Capitalist (mis)representations and the political economy of working class Women in Campbelltown: a case study

A body of mainly socialist feminist literature has emerged since the 1980s concerning the existence of a political culture distinctive to working class women. These views rest upon a broader understanding of political economy as necessarily encompassing the contradictory elements of everyday life. Gibson-Graham approach the interrelationship of capitalist and noncapitalist activities in women’s lives from a poststructural feminist and postmodern Marxist perspective. They suggest that by inverting the linguistic and academic primacy accorded to capitalist practices over other economic forms, the hegemonic idea of capitalism as a singular and unified totality might be destabilised. The applicability and political implications of this approach are critically analysed through a biographical case study drawn from research on the political economy of working class women in Campbelltown on Sydney’s outskirts. It is argued that the availability of limited political resources and options is central to understanding working class women’s politics.