The Plight, Struggle and Liberation of Women

The name of Alexandra Kollontai is synonymous with advancing theory and practice with regard to women's role in the revolutionary socialist movement. The life she gives to that half of the population which was most plundered by capital, bound to the home by patriarchal standards and an appendage of her spouse, who she relied upon for everything. By the time of the first work here, 1907, poor women were forced to work and be home-makers simultaneously, and the opportunity for their participation in the working class movement opened up as a result. No longer could they be neglected and used as a barrier to communism, as the bourgeoisie had used them, and no longer could they avoid coming into contact with the will for a new society. These works tell the story of the plight experienced by women, the drudgery in their homes and endless toil in the workshop, forced to abandon children and enter into such anti-social vices as prostitution to break even. It tells the story of their struggle for emancipation, how the women of heroic October moulded a destiny in their own image where they would be free from the bondage of exploitative society. It tells the story of their liberation, their life in socialism no longer worrying about poverty or unemployment, a society of love and comradeship, equality between men and women. A hundred years after many of these works, their words are still relevant -- capitalism has changed only its face but not its essence. How do we deal with this problem, what is the role of women in the historic mission of the proletariat to overthrow the bourgeoisie and build socialist and communist society? The answers to these vital questions can be found in these works.