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This week on Uprising:

* Selma James: Sex, Race and Class – the Perspective of Winning – an hour-long conversation

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At 81 years of age, Selma James is a force of nature, actively advocating for the rights of women everywhere. Best known for her work on the rights of unwaged women, Selma James began her rise to prominence with her 1952 pamphlet entitled A Woman’s Place where at the age of just 22, she articulated the concerns of women, particularly stay-at-home mothers, at a time when very little was being said or written about it. Twenty years later, James went on to co-author a book with Italian author Maria Dalla Costa in 1972, called Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community which helped to launch the concept of women’s domestic labor. Her idea, grounded in Marxist theory, that capitalist society functions on the unwaged work of women in the home and community, and the production by mothers of the entire labor force, was considered radical by some but inspired a number of individuals and organizations. The same year as the publication of her book, Selma James founded the International Wages for Housework Campaign which demanded wages from the government for unwaged work. In 2000, Selma James helped to start the Global Women’s Strike, for which she continues to be the international coordinator. The Global Women’s Strike, marked generally on March 8, International Women’s Day, every year, is a network of grassroots women’s groups around the world demanding that governments “invest in caring, not killing.” She was also active with the rights of sex workers, and was the first spokeswoman for the English Collective of Prostitutes. James has also been active with the Venezuelan Government’s Bolivarian revolution and is a founding member of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network. Married to CLR James, the well known Marxist theorist and activist in the independence movements in the West Indies, who died in 1989, Selma has also taken it upon herself to keep her late husband’s political legacy alive. She lived in the Caribbean for many years and now resides in the UK. A new book presents a collection of Selma James’ writings over the years, embodying her extensive work. “Sex, Race and Class: The Perspective of Winning,” includes excerpts from pamphlets, books, and speeches on a number of campaigns and issues she has worked on for the past 60 years.

GUEST: Selma James, author of Sex, Race & Class: The Perspective of Winning – a Selection of Writings from 1952-2011. James is the founder of International Wages for Housework Campaign, and International coordinator of the Global Women’s Strike

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“The perspective of wages for housework… is the demand of women for power, for autonomy against capital. It is the perspective of winning.” – Selma James, 1973