In this episode, Kristen R. Ghodsee's reads the first part of her selections from Alexandra Kollontai's 1909 book, The Social Basis of the Woman Question. This manuscript was written while Alexandra Kolllontai was in exile from Tsarist Russia and affiliated with the German Social Democratic party. This is a key text in the history of socialist feminism, and is seen by many as a foundational document in distinguishing the "bourgeois feminists" from the socialists. In this essay, Kollontai is clearly a social democrat and an advocate for reformist social democratic politics. She only becomes a Bolshevik in 1914, and eventually becomes an anarchist, and finally a Stalinist. Ghodsee makes the case that contemporary leftists should also be "left fluid," or open to all leftist perspectives and willing to cooperate with those who have different visions for how we get to a most just, equitable, and sustainable future.

This is Part I of a multi episode series. Mentioned in this episode is Nancy Fraser's work on the politics of redistribution versus the politics of recognition.

The intro music is a Russian version of The Internationale

More info about the host can be found at: www.kristenghodsee.com

Also see: AlexandraKollontai.com – A Website for All Things Kollontai 

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Check out Kristen Ghodsee's recent books:

• Everyday Utopia
• Red Valkyries
• Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism
• Second World, Second Sex

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Kristen R. Ghodsee is the award-winning author of twelve books and a professor and chair of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.