Socialist Feminism Research Articles

ABSTRACT Globally women are under-represented in entrepreneurship education and training (EET) programmes both in universities and in communities. At the same time, content, delivery and evaluation practices often normalize the ideal male entrepreneur from the Global North, overlooking women or gender diverse entrepreneurs in university and community-based EET programmes. To inform pedagogy, this study poses two questions: 1) What are the challenges that limit the enrolment and participation of gender diverse learners in EET programmes? and 2) What are the indicators that characterize inclusive EET programmes? Drawing on the expertise of entrepreneurship educators from 19 countries, a Delphi panel study (n = 85) was employed to reduce and refine a pool of 35 indicators that characterize gender inclusive EET. Supporting a social feminist perspective, findings identify individual, programme, organization and entrepreneurship education ecosystem challenges for gender inclusive EET. Outcomes and impacts of interventions to inform EET that respond to the learning needs of diverse entrepreneurs, students and other stakeholders are discussed. The implications for practice and research are considered, and a summative model of gender inclusive EET is advanced.

Studies on gender-based violence (GBV) among students in Kenya have focused mostly on the physical and sexual aspects of the violence and have not paid much attention to the psychological aspects and their direct effects on the academic performance of students. This article was specialized to look at the correlation between psychological GBV and the test scores of students in the public secondary schools in Bungoma County. The research design utilized in the study was a correlational research design based on the social feminism theory and the resilience theory to comprehend the impact of emotional abuse, insults, threats, isolation, and intimidation of learners on their academic accomplishment. There was a stratified random sample size of 1,104 students in a population of estimated student age of 15 to 17 years, amounting to about a quarter of a million students in 184 randomly selected secondary schools. Also, 184 guidance and counseling teachers, 3 sub-county directors of education, 13 GBV survivors, and 1 county woman representative were qualitatively sampled through purposive sampling. Collection of data was carried out by use of questionnaires, interviews, and document analysis. Likert-type scales saw into the psychological experiences of GBV, and the internal reliability of instruments was checked through the Cronbach Alpha coefficient. The descriptive and inferential statistics were used (Pearson Product-Moment Correlation and linear regression) to analyze quantitative data, whereas the qualitative data were analyzed on the basis of the themes. The findings showed a weak negative significant correlation between psychological violence and the student grades in internal school tests (r = -.076, p = .037), which meant that in cases of students exposed to emotional and psychological abuse, their performance in internal school exams was degraded. These results were also supported by qualitative data analysis, as the predominant themes identified involved constant experiences of verbal abuse, manipulation, and ostracism by peers and teachers that negatively affected self-esteem and academic motivation of the students. These findings are the testimony of the need to be more attentive to psychological violence in schools, which is one of the risky types of GBV. The study suggests specific recommendations, and they are the provision of adequate psychosocial support, emotional safety training, and inclusive school environments that are responsive and sensitive to emotional harm in students. Addressing psychological GBV, the article also provides stewardship in understanding the premise of educational equity and student well-being, in turn, in advocating the need to move policy and practice to promote safer and more supportive learning environments.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a prevalent challenge in schools across the whole world, and the role it plays in affecting the academic performance of students is getting a lot of consideration. In Kenya, numerous studies have mainly addressed the ill effects of GBV, yet studies that reflect the connection between GBV and academic performance, especially through internal test scores, are scarce. This paper evaluates the policy framework in dealing with GBV among students in public secondary schools in Bungoma County. The main questions tackled by the research included assessing the level of implementation of current policies in schools, establishing obstacles to the implementation of policies, and ascertaining effects of these policies towards the prevention and curbing of GBV. The study was based on social feminism theory and resilience theory, and its methodology was mixed-methods, i.e., both qualitative and quantitative data-collecting techniques were used. Out of the 342 secondary schools, a sample of 184 schools was identified, and a sample of 1,104 students, heads of guidance and counseling, sub-county directors of education, and GBV survivors were interviewed, and all these were included in the study. Questionnaires, interviews, and documents were used in the collection of the information. Quantitative data was submitted to the descriptive and then the inferential statistics; however, the results of the qualitative data were put under the theme analysis. The results indicated that although there are policies provided on how to address the GBV, there were loopholes in the implementation part, mainly in the rural counties like Bungoma County. The misallocation of resources, the absence of proper personnel training, and the inability to report are some of the key concerns. Findings of the research revealed that GBV policies existed but were not adequate, and the systems were not efficient towards assisting the survivors. The paper leaves us with the recommendations as to how it can be better and polished such that the present policy can be improved and made more effective in the process of creating a conducive, supportive educational environment with less bullying, etc. The paper highlights how it can support all students, including methods such as the implementation of safe reporting systems and increasing the level of training for the staff and the way the community can be included in making better policy.

This article analyzes Gadis Pantai (The Girl from the Coast) by Pramoedya Ananta Toer through a socialist feminist approach to uncover the forms of gender oppression embedded in the feudal social structure of early 20th-century in Java. Feudalism in The Girl from the Coast is portrayed as a system that freezes class and gender identity. It erases a woman's name, agency, and dignity in order to preserve the elite’s status quo. Bendoro positions the Girl from the Coast as a symbol of status rather than an equal partner. The Girl from the Coast serves as a vivid example of female resistance, even within constraints. Male dominance in the novel constructs a narrative that suppresses women's agency. The story illustrates how the institution of marriage can become a form of symbolic violence. Pramoedya gives voice to women who have long been silenced by social systems. The Girl from the Coast stands as a witness to how tradition can perpetuate subordination. Pramoedya not only critiques this feudal system, but also lays the foundation for reinterpreting the role of women within modern social structures. The protagonist, a young woman from a fishing community, is coerced into marriage with a Javanese aristocrat as a “trial wife,” reflecting the interwoven realities of patriarchy and class hierarchy. This study reveals that symbolic and social forms of violence depicted in the novel not only reinforce female subordination but also carve out space for symbolic resistance through the character’s emergence of self-awareness. By synthesizing feminist theory from Simone de Beauvoir and the patriarchy-class framework of Rosemarie Tong and Kate Millett, this article proposes that Gadis Pantai stands as an emancipatory narrative, remaining highly relevant for understanding gendered power relations in contemporary society.

Ancient Greek drama often reflects a patriarchal social structure that places women in a subordinate position. However, in Euripides' works, especially the play Medea, there is a complex representation of women that goes against the social norms of the time. This phenomenon is interesting to analyze in the context of feminism. This study aims to explore the representation of feminist values in drama of Medea, in this drama to understand how the female character, Medea, in these works shows a rebellious attitude towards patriarchal norms. This research uses a qualitative approach with descriptive analysis method. The primary data source is Euripides' play Medea, while feminism theory is used as an analytical framework to interpret Medea's role and attitude. In Medea's play, the main characters show strong feminist values, especially Radical feminism which is mostly shown by Medea (40%), cultural feminism (20%), Intersectional feminism (15%), socialist feminism (10%), liberal feminism (10%), anarchist feminism (5%). The findings show that Euripides progressively portrays women not only as passive figures, but also as active subjects capable of thinking, feeling, and acting against oppressive norms. The character of Medea in particular reflects the strength of women in the face of betrayal and abandonment, while raising feminist issues that are relevant today. Euripides' work, through this approach, can be read as a reflection of the early awareness of women's struggles in a patriarchal societyMedea's role and attitude. In Medea's play, the main characters show strong feminist values, especially Radical feminism which is mostly shown by Medea (40%), cultural feminism(20%), Intersectional feminism (15%), socialist feminism (10%), liberal feminism(10%), anarchist feminism (5%). The findings show that Euripides progressively portrays women not onlyaspassive figures, but also as active subjects capable of thinking, feeling, and actingagainstoppressive norms. The character of Medea in particular reflects the strength of women inthefaceof betrayal and abandonment, while raising feminist issues that are relevant today. Euripides' work, through this approach, can be read as a reflection of the early awareness of women'sstruggles in a patriarchal society

Through the lenses of socialist feminism and the qualitative paradigm, the study investigated the salient gendered social norms that perpetuate girl-child marriages in the Save part of Chiredzi district. A sample of 11 matriarchal leaders and 3 key informants were interviewed to elicit data, which were then analysed using the thematic analysis methodology. The findings recognized the role of socialization in passing cultural norms from one generation to another through matriarchal leaders in the families. These matriarchs were also responsible for facilitating the Khomba rites, an initiation process that prepares girls for marriage at an early age, leading to child marriage. Again, the community had clear gender roles that confined married women to domestic duties, thereby trivializing the acquisition of education. As a result, girls dropped out of school to marry as their educational aspirations were sacrificed. The study recommends a multi-stakeholder-oriented programming to address the cultural and systemic thinking patterns that have worked as a breeding ground for the violations of girls through child marriages. This will ensure a paradigm shift towards embracing cultural rights that honor and safeguard girls’ rights.

The research discusses the experiences of Pakistani women journalists in dealing with gendered disinformation, cyber intimidation, and institutional disregard in online media. Guided by social feminism and intersectionality theory, the research relies on qualitative interviews with a sample of seven Pakistani women journalists. The findings show how patriarchal frameworks and intersecting identities such as gender, religion, and class influence the form and severity of online abuse. Participants described being attacked using misogynist discourses, shaming of bodies, and campaigns of professional discrediting, with the purpose of silencing and exclusion of women in journalism. Online abuse comprised doxxing, cyberbullying, and religious targeting of Muslim and non-Muslim journalists, reinforcing cultural and moral expectations being imposed on women. The attacks were not contained to the online arena, but resulted in psychological distress, self-censorship, and disrupted family life. Media organisations and legal frameworks often offered symbolic rather than substantive responses to online abuse. The study underscores the urgent need for collective policy action and institutional reform to address the systemic vulnerabilities faced by Pakistani female journalists. It advances global discourse on digital gender-based violence and supports UNSDG 5 by promoting inclusive media, safety measures, and women’s representation in journalism.

Feminist literary criticism is one of the literary criticisms that seeks to describe and examine women's experiences in various literary works. This study aims to describe women's struggles in facing gender injustice and seeking freedom in a patriarchal society. The main character, who is a woman, shows courage and determination in the face of social norms that limit her role and rights as a female individual. There is this study the author uses a structural approach. The structural approach aims to explain as carefully as possible the functions and relationships between literary works and show the relationship between these elements. The research used in this study is a qualitative descriptive method. The data in this study is in the form of feminist literary criticism in a short story entitled Tear Picker by Agus Noor, which is contained in a collection of short stories by Agus Noor. Conclusion: 1) in a short story Pemetik Air Mata by Agus Noor which tells how women are treated, where lies the self-esteem of a woman who should get a decent life not only limited to satisfying the needs of men. 2) there are three schools of feminism contained in Agus Noor's short story Pemetik Air Mata, namely Social Feminism, Marxist Feminism, and Social Liberal.

The glass ceiling phenomenon is an invisible barrier that limits women in achieving leadership positions, including in the accounting profession. Although women's participation in the workforce has increased, they still face gender bias, social stereotypes, discrimination based on preferences, and dual role pressures. This study aims to examine in more depth the causes and impacts of the glass ceiling phenomenon in the accounting profession through a cross-continental literature study approach. Using Gender Role Theory, it was found that social norms attached to women's traditional roles contribute greatly to negative perceptions of their leadership abilities. Meanwhile, the theory of Socialist Feminism explains that gender inequality in the workplace is the result of a system of capitalism and patriarchy that limits women's access to power and strategic positions. The discussion in this article shows that in various regions, including Africa, Asia, Europe, and America, patriarchal organizational structures and cultures are still the main barriers to women's career advancement. These results emphasize that the glass ceiling is not an individual obstacle, but a systemic phenomenon that needs to be addressed through inclusive policies, structural organizational reforms, and more gender-equitable social awareness.

The drama Woman Talking has many feminist values can be found, especially about gender equality, women’s freedom, and moving away from patriarchy. The values shown in this film are already being practiced today, where women and men are seen as equals in terms of rights and opportunities. These important ideas inspire writers to explore them more deeply, aiming to raise awareness among men so they do not look down on women. This study aims to examine the representation of feminism in Women Talking, a drama directed by Sarah Polley. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, this research analyzes the film’s narrative and dialogue to explore how the women fight for bodily autonomy, voice, and the freedom to choose their own paths. The results indicate that Women Talking has five of six types of feminism theory, which the liberal feminism is the largest one with 39%, and then radical feminism 32%, traditional marxist feminism 16%, socialist feminism 12%, and the last is postmodern feminism 6%. This drama has no dialog that talking about critical race feminisim. The findings show that Women Talking is not only a space for the expression of voices long silenced, but also a quiet yet powerful form of collective resistance against systemic oppression.

This article analyses the representation of women in two popular advertisements, "Lux – Isyana Sarasvati" and "Pantene – Labels Against Women", through the lens of socialist feminist theory. The study focuses on the portrayal of women's roles, identities, and societal expectations within these advertisements, as well as the messages conveyed regarding gender construction. The application of socialist feminist theory aims to examine the role of advertising in either reinforcing or challenging traditional stereotypes about women through its connection to social, economic, and power structures. The "Lux – Isyana Sarasvati" advertisement emphasizes the image of a beautiful and graceful woman as a symbol of social status, whereas "Pantene – Labels Against Women" raises awareness of gender-based discrimination by critiquing the social labels attached to women. The analysis reveals that although both advertisements attempt to promote a positive image of women, they remain entangled within capitalist narratives that commodify women's bodies and identities. This article also underscores the need for a more critical and progressive approach to the portrayal of women in advertising media, one that better reflects women’s social roles in an equitable and empowering manner.

Abstract: In the 1930s, the Communist Party of Costa Rica (PCCR), also known as the Bloque de Obreros y Campesinos (BOC), paved the way for the first massive victories for workers, including women, a population often overlooked within Costa Rica's early twentieth century historiography, especially its feminist labor history. In this article, I argue that Costa Rican women, particularly schoolteachers, were influential figures in the formative years of Costa Rica's first communist party. Moreover, by focusing on the political and literary contributions of Carmen Lyra and Luisa González, I argue that it was militant communist women—building from what I call an inconspicuous "socialist feminist" lens—who influenced the PCCR's political program on women's and children's rights, making it one of the first political parties in Central America to explicitly develop a stance and platform around these issues. They did this by challenging and critiquing traditionally "taboo" issues around gender, sexuality, and reproductive rights, including engaging debates around prostitution, child labor, gender roles, abortion, traditional bourgeois family structures and dynamics, education, and women's suffrage. The groundbreaking organizing of these militant communist women, inspired by their socialist feminist values, was fundamental to the trajectory of the first communist party of Costa Rica.

Gendered Socialist Feminist Disparities in Earnings as a Factor Undermining Achieving SDG 5: A Case of World Vision eSwatini

There has been an increase in the number of businesses owned by women, however most women businesses are stuck in micro and small levels failing to scale up to medium sized or large enterprises. The objective of the study was to determine the Effects of knowledge and skills on the growth of small-scale women owned businesses in Awendo sub county, Migori county Kenya. The study was supported by Marxist and socialist feminism theory by Karl Marx and human capital theory. The study employed a cross-sectional survey and was purely qualitative study. The study targeted 364 registered women businesses at Awendo Municipality. The sampling frame was created by employing purposive sampling techniques. This study utilized an interview guide enhanced by direct observation to collect the required qualitative data. The focus group discussions were used in the study and comprised of a minimum of 4 groups. The study adopted the content analysis approach to analyses data. The study sought to collect data from 110 respondents. From the samples participants 92 respondents took part in the study. This represented a response rate of 83.63%. Bryman and Bell (2014) contend that a response rate of at least 50% to a research instrument is satisfactory to proceed with statistical analyses; a rate of 60% is good enough and 70% is excellent. From the data collected, the inadequate knowledge by the women entrepreneurs hindered the growth and their expansion of the businesses. The study recommended that the policy makers at both County and National level need to institute proper policies that support small-scale businesses and more so those operated by women. The study also recommends that the government needs to facilitate and encourage training and awareness campaigns on entrepreneurship and digital innovation for rural development at Awendo sub-County and other Counties.

Literary criticism is the science of literature that studies, examines, considers, and assesses the strengths, weaknesses, and merits of a literary work. Literary works are created as the author's statement to others. The values in literary works are realized in the minds of readers through experiences and ways of thinking, including idealism. In this study, researchers are interested in analyzing deixis in the novel "Si Pucuk Kalumpang" by using data collection techniques in the form of observation and documentation. Feminist Literature In the story "Si Pucuk Kalumpang" tells how a mother tries to defend her child, and how women who are often considered weak, become very strong and tough characters like men. There are three streams of feminism found in the story Pemeksi Air Mata by Agus Noor, namely social feminism, marxist feminism, and social liberal streams

ABSTRACTBased on social feminist theory, post‐structural feminism and gender‐role orientation (GRO) (masculinity, femininity and androgyny), the aim of this research is to study the entrepreneurial process through the lenses of both biological sex and socially constructed gender, in order to disentangle their effects and to shed new light on the process. Secondly, we aim to push forward the research on the early‐stage entrepreneurial process by going beyond entrepreneurial intention. We achieve this by including the entrepreneurial implementation intention construct as an important intermediate step between intention and actual action, thus filling the intention–action gap. We propose a model of the entrepreneurial process consisting of four ordered elements, namely: general risk propensity, entrepreneurial self‐efficacy, entrepreneurial intention, and entrepreneurial implementation intention. In order to verify the model and to investigate the influence of gender‐role orientations on each of the model's constituents, we employ structural equation modeling. Additionally, we use multigroup analysis to compare males and females. This is done on a group of more than 670 students from Polish and Latvian technical universities. Our research empirically confirms the proposed model of the entrepreneurial process. Biological sex influences risk propensity and entrepreneurial intention while having no impact on entrepreneurial self‐efficacy and entrepreneurial implementation intention. Using GRO provides more insight as we observe that among all individuals masculine GRO reinforces all elements of the entrepreneurial process, whereas feminine GRO does not, with the exception of perceived risk propensity, but only among females. Finally, androgynous GRO has the most varied effect out of all three GROs. Both theoretical approaches explain the lower entrepreneurial intentions of women, which are due to early socialization and experiences shaping social gender, as well as the attribution of entrepreneurship to the male sphere of activity. Finally, our study shows that using both biological sex and social gender concurrently provides more insights.

ABSTRACT This article explores Afro-Panamanian feminist and communist Felicia Santizo (1893–1965) and the connections she forged with the Eastern Bloc – aligned Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF) in the 1950s and 1960s. After attending a 1952 WIDF conference in Vienna and traveling to Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union on a WIDF-sponsored tour, Santizo founded a WIDF-affiliated women’s organization in her home country. The ties Santizo maintained with WIDF members from Eastern Europe, especially Czechoslovakia, helped her boost leftist women’s organizing in Panama, despite anti-communist repression. As repression increased, Santizo turned to cultural activism by researching and promoting the African-diasporic dance and carnival tradition of the congo, which served the communist celebration of proletarian culture but was perceived as less political and threatening by Panamanian officials. The article situates Santizo and her feminist, anti-imperialist, anti-racist, and labor activism within a transnational feminist network between WIDF and Latin American and Caribbean women. Santizo’s mentees in Panama went on to lead protest and feminist movements in the 1960s and 1970s, and she spent the last years of her life in post-revolutionary Cuba. Santizo and her WIDF-linked activism bridge the “old” and “new left” and illuminate socialist feminist solidarities between the Eastern Bloc and Global South in the long Global Sixties.

This paper argues that some women in Cairo, Egypt are part of a feminist ‘social nonmovement’ that predates the 2011 revolution, where they ‘make scenes’, i.e. commit acts of everyday feminist resistance, by defying patriarchal control over their bodies and behavior in public space independently from one another, spurred by patriarchal oppression for most, and participation in the revolution for some. Through interviews with twelve Cairene women in 2017, I investigate how and why they defy the social norms governing women’s use of public spaces and investigate the role of the 2011 revolution in their different forms of feminist defiance. I analyze three acts of public feminist resistance: women removing the hijab, defying street harassment, and moving out of their parents’ and husbands’ homes. My findings contribute to the literature on recent Egyptian women’s feminist resistance specifically, and everyday resistance studies in general. Only a quarter of my participants identify the revolution as the main reason for their feminist epiphany and resistance.

Feminism has long been concerned with the role of the state in facilitating the oppression of women on the one hand and mitigating this oppression on the other. Though much has been written on the function, effects and possibilities of the liberal welfare state, the same volume of study has not been devoted to more positive proposals about the role of the state as such. Discussion of positive proposals for state politics has not been entirely absent, but the discourse in feminist theory has been disproportionately focused on the critique of the liberal welfare state as an instrument of gender and family enforcement (i.e. social control) or, alternatively, on a defence of the welfare state, even with its potentially repressive dynamics, against right-wing austerity measures. In this article, these two views of the welfare state are examined through, first, socialist feminist critiques and, second, the criticism of and proposals for welfare by feminist care ethicists. I juxtapose these positions to show how debates about the welfare state are shaped by unspoken and potentially self-undermining assumptions about state power, planned economies and state provision. As an alternative, I counterpose the understudied thought of Marxist feminist Alexandra Kollontai, and, specifically, her model of universal state provision and the socialisation of care. I argue that Kollontai's account of the socialisation of care resolves not only the criticisms directed at capitalist welfare states but also those which have deterred feminist consideration of state planning as a means of gender liberation.

The main drivers of women's entrepreneurship span from entrepreneurial framework conditions, socio-cultural influences, gender-specific challenges, and economic contributions to innovation and sustainability. This paper examines the effects of the above elements on growth, resilience, and sustainability in women-owned enterprises through a thematic analysis of empirical studies that investigate how these different aspects have influenced the development of women-owned enterprises. Some findings also show that women entrepreneurs face specific obstacles in establishing and sustaining enterprises, scaled by constraints in accessing finance, induced biases by gender conditions, and inadequacy in managerial training. However, supportive socio-cultural dynamics, the adoption of digital technologies, and targeted policy frameworks have been imperative to foster entrepreneurial success. This study takes cognizance of the role played by women entrepreneurs from an economic and social perspective. This role was targeted to reduce poverty and enhance community development to strategically achieve both Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1-(Poverty Reduction) and SDG 8-(Economic Growth). The theoretical framework for the study is ‘social feminist theory’, which postulates that patriarchal structures in society are one of the avenues for unequal distribution of resources, power, and decision-making, thus shaping the female gender's actions in entrepreneurship. The policy recommendations for this study include identifying enhanced financial access, and digital transformation among others.