Class reductionism-bell hooks (edited)

https://www.reddit.com/r/feminisms/comments/1iblfj9/class_reductionismbell_hooks_edited/

created by Eceapnefil on 27/01/2025 at 22:00 UTC

6 upvotes, 2 top-level comments (showing 2)

This post is about class reductionism taken from *Feminism is for everybody* but I replaced certain words with one that makes sense in terms of intersectionality v class reductionism. The original quote is about black women bringing up race and white women being upset about it but I replace that context.

"*In those days class reductionists who were unwilling to face the reality of racism and racial difference accused us of being traitors by introducing race. Wrongly they saw us as deflecting focus away from gender. In reality, we were demanding that we look at the status of race, gender, sexuality, and disability realistically, and that realistic understanding serve as the foundation for a real revolutionary politic. Our intent was not to diminish the vision of revolutionaries. We sought to put in place a concrete politics of solidarity that would make genuine revolution possible. We knew that there could be no real solidarity between class reductionism and intersectionality if class reductionists were not able to divest of white supremacy, patriarchy, homophobia, ableism, etc, if the socialist movement was not fundamentally anti-hate.*

Critical interventions around race did not destroy the socialist movement; it became stronger. Breaking through denial about race helped everyone face the reality of difference on all levels. And we were finally putting in place a movement that did not place the class interests of privileged socialists, especially white socialists, over that of all other socialists. We put in place a vision of solidarity where all realities could be spoken for.*

For years I witnessed the reluctance of white socialist thinkers to acknowledge the importance of race. I witnessed their refusal to divest of white supremacy, and their unwillingness to acknowledge that an anti-racist socialist movement was the only political foundation that would make revolution a reality. And I witnessed the revolution in consciousness that occurred as individual socialists began to break free in denial, to break free of white supremacist, patriarchal thinking. These awesome changes restore my faith in socialist movements and strengthen the solidarity I feel towards all women*."

Class reductionism-bell hooks (edited)

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