Gender And Theories Of The State Essay

, Research Paper

It can be said that ‘the state’ is a category of abstraction that is too aggregative, too unitary and too unspecific to be of much use in addressing the disaggregated, diverse and specific (or local) sites that must be of most pressing concern to feminists. (Allen 1990)

The difficulty of any theory of ‘the state’ is an obvious one. ‘The state’ is a generalization that is constantly shifting and redefining ‘itself’ and the power paradigms that exist within ‘it’. Therefore, it is difficult to agree on an identifiable spatial and conceptual vision of what ‘the state’ is. Such are some of the obstacles that the many streams of feminism have had to contend with when theorising about ‘the state’. It is conceptually understandable that there are so many diverse and often conflicting theories of state presented by feminism, especially considering not only the heterogeneity of feminism, but also the abstract nature of ‘the state’ and the paradigms of power and its distribution. When comparing and contrasting the different feminist theories of ‘the state’, the following traditional classifications of feminism will be examined: (1) Marxist/socialist feminism which presents theories of state structured within the framework of methods of production, capitalist domination and exploitation of women and existing class structures; (2) liberal feminism, with its quest for equality by not questioning the present power system and working within it to bring “women into full participation with men.” (van Acker 1999); (3) radical feminism and its total rejection of ‘the state’ as a patriarchal collection of institutions that must be overthrown before the liberation of women can be complete; and (4) the post-structural feminism with their efforts to create new discourses that are not essentially ‘male’ or ‘masculine’ through language and the realisation that ‘the state’ is in a constant state of flux that can be changed. How effective these theories are in understanding the power structures within ‘the state’ will revolve around a few questions: how do theories of state affect a people who do not, for all intensive purposes, belong to a ’state’; and is a theory of state for such people important in ways other than attempting to understand race based power structures, with the added variable of gender to contend with. (Yuval-Davis 1997)

If we ignore the problematic nature of ‘the state’, the motivation for developing theories of it becomes important in determining why feminism is spending time considering it. The main motivation stems from the fact that feminist objectives are focused on legal and policy reforms in areas including abortion, rape, domestic violence, and affirmative action, to name a few, and has thus warranted a focus on ‘the state’ as a local super-structure that serves as a forum and enforcer for such reforms. (Allen 1990) What is agreed upon by all feminist state theories is that the state equals power. What that power is, how it is used, how it affects women and how it should consequentially be dealt with all become diverse amongst the different streams.

Marxist/socialist feminist theories of the state were, for a while, the dominant discourse. Within this paradigm, a feminist analysis of social reproduction, the family and gender was “grafted onto an analysis of the capitalist state which was seen as acting predominantly in the interests of preserving the dominant relations and assisting the accumulation of capital.” (Watson 1990) As is true to any Marxist discourse, all of this analysis is historically based, a point which will gain relevancy when the question of: “Is the state patriarchal.” is examined. So, through the naturally occurring exploitation of the working classes in capitalist society by an elite ruling class (i.e. the capitalist class), women, who are largely responsible for (part of) the unpaid reproduction of the labour force, must remain in a marginalised position. As long as women are in a position of little or no power, as per its Marxist definition, then the continuing social reproduction of labour will take place to the advantage of an established capitalist patriarchy. Thus, the state, which is viewed as being masculine as regards to the historically patriarchal characteristics of ruling classes, is seen in the light of not only exploiting the working classes but also oppressing women specifically. Patriarchy, as defined by Heidi Hartmann in her essay ‘The unhappy marriage of Marxism and feminism: towards a more progressive union’, is

a set of social relationships between men, which have a material base, and which, though hierarchical, establish or create interdependence and solidarity among men that enable them to dominate women The material base upon which patriarchy rests lies most fundamentally in men’s control over women’s labour power. (Hartmann 1981)

If this form of patriarchy is accepted, and the state is identified as being a bastion for patriarchy, it becomes clear how the state, class power relationships and gender combine to ensure the dominance of women sexually and as part of the working class. The obvious shortcoming of this specific analysis is that gender quickly becomes subsumed by class politics and class power relations. While this analysis is still legitimate and can be applied to understand many aspects of the power structures that exist within today’s capitalist societies, it al