Sex, Race and Class : the Perspective of Winning : a Selection of Writings, 1952-2011 / Selma James.

In 1972 Selma James set out a new political perspective. Her starting point was the millions of unwaged women who, working in the home and on the land, were not seen as “workers” and their struggles viewed as outside of the class struggle. Based on her political training in the Johnson-Forest Tendency, founded by her late husband C.L.R. James, on movement experience South and North, and on a respectful study of Marx, she redefined the working class to include sectors previously dismissed as “marginal.”

For James, the class struggle presents itself as the conflict between the reproduction and survival of the human race, and the domination of the market with its exploitation, wars, and ecological devastation. She sums up her strategy for change as “Invest in Caring not Killing.”

This selection, spanning six decades, traces the development of this perspective in the course of building an international campaigning network. It includes excerpts from the classic The Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community which launched the “domestic labor debate,” the exciting “Hookers in the House of the Lord” which describes a church occupation by sex workers, an incisive review of the C.L.R. James masterpiece The Black Jacobins, a reappraisal of the novels of Jean Rhys and of the leadership of Julius Nyerere, the groundbreaking “Marx and Feminism,” and more.

The writing is lucid and without jargon. The ideas, never abstract, spring from the experience of organising, from trying to make sense of the successes and the setbacks, and from the need to find a way forward.

Includes bibliographical references.

A grateful preface / Marcus Rediker -- A winning perspective / Nina López -- A women's place (1952) -- Columns from the newspaper 'Correspondence' (1954) -- Aubrey Williams and Wilson Harris (1966) -- Women against the Industrial Relations Act (1971) -- The power of women and the subversion of the community excerpts (1972) -- Women, the unions, and work, or what is not to be done (1972) -- The perspective of winning (1973) -- The family allowance campaign: tactics and strategy (1973) -- Sex, race, and class (1974) -- Wageless of the world (1975) -- Hookers in the house of the Lord (1983) -- Jean Rhys excerpts (1983) -- Marx and feminism (1983) -- The global kitchen excerpts (1985) -- Strangers and sisters: women, race and immigration excerpts (1985) -- The UN decade for women: an offer we couldn't refuse (1986) -- The challenge of diversity: refelctions on a conference (1990) -- Women's unwaged work: the heart of the informal sector (1991) -- The milk of human kindness excerpt (2002) -- Venezuela (2004-2005) -- Sixth global women's strike call (2005) -- Rediscovering Nyerere's Tanzania (2007-2009) -- Interview excerpts (2009) -- Speaking at the U.S. assembly of Jews confrnting racism, and Israeli Apartheid (2010) -- 'Guardian' articles (2010-2011) -- Mumia Abu-Jamal, jailhouse lawyer excerpts (2011) -- Striving for clarity and influence: the political legacy of CLR James (2001-2012).

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