Wages for Housework The New York Committee 1972–1977: History, Theory, Documents

Throughout the 1970s, the Wages for Housework movement developed an analysis of women’s reproductive labor, “housework” broadly conceived, as a primary site for mobilization. Silvia Federici was a cofounder of the movement, working within the New York Wages for Housework Committee from 1972 to 1977. Here Federici draws from her personal archive to present the movement through its original documents: notes on discussion sessions, pamphlets, flyers, essays, songs and speeches. What emerges is a portrait of a living struggle, as relevant in our age of austerity as ever, grappling with the question of what is to be done to put an end to the massive quantities of unwaged labor steadily expanding the wealth of the capitalist class while condemning millions to impoverishment and endless work?

“Rosie the Riveter had been sent home until she rose up in the feminist and welfare struggles of the capitalist crisis of the 1970s. Undefeated, Rosie took her new conditions of exploitation—the home—as the basis of the fight against patriarchy, capitalism, and the state. Here are the primary sources of that struggle. Between theory and practice lies the leaflet and the pamphlet... Between good ideas on the page and actual deeds in the street lies the slogan, and here they are: ‘Capitalist work cannot liberate us, only the struggle can.’ ‘Class struggle and feminism are one and the same.’ ‘The family is a colony.’ ‘Our uterus is the wheel that keeps capital moving.’ ‘Heterosexuality is a fundamental condition of house-work.’ ‘Prostitution is socialized housework.’ Nothing bougie here whatsoever.” —Peter Linebaugh

“Silvia Federici has given us a precious gift in making these materials available for future generations. Included in the work of reproduction is the transmission of theoretical knowledge and practical political experience; in publishing these texts, Silvia Federici has worked with the greatest generosity.” —Mariarosa Dalla Costa