Continuing our series of articles on the fight against women’s oppression as part of International Working Women’s Day, we republish this 2001 article by Alan Woods which provides a Marxist analysis on the oppression of women, the fight for liberation, and the struggle for socialism.

This year marks the 100^th anniversary of the First World War and the media is dedicating much time and attention to it. However, one aspect which so far has not received sufficient consideration is the role played by women during those dramatic and bloody years. To continue our celebration of International Women’s Day – 8th March – Ana Muñoz analyses the important role of women workers in WWI.

The apologists of capitalism use 8th March, International Women’s Day, as a time to give their annual vague reminder about the need to ‘address’ gender inequality worldwide. Jo Pickard, President of the Sussex Marxist Society, asks: regardless of the number of power-dressing female CEOs gracing the boardrooms of capitalism, what tangible gains have actually been felt by working women internationally?