Books by Nancy Holmstrom
Socialist Register , 2013
Socialist Register , 2020
The most recent report of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC makes it absolu... more The most recent report of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC makes it absolutely clear that ways of living in the 21st century must be premised on the existential threat to our survival posed by multiple ecological crises. Indeed it could all be over before the end of the century. If we do not radically suppress global CO2 emissions, global warming will rise to the point where it cannot be stopped. While not long ago the word "catastrophe" seemed hyperbolic to many, today few could deny it is fitting. Melting glaciers, rising sea level, drought, fires and flooding all over the world and the resulting migration are catastrophes for those who suffer them-and give us a taste of far worse catastrophes to come. Already the World Health Organization WHO estimates that there are 150,000 excess deaths per year due to climate change and likely to double by 2030. After the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center we heard the word security incessantly, almost always invoked as intentional threats to our safety and well-being, which of course means they are threats by people, whether they be individuals, groups, or nations. Global warming on the other hand, is a threat from nature that is an unintended result of human action-not what is usually intended by a "security" threat and it does not grip our imagination and fears in any way proportional to its severity. But it is not only intentional acts that can threaten our safety and well being. Once threats to our security are conceived more broadly, consider the greater dangers from unclean air and water and contagious diseases, whatever the mix of intentional and unintentional acts that created the problem. The narrow conception of security may be beginning to change as the threat from climate change becomes more apparent to more people. Bernie Sanders said in his announcement of his 2020 campaign for President that the greatest security threat we face is global warming. Even while the US spends over three billion dollars on the military2 (as Desmond Tutu once said, 'you don't get true security from the barrel of a gun') a deeper and broader understanding of the meaning of
Cambridge University Press, 2011
Political philosophy and feminist theory have rarely examined in detail how capitalism affects th... more Political philosophy and feminist theory have rarely examined in detail how capitalism affects the lives of women. Ann Cudd and Nancy Holmstrom take up opposing sides of the issue, debating whether capitalism is valuable as an ideal and whether as an actually existing economic system it is good for women. In a discussion covering a broad range of social and economic issues, including unequal pay, industrial reforms and sweatshops, they examine how these and other issues relate to women and how effectively to analyze what ...
Westview Press, 2000
Coauthors: Anatole Anton, Milton Fisk
Not for Sale: In Defense of Public Goods contains a vari... more Coauthors: Anatole Anton, Milton Fisk
Not for Sale: In Defense of Public Goods contains a variety of essays aimed at developing a timely philosophical defense of public goods against neo-liberal criticisms. The defense proceeds on both a conceptual level with essays treating such concepts as collective action, collective provision, common property, intellectual property and a substantive level with essays treating issues such as health, education, welfare, environment, media, cities, and the prison industrial complex. The scope of the book is broad-- aiming to encompass the main questions that crop up in contemporary controversies about public goods-- and should be of interest to both scholars and students of philosophy, the social sciences, law, policy studies. The anthology, consisting mostly of original essays, includes authors such as Richard Rorty, Iris Young, Angela Davis, Robert McChesney, Subcommadante Marcos, Nel Nodding, Stanley Aronowitz, and Nancy Folbre. It is suitable for upper division courses in any of these areas and is designed to be student friendly as well as current.
Papers by Nancy Holmstrom
Marxist-Feminist Theories and Struggles Today, 2020
Socialist Register , 2020
The most recent report of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC makes it absolu... more The most recent report of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC makes it absolutely clear that ways of living in the 21st century must be premised on the existential threat to our survival posed by multiple ecological crises. Indeed it could all be over before the end of the century. If we do not radically suppress global CO2 emissions, global warming will rise to the point where it cannot be stopped. While not long ago the word "catastrophe" seemed hyperbolic to many, today few could deny it is fitting. Melting glaciers, rising sea level, drought, fires and flooding all over the world and the resulting migration are catastrophes for those who suffer them-and give us a taste of far worse catastrophes to come. Already the World Health Organization WHO estimates that there are 150,000 excess deaths per year due to climate change and likely to double by 2030. After the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center we heard the word security incessantly, almost always invoked as intentional threats to our safety and well-being, which of course means they are threats by people, whether they be individuals, groups, or nations. Global warming on the other hand, is a threat from nature that is an unintended result of human action-not what is usually intended by a "security" threat and it does not grip our imagination and fears in any way proportional to its severity. But it is not only intentional acts that can threaten our safety and well being. Once threats to our security are conceived more broadly, consider the greater dangers from unclean air and water and contagious diseases, whatever the mix of intentional and unintentional acts that created the problem. The narrow conception of security may be beginning to change as the threat from climate change becomes more apparent to more people. Bernie Sanders said in his announcement of his 2020 campaign for President that the greatest security threat we face is global warming. Even while the US spends over three billion dollars on the military2 (as Desmond Tutu once said, 'you don't get true security from the barrel of a gun') a deeper and broader understanding of the meaning of
An Inheritance for Our Time: The Principles and Politics of Democratic Socialism, 2019
In order to resolve the multiple ecological crises facing humanity, we need a system of rational ... more In order to resolve the multiple ecological crises facing humanity, we need a system of rational democratic planning (Marx's vision of socialism). Oriented to the satisfaction of need not the maximization of profit, it will be ecologically sustainable and accord with feminist values.
Radical Philosophy Review - forthcoming
Logos, 2014
The current debate regarding sex work is frustrating, which is one of the reasons I am writing t... more The current debate regarding sex work is frustrating, which is one of the reasons I am writing this article. Counter-posed positions are a good way to generate debate, but when they are false counter-positions, it is not likely to be a fruitful debate. The title of this symposium Sex Work: Emancipation or Oppression is an example of this, but unfortunately it reflects the discussion. Actually this is not a new debate but harks back to debates among feminists in the 1980s and resembles debates that went on in the nineteenth century. [2] Recent legal changes regarding sex work in some countries and under consideration elsewhere have given the debates a practical focus and a feeling of urgency. Unfortunately the “sides” in this debate seem so solidified, it is difficult to trust a lot of what is written, as writers pick cases and evidence that fit their perspective.
Most feminists now agree that sex work should not be criminalized; this just drives it underground and causes further hardship to those doing the work.However, this position does not take us very far, as there are countless public and private actions which might be morally/politically problematic, but where legal prohibitions would be impractical, intrusive or counterproductive. Socialist feminists[3] need to say more about the nature and context of sex work, the effects of different legal policies on women and to analyze these within our anti-capitalist and anti-patriarchal values. In this paper I will primarily be focusing on the political philosophical issues central to the debate, but in conclusion I will indicate the practical directions to which I think my analysis points. Others will be addressing different programs and policies in detail.
Arguing About Human Nature, Stephen Downes and Edouard Machery eds., 2013
In "Arguing About Human Nature," eds. Stephen Downes and Edouard Machery, New York: Routledge 2013.
Women have entered the global political stage in an astonishing array of movements. Sparked by th... more Women have entered the global political stage in an astonishing array of movements. Sparked by the current capitalist war on the working class as well as the ongoing struggle around patriarchal relations, these movements provide an important arena for socialist-feminist politics. Today, unlike the past, feminist ideas are part of many anti-capitalist movements, although bringing those ideas to the centre of anti-capitalist politics is still an uphill struggle. In this essay we discuss how socialist feminist activists are shaping demands and campaigns, how they organize on the ground, how they build the leadership of working-class, indigenous and rural women, how they work within mixed gender groups and movements.
In order to do justice to the diversity of socialist-feminist strategies, we posed a set of questions to socialist-feminist scholars and activists engaged in different struggles. This essay is based on their insights. As a group, they are diverse in terms of age and political generation, social location and nationality. Susan Dirr and Giselda Gutierrez are activists in the Occupy movement in Chicago and Houston, respectively, and Esther Vivas is an activist in Spain’s Indignado movement, as well as a journalist and sociologist. Martha Ojeda, a former maquiladora worker, has been Executive Director of the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras since 1996. Rosemary Hennessy, a theorist of Marxism and sexuality, also writes on gender and labour struggles in northern Mexico. Eleni Varikas is a political theorist based in Paris and connected to researchers and activists in Greece. Valentine Moghadam is an expert on women in the Middle East and on Transnational Feminist Networks (TFNs) that provide crucial support and solidarity in struggles against capitalism and patriarchy worldwide. With their collaboration, we have drawn a picture of socialist-feminist strategy that leaps from place to place and hardly presents a comprehensive view. Still, these instances of struggle reveal key aspects of contemporary socialist-feminist organizing.
Radical Philosophy Review, 2012
Sous les sciences sociales, Le Genre, Sep 1, 2010
In "Toward a New Socialism," Anatole Anton and Richard Schmitt, eds., Lexington Books, 2006.
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005
"Feminist Social and Political Philosophy." Encyclopedia of Philosophy. . Encyclopedia.com
Against the Current, 2004
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Books by Nancy Holmstrom
Not for Sale: In Defense of Public Goods contains a variety of essays aimed at developing a timely philosophical defense of public goods against neo-liberal criticisms. The defense proceeds on both a conceptual level with essays treating such concepts as collective action, collective provision, common property, intellectual property and a substantive level with essays treating issues such as health, education, welfare, environment, media, cities, and the prison industrial complex. The scope of the book is broad-- aiming to encompass the main questions that crop up in contemporary controversies about public goods-- and should be of interest to both scholars and students of philosophy, the social sciences, law, policy studies. The anthology, consisting mostly of original essays, includes authors such as Richard Rorty, Iris Young, Angela Davis, Robert McChesney, Subcommadante Marcos, Nel Nodding, Stanley Aronowitz, and Nancy Folbre. It is suitable for upper division courses in any of these areas and is designed to be student friendly as well as current.
Papers by Nancy Holmstrom
Most feminists now agree that sex work should not be criminalized; this just drives it underground and causes further hardship to those doing the work.However, this position does not take us very far, as there are countless public and private actions which might be morally/politically problematic, but where legal prohibitions would be impractical, intrusive or counterproductive. Socialist feminists[3] need to say more about the nature and context of sex work, the effects of different legal policies on women and to analyze these within our anti-capitalist and anti-patriarchal values. In this paper I will primarily be focusing on the political philosophical issues central to the debate, but in conclusion I will indicate the practical directions to which I think my analysis points. Others will be addressing different programs and policies in detail.
In order to do justice to the diversity of socialist-feminist strategies, we posed a set of questions to socialist-feminist scholars and activists engaged in different struggles. This essay is based on their insights. As a group, they are diverse in terms of age and political generation, social location and nationality. Susan Dirr and Giselda Gutierrez are activists in the Occupy movement in Chicago and Houston, respectively, and Esther Vivas is an activist in Spain’s Indignado movement, as well as a journalist and sociologist. Martha Ojeda, a former maquiladora worker, has been Executive Director of the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras since 1996. Rosemary Hennessy, a theorist of Marxism and sexuality, also writes on gender and labour struggles in northern Mexico. Eleni Varikas is a political theorist based in Paris and connected to researchers and activists in Greece. Valentine Moghadam is an expert on women in the Middle East and on Transnational Feminist Networks (TFNs) that provide crucial support and solidarity in struggles against capitalism and patriarchy worldwide. With their collaboration, we have drawn a picture of socialist-feminist strategy that leaps from place to place and hardly presents a comprehensive view. Still, these instances of struggle reveal key aspects of contemporary socialist-feminist organizing.
Not for Sale: In Defense of Public Goods contains a variety of essays aimed at developing a timely philosophical defense of public goods against neo-liberal criticisms. The defense proceeds on both a conceptual level with essays treating such concepts as collective action, collective provision, common property, intellectual property and a substantive level with essays treating issues such as health, education, welfare, environment, media, cities, and the prison industrial complex. The scope of the book is broad-- aiming to encompass the main questions that crop up in contemporary controversies about public goods-- and should be of interest to both scholars and students of philosophy, the social sciences, law, policy studies. The anthology, consisting mostly of original essays, includes authors such as Richard Rorty, Iris Young, Angela Davis, Robert McChesney, Subcommadante Marcos, Nel Nodding, Stanley Aronowitz, and Nancy Folbre. It is suitable for upper division courses in any of these areas and is designed to be student friendly as well as current.
Most feminists now agree that sex work should not be criminalized; this just drives it underground and causes further hardship to those doing the work.However, this position does not take us very far, as there are countless public and private actions which might be morally/politically problematic, but where legal prohibitions would be impractical, intrusive or counterproductive. Socialist feminists[3] need to say more about the nature and context of sex work, the effects of different legal policies on women and to analyze these within our anti-capitalist and anti-patriarchal values. In this paper I will primarily be focusing on the political philosophical issues central to the debate, but in conclusion I will indicate the practical directions to which I think my analysis points. Others will be addressing different programs and policies in detail.
In order to do justice to the diversity of socialist-feminist strategies, we posed a set of questions to socialist-feminist scholars and activists engaged in different struggles. This essay is based on their insights. As a group, they are diverse in terms of age and political generation, social location and nationality. Susan Dirr and Giselda Gutierrez are activists in the Occupy movement in Chicago and Houston, respectively, and Esther Vivas is an activist in Spain’s Indignado movement, as well as a journalist and sociologist. Martha Ojeda, a former maquiladora worker, has been Executive Director of the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras since 1996. Rosemary Hennessy, a theorist of Marxism and sexuality, also writes on gender and labour struggles in northern Mexico. Eleni Varikas is a political theorist based in Paris and connected to researchers and activists in Greece. Valentine Moghadam is an expert on women in the Middle East and on Transnational Feminist Networks (TFNs) that provide crucial support and solidarity in struggles against capitalism and patriarchy worldwide. With their collaboration, we have drawn a picture of socialist-feminist strategy that leaps from place to place and hardly presents a comprehensive view. Still, these instances of struggle reveal key aspects of contemporary socialist-feminist organizing.
The Russian bank laundering scandal in the newspapers last fall is only the latest installment in the ongoing saga of corruption coming out of the former Soviet Union. The more important question is: where did they get the money in the first place? How, for example, did the former Premier of the Ukraine manage to buy a seven million dollar mansion in Marin County, California, on his official salary of a few thousand dollars a year? The answer is only too apparent: Moscow's gangster rule has become so well known that the term "Mafia" has lost its exclusively Italian connotation.