I think for us, that actually is not the last frontier for ordinary and working class women. The idea that the last frontier for women to challenge are these glass ceilings that block the ascension of women in electoral politics or in corporate America. Part of the reaction is against the prevailing notion of “Lean-in Feminism” which has been a popular idea, most notably in support of Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president. KYT: I think part of what we were reacting to-there are a couple of things. Can you talk a little bit about what that means? SJ: The call to strike that you co-authored talks about building a feminism for the 99%. The strike is about drawing attention to women's work in the political and, I would say, social economy of the United States. The strike is about highlighting the ways that “women’s labor” is at times unseen, undervalued, underpaid.

'Feminism for the 99% is about rejecting that idea that women are only or primarily concerned with their role in the elite male world,' Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Assistant Professor at Princeton University. The strike is about drawing attention to that by, in effect, extracting those many different manifestations of women’s labor on March 8th to highlight the extent to which women’s labor continues to play a central role in the political and, I would say, social economy of the United States.

This is our effort at trying to explain why it was important that American feminists sign onto this call and really try to be a part of this movement that is trying to, in this country, part of our intention is to bring politics back to International Women’s Day by turning it into a political event, by highlighting the ways that women continue to suffer from misogyny and sexism in the United States and to give concrete descriptions of that.īut also, the strike is about highlighting the ways that “women’s work” or “women’s labor” is at times unseen. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor: The idea for the women’s strike actually didn’t originate in the United States, but it is a call in solidarity with women organizations from thirty different countries who put out a call for a strike on International Women’s Day, March 8th. You were one of the original people who called for a women’s strike on March 8th.

Sarah Jaffe: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, you are author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation and an Assistant Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University.

Feminism 99 percent