WOMEN'S STUDIES TITLES FROM PATHFINDER PRESS
Pathfinder Press
410 West Street
New York, NY
fax for orders: 212/727-0150
Information provided by:
Doug Hord
Pathfinder New England rep
dhord@world.std.com
WOMAN'S EVOLUTION
>From Matriarchal Clan To Patriarchal Family
Evelyn Reed takes us on an expedition through prehistory from
cannibalism to culture -- and uncovers the world of the ancient matriarchy.
Tracing the origins of the "incest taboo," blood rites, marriage, and the
family, she reveals women's leading and still largely unknown
contributions to the development of civilization. By pinpointing the
relatively recent factors that led to pervasive discrimination against
women as a sex, she offers fresh insights on the struggle against
women's oppression and for the liberation of humanity. Reed refutes the
myth that "human nature" is to blame for the wars, greed, and inequalities
of class-divided societies. 491 pp., introduction, glossary, bibliography,
index, 8th printing.
cloth $65.00 ISBN 0873484215
paper $22.95 ISBN 0873484223
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COSMETICS, FASHIONS, AND THE EXPLOITATION OF WOMEN
-- How do the wealthy owners of the cosmetics and fashion industries play
on women's insecurities to sell products and rake in profits?
-- How are the standards of beauty determined in capitalist society?
-- Why do the employers, the media, the government, school
administrations, and church hierarchies promote "the feminine mystique"
and narrow women's "role" to family responsibilities?
-- How has the growing participation of women in the labor force changed
their view of themselves and their potential? How has it affected the
attitudes of men toward women?
-- What does all this say about the relationship between the capitalist
system and the oppression of women?
These are some of the questions addressed in a lively debate over the
relation of the marketing of cosmetics and fashions to the exploitation of
women. The controversy was sparked by Joseph Hansen's short expose
of the cosmetics industry in the Militant, a socialist newsweekly, in 1954.
Included are other articles from that debate discussing the pressures
bearing down on women -- and men -- in capitalist society, especially
during periods of political reaction or retreat, and a related article by
Evelyn Reed on the origins of the family and women's oppression. The
introduction by Mary-Alice Waters places the "cosmetics controversy" in
its historical framework. She assesses the political consequences of
changes in women's social conditions since World War II, especially their
increasing incorporation into industrial jobs and trade unions.
138 pp., introduction, notes, index, 4th printing
Cloth $40.00 ISBN 0873486587
Paper $12.95 ISBN 0873486595
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SEXISM AND SCIENCE
-- Are human beings innately aggressive? Are they governed by
irrepressible, unmodified, inherited instincts?
-- Is human society nothing but an extension of animal and insect
"societies," as sociobiologists argue?
-- Does biology determine women's destiny as the "second sex"?
Taking up these and other prejudices cloaked as the findings of science,
Evelyn Reed explains that the disciplines closest to human life --
anthropology, biology, and sociology -- are permeated with antiwoman
biases that reflect the established social order and warp their
conclusions. 193 pp., photos, introduction, glossary, bibliography, index,
4th printing
Cloth $45.00 ISBN 0873485408
Paper $15.95 ISBN 0873485416
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PROBLEMS OF WOMEN'S LIBERATION
-- Why are women oppressed?
-- How did that oppression begin?
-- Why are opponents of women's rights so determined to perpetuate laws
and customs that deny women an equal role in society? Who benefits?
-- What social forces have the power to end the second-class status of
women, and have common interests in the fight for women's liberation?
Evelyn Reed explores the social and economic roots of women's
oppression from prehistoric society to modern capitalism and points the
road forward to emancipation. She traces the original forms and
institutions of private property, how they arose, and their consequences
for women. She explains why the oppression of women is a manifestation
of specific property relations, not sex relations. In refuting the myth of
women's inferiority, Reed points the road forward to emancipation. 131
pp., 6th printing
Cloth $30.00 ISBN 0873481666
Paper $12.95 ISBN 0873481674
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THE ORIGIN OF THE FAMILY, PRIVATE PROPERTY, AND THE STATE
The family, private property, and the state -- the basic institutions of
capitalist society -- are neither "natural" nor everlasting. They are the
product of specific economic and social conditions. Frederick Engels, a
founder with Karl Marx of the modern workers' movement, traces the
evolution of these institutions from the dawn of class society until today.
He shows how the oppression of women as a sex begins with the
development of private property, and how the development of the modern
working class creates the material basis to end that oppression.
This edition of Engels' pioneering work includes an introduction by Evelyn
Reed, author of Woman's Evolution.
240 pp., introduction, index, 8th printing
Paper only $16.95 ISBN 0873482611
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WOMEN AND THE FAMILY
Leon Trotsky. How the October 1917 Russian revolution, the first
victorious socialist revolution, opened the door to new possibilities in the
fight for women's liberation. 78 pp., introduction, notes, 5th printing
Paper only $9.95 ISBN 0873482182
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WOMEN AND THE CUBAN REVOLUTION
Speeches and Documents by Fidel Castro, Vilma Espin, and others
Before the revolution came to power in 1959, the situation facing Cuban
women was a dismal one. Illiteracy, unemployment, racism, and
exploitation all bore down particularly heavily on women. Machismo was
in full force and it was generally believed that a woman's place was in the
home.
Today, over twenty years later, the status of Cuban women has
changed dramatically. Big advances have been made in education,
health care, and improving the quality of life. Legal discrimination on the
basis of sex has ended and women are playing a more and more
important role in society. Hundreds of thousands have joined the work
force, occupying many jobs previously reserved for men only. Old ideas
and prejudices are being broken down and the question of winning
women's full equality is a major topic of discussion.
This book recounts women's changing role in Cuba since the revolution:
the measures taken, the gains made, and the problems that still remain.
It includes speeches on the subject by Fidel Castro and women's
federation leader Vilma Espin. Also contained are several important
documents: the 1975 "Thesis on the Full Exercise of Women's Equality"
from the First Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, the Maternity
Law for Working Women, and major excerpts from the Cuban Family
Code. An introduction by Elizabeth Stone, managing editor of Pathfinder
Press, summarizes the historical context of the struggle for women's
equality in Cuba and points out its relevance for women in the United
States. 156 pp., introduction, photos, appendixes, index, 3rd printing
Cloth $40.00 ISBN 0873486072
Paper $13.95 ISBN 0873486080
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MOTHER JONES SPEAKS
Speeches and Writings of a Working-Class Fighter
Edited by Philip S. Foner.
--"I know of no East or West, North nor South when it comes to my class
fighting the battle for justice."
Declaring "I reside wherever the workers are fighting the robber," she
participated in battle together with coal miners in West Virginia, garment
workers in New York, steelworkers in Chicago, streetcar workers in
Texas, brewery workers in Milwaukee, and countless others. For her
activities she was frequently victimized by the bosses' system of justice,
and spent time in many a prison cell. A prosecutor in West Virginia
termed her "the most dangerous woman in America."
This collection, edited by historian Philip Foner, includes her speeches,
interviews, letters, and testimony to congressional committees. 724 pp.,
introduction, chronology, bibliography, index
Cloth $70.00 ISBN 0913460885
Paper $28.95 ISBN 0913460893
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WOMEN IN CHINA
Katie Curtin. Describes the steps forward and the big obstacles in
women's struggle for emancipation in China from the late 1800's to the
closing years of Mao's rule.
95 pp., notes, 3rd printing
Cloth $30.00 ISBN 0873484045
Paper $9.95 ISBN 0873484053
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WOMEN'S LIBERATION AND THE AFRICAN FREEDOM STRUGGLE
Thomas Sankara. "There is no true social revolution without the
liberation of women. The struggle of the Burkinabe woman is part of a
worldwide struggle of all women, and beyond that, part of the struggle for
the rehabilitation of our continent," explains the leader of the 1983-87
revolution in Burkina Faso. 36 pp.
Booklet $3.00 ISBN 0873485858
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IS BIOLOGY WOMAN'S DESTINY?
Evelyn Reed. The roots of women's oppression as a "second sex". 31
pp., 2nd edition, 2nd printing
Booklet $3.00 ISBN 0873482581
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COMMUNIST CONTINUITY AND THE FIGHT FOR WOMEN'S
LIBERATION
Documents of the Socialist Workers Party 1971-1986
Edited with an introduction by Mary-Alice Waters. How did the
oppression of women begin? Who benefits? What social forces have the
power to end the second-class status of women and have common
interests in the fight for women's liberation? This three-part series makes
available documents, reports, and resolutions of the Socialist Workers
Party that will help the generation of women and men now joining battle in
defense of women's rights find answers to these and similar questions. 3
vols., 226 pp., introduction, 8 1/2 x 11 format
Part 1: Women's Liberation and the Line of March of the Working Class
73 pp., $10.00 ISBN 0873487559
Part 2: Women, Leadership, and the Proletarian Norms of the Communist
Movement 68 pp., $9.00 ISBN 0873487567
Part 3: Abortion Rights, the ERA, and the Rebirth of a Feminist Movement
85 pp., $11.00 ISBN 0873487575
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FEMINISM AND THE MARXIST MOVEMENT
Mary-Alice Waters. Since the founding of the modern revolutionary
workers' movement nearly 150 years ago, Marxists have championed the
struggle for women's rights and spotlighted the economic roots of
women's oppression. 43 pp., 4th printing
Booklet $3.00 ISBN 0873482417
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ABORTION IS A WOMAN'S RIGHT
Pat Grogan and others. Why abortion rights are key to the fight for the
full emancipation of women. 44 pp., 2nd printing
Booklet $3.00 ISBN 0873484851
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SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD, WOMEN'S RIGHTS, AND THE
WORKING CLASS
Cindy Jaquith. Examines how "surrogate mother" contracts exploit
children and women; rights and responsibilities in child raising; and how
these questions relate to the working-class struggle for economic justice
and social progress. 23 pp.,
Booklet $2.50 ISBN 0873484959
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WOMEN AND THE NICARAGUAN REVOLUTION
Thomas Borge. The effort, in the early years of the Nicaraguan
revolution, to lead, organize, and educate in the fight for women's rights.
30 pp., 4th printing
Booklet $2.50 ISBN 087348388X
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WOMEN AND THE SOCIALIST REVOLUTION
Mary-Alice Waters explains how and why the fight to transform the social
and economic status of women is part of the struggle for socialism. 30
pp., 3d printing
Booklet $3.00 ISBN 087348388x
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REVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS OF WOMEN'S LIBERATION
George Novack. Explains why only a thorough-going reorganization of
the entire social system -- from the economic foundations to family
relations -- can eradicate the causes of women's inferior status. 22 pp.,
2nd printing
Booklet $2.00 ISBN 0873481208