Wages for Housework: The New York Committee 1972–1977; History, Theory, Documents

by Silvia Federici, Arlen Austin (Editor)

Throughout the 1970s, the Wages for Housework movement developed an analysis of women’s reproductive labor, “housework” broadly conceived, as a primary site for mobilization. Silvia Federici was a cofounder of the movement, working within the New York Wages for Housework Committee from 1972 to 1977. Here Federici draws from her personal archive to present the movement through its original documents: notes on discussion sessions, pamphlets, flyers, essays, songs and speeches. What emerges is a portrait of a living struggle, as relevant in our age of austerity as ever, grappling with the question of what is to be done to put an end to the massive quantities of unwaged labor steadily expanding the wealth of the capitalist class while condemning millions to impoverishment and endless work?
“Rosie the Riveter had been sent home until she rose up in the feminist and welfare struggles of the capitalist crisis of the 1970s. Undefeated, Rosie took her new conditions of exploitation—the home—as the basis of the fight against patriarchy, capitalism, and the state. Here are the primary sources of that struggle. Between theory and practice lies the leaflet and the pamphlet... Between good ideas on the page and actual deeds in the street lies the slogan, and here they are: ‘Capitalist work cannot liberate us, only the struggle can.’ ‘Class struggle and feminism are one and the same.’ ‘The family is a colony.’ ‘Our uterus is the wheel that keeps capital moving.’ ‘Heterosexuality is a fundamental condition of house-work.’ ‘Prostitution is socialized housework.’ Nothing bougie here whatsoever.” —Peter Linebaugh

“Silvia Federici has given us a precious gift in making these materials available for future generations. Included in the work of reproduction is the transmission of theoretical knowledge and practical political experience; in publishing these texts, Silvia Federici has worked with the greatest generosity.” —Mariarosa Dalla Costa

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, History, Gender

280 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2017

About the author

Silvia Federici is an Italian and American scholar, teacher, and activist from the radical autonomist feminist Marxist and anarchist tradition. She is a professor emerita and Teaching Fellow at Hofstra University, where she was a social science professor. She worked as a teacher in Nigeria for many years, is also the co-founder of the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa, and is a member of the Midnight Notes Collective.

Reviews

[Sarah Jaffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

We need more collections like this one--combining theoretical documents with records of organizing practices, flyers, pamphlets, internal strategic planning and more. Also, so many of the arguments that we're still figuring out how to make today, Federici and her comrades were making in the 1970s. Full review forthcoming in a proper publication.

[Gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We are seen as nagging bitches, not workers in struggle.”

[Pearl Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

“our faces have become distorted from so much smiling, our feelings have got lost from so much loving, our over sexualisation has left us completely desexualised”

[Mina-Louise]

From Libby.

[Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this 8 page paper for class and i just wanna read it all over again. holy. silvia's writing is able to convey SO much about the essence of the female experience in the institution of the home and body and especially because of the way women have been socialization to exist in those intimate, domesticated, and sexualized spaces. i'm so happy i was able to stumble upon this paper. it was a pleasure to read this short piece. the transition from expressing the concerns with home labor and the associations of labor with love and worthiness from a female perspective to problematizing the core values of our capitalist society and how it has socialized women and society's perception of the "womanly" gave this tone of genuine and raw emotions that i deeply resonated with. silvia isn't being idealistic about what should or shouldn't happen to women and their jobs at home. the point of the work isn't to even debate how much a woman's labour at home is worth. BUT HER ABILITY to use wages for housework as a framework to populate all her feelings and perspectives was chef's kiss.

it doesn't matter who you are, we should all at one point be exposed to bold, powerful writings like silvia's.