición en el debate.
Una pena, aunque probablemente esto sea mas un problema mío que del texto. En cualquier caso es una lectura muy recomendable, especialmente si uno ya ha leído bastante de marxismo.
Me ha gustado mucho este tercer volumen sobre las teorías de la comunización, aunque honestamente me esperaba una exposición algo más sistematizada del género y la raza. Aunque se presentan debates muy desarrollados, no puedo evitar quedarme con la sensación de que ventila definiciones cruciales en un par de párrafos para seguir adelante con la exposición de su posición en el debate.
Una pena, aunque probablemente esto sea mas un problema mío que del texto. En cualquier caso es una lectura muy recomendable, especialmente si uno ya ha leído bastante de marxismo.
August 16, 2026
another good volume. expands nicely on all the foundations laid in the previous volumes, in hindsight did very well interpreting the current global economic situation, raises some worthwhile and deeply unsettling points on the state of the workers' movement and finally concretises on the question of organisation left open in the preceding volumes. on top of that, the chapter on the tottenham riots and riot in general is a very enjoyable read.
December 10, 2023
wow. Buenísima traducción al castellano por parte de los compañeros de Ediciones Extáticas. Y del Journal que decir, seguramente el mejor número que han hecho!
9/10
9/10
September 9, 2026
Très bon volume d'Endnotes. Pour les articles qui traitent des luttes post-crise 2008, on ne peut pas dire que cela ait vraiment vieilli, même si dans le détail il y aurait certainement des choses à réévaluer.
"The Logic of Gender" est certainement l'article le plus célèbre dans ce volume, et apporte un cadre de pensée qu'il me semble toujours intéressant d'utiliser, possiblement à affiner. Il est certainement intéressant de le comparer aux articles de Théorie Communiste (n°23 et n°24) qui traitent de questions similaires, avec des points de désaccord ; de mon côté, je n'ai pas encore tranché sur ce qui me convainct le plus.
Mais plusieurs autres articles méritent certainement qu'on y revienne.
- "The Holding Pattern", qui contient l'analyse d'Endnotes sur le mouvement des occupation des places, des différents mouvements révolutionnaires en Afrique du Nord, dans le contexte d'après la crise de 2008. Les conclusions tirées ne me semblent pas avoir été à côté de la plaque, même si c'est plutôt le troisième scénario envisagé, l'intensification de la crise, qui se vérifie...
- "A Tide to Lift All Boats" fait le récit des émeutes anglaises de 2011, et de l'ambiance politique de l'époque ; au passage, cela m'a l'air d'une excellente synthèse des questions raciales au Royaume-Uni, de leur inscription dans la géographie du pays et dans les villes, le tout étant bien écrit et dynamique, notamment dans le récit des journées d'émeutes après le meutre de Mark Duggan par la police anglaise.
- "Logistics, Counterlogistics and the Communist Project" de Jasper Bernes est dans la lignée des questionnements de stratégie / tactique politique qui sont apparus au début des années 2010 : s'attaquer à la production, ou plutôt à la circulation du capital ? En prenant pour point de départ le mouvement Occupy à Oakland et l'occupation du port de la ville, Jasper Bernes arrive à synthétiser de manière claire l'histoire de la "révolution logistique", son inscription dans la restructuration du capital après la crise des années 70 et les questionnements politiques que se posent le courant révolutionnaire à ce sujet. Pas mal d'éléments intéressants sur la critique de la technique d'un point de vue marxiste, dans la continuité d'un David Noble (que j'aime beaucoup !).
- "The Limit Point of Capitalist Equality", qui s'attaque aux dynamiques de la racialisation et du racisme dans le capitalisme, en s'intéressant avant tout à ces questions dans le contexte des Etats-Unis d'Amérique. C'est aussi l'occasion de formuler des critiques assez intéressantes et pertinentes concernant le récit de l'accumulation primitive porté par un marxisme orthodoxe, ou envers différents discours présents dans un certain marxisme qui ne perçoit les enjeux raciaux que par un biais culturel, porteur notamment d'une analyse fort paresseuse du "néolibéralisme" (concept plus que critiquable en soi...).
- Et enfin, "Spontaneity, Mediation, Rupture", pour apporter quelques éléments de réflexion stratégique pour la communisation ! Si l'article est assez intéressant, je reste un peu en demande de véritables perspectives stratégiques, mais c'est là, je crois bien, un reproche que je peux faire à nombre d'écrits, en cette période de grande incertitude à ce sujet...
"The Logic of Gender" est certainement l'article le plus célèbre dans ce volume, et apporte un cadre de pensée qu'il me semble toujours intéressant d'utiliser, possiblement à affiner. Il est certainement intéressant de le comparer aux articles de Théorie Communiste (n°23 et n°24) qui traitent de questions similaires, avec des points de désaccord ; de mon côté, je n'ai pas encore tranché sur ce qui me convainct le plus.
Mais plusieurs autres articles méritent certainement qu'on y revienne.
- "The Holding Pattern", qui contient l'analyse d'Endnotes sur le mouvement des occupation des places, des différents mouvements révolutionnaires en Afrique du Nord, dans le contexte d'après la crise de 2008. Les conclusions tirées ne me semblent pas avoir été à côté de la plaque, même si c'est plutôt le troisième scénario envisagé, l'intensification de la crise, qui se vérifie...
- "A Tide to Lift All Boats" fait le récit des émeutes anglaises de 2011, et de l'ambiance politique de l'époque ; au passage, cela m'a l'air d'une excellente synthèse des questions raciales au Royaume-Uni, de leur inscription dans la géographie du pays et dans les villes, le tout étant bien écrit et dynamique, notamment dans le récit des journées d'émeutes après le meutre de Mark Duggan par la police anglaise.
- "Logistics, Counterlogistics and the Communist Project" de Jasper Bernes est dans la lignée des questionnements de stratégie / tactique politique qui sont apparus au début des années 2010 : s'attaquer à la production, ou plutôt à la circulation du capital ? En prenant pour point de départ le mouvement Occupy à Oakland et l'occupation du port de la ville, Jasper Bernes arrive à synthétiser de manière claire l'histoire de la "révolution logistique", son inscription dans la restructuration du capital après la crise des années 70 et les questionnements politiques que se posent le courant révolutionnaire à ce sujet. Pas mal d'éléments intéressants sur la critique de la technique d'un point de vue marxiste, dans la continuité d'un David Noble (que j'aime beaucoup !).
- "The Limit Point of Capitalist Equality", qui s'attaque aux dynamiques de la racialisation et du racisme dans le capitalisme, en s'intéressant avant tout à ces questions dans le contexte des Etats-Unis d'Amérique. C'est aussi l'occasion de formuler des critiques assez intéressantes et pertinentes concernant le récit de l'accumulation primitive porté par un marxisme orthodoxe, ou envers différents discours présents dans un certain marxisme qui ne perçoit les enjeux raciaux que par un biais culturel, porteur notamment d'une analyse fort paresseuse du "néolibéralisme" (concept plus que critiquable en soi...).
- Et enfin, "Spontaneity, Mediation, Rupture", pour apporter quelques éléments de réflexion stratégique pour la communisation ! Si l'article est assez intéressant, je reste un peu en demande de véritables perspectives stratégiques, mais c'est là, je crois bien, un reproche que je peux faire à nombre d'écrits, en cette période de grande incertitude à ce sujet...
Read
November 14, 2020good stuff! listen to the pod: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
March 18, 2024
Sin más...
February 20, 2025
La lógica del género… MI TODO soy otra persona desde entonces
January 8, 2026
Bastante guay la verda. Once again sintiendo que me pierdo la mitad de referencias (malditos britanicos) baina ondo.
April 1, 2026
todito q ver
September 23, 2026
The BEST endnotes
July 27, 2015
This issue of "Endnotes" is a welcomed reprieve from the direction that I thought the journal was going in after the second. The editors clearly wanted to make this issue relevant to contemporary theoretical debates and struggles, and the effort shows. I would need to re-read certain aspects in order to comment on some of the pieces that I didn't really retain, but I can say with certainty that Jasper's piece on Logistics is very worthwhile, not necessarily for its strategic proposals, but more for his theoretical endeavor to correct the fallacy held by almost all Marxists that technological advancement is neutral and is building the preconditions for communism. Chris Chen's piece demonstrates a rigorous attempt to think race in a theoretical milieu that has all but ignored its existence until last year. I've probably read "the Logic of Gender" half a dozen times, and while I have gotten a lot out of my engagement with it, I think it is wrong on several points -- mostly having to do with its unwillingness to conceive of gender that doesn't fit neatly into its particular periodization of capitalism, and also the lack of theory around sexual violence and the factors of sexuality, heteronormativity, and kinship structures that it brushes aside in an addendum to a footnote.
November 27, 2013
I really liked this issue of Endnotes. I was a little worried because I found myself being bored/lost at some points in Endnotes 2, but almost all the pieces here felt relevant.
The best piece, by far, is "Spontaneity, Mediation, Rupture," and echoes a number of things I have been thinking recently with relation to how we just keep doing (actions, demos, strikes, whatever, etc.) because there is always the possibility that it will create the rupture/insurrection/revolution.
I also really liked "Logistics, Counterlogistics, and the Communist Prospect" for how it actually talked about tactical maneuvers that may be useful.
"A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats" didn't seem to have much payoff for the length. I appreciated the detailed description of the recent riots in England, but I found something in the analysis lacking (I can't quite put my finger on it right now...). While I paid attention to the actions in England, I never fully comprehended what was occurring, and this piece helped put some of that into perspective.
Overall pretty good, and I look forward to Endnotes 4.
The best piece, by far, is "Spontaneity, Mediation, Rupture," and echoes a number of things I have been thinking recently with relation to how we just keep doing (actions, demos, strikes, whatever, etc.) because there is always the possibility that it will create the rupture/insurrection/revolution.
I also really liked "Logistics, Counterlogistics, and the Communist Prospect" for how it actually talked about tactical maneuvers that may be useful.
"A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats" didn't seem to have much payoff for the length. I appreciated the detailed description of the recent riots in England, but I found something in the analysis lacking (I can't quite put my finger on it right now...). While I paid attention to the actions in England, I never fully comprehended what was occurring, and this piece helped put some of that into perspective.
Overall pretty good, and I look forward to Endnotes 4.
December 7, 2013
I enjoyed this and wish my communist friends would get around to reading it so I can discuss it in more detail. It's at its best when its engaging with specific events i.e. in the discussion of recent British riots, which - as an outsider - seems very grounded, nuanced, and convincing. Chris Chen's article about "race" (quotation marks his) and communism poses its questions in a really smart way even if it can only sort of adumbrate its answers. The gender piece seems by far the weakest in that I can't follow the argument at all (although this goes for essentially all the commentaries on gender from the communisation current). There are reflections throughout (esp in the logistics and spontaneity pieces) on issues of tactics and strategy that you may or may not find interesting or useful but, I think again, at least frame the questions in a useful way.
December 7, 2016
Another interesting collection of essays with some relevant concepts, but ultimately underwhelming.
August 30, 2021
menos consistente que el primero pero los textos sobre género y racismo son crema
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