Publisher's Synopsis
Feminism in art is often portrayed as a success story, but how can that be possible when feminism itself has been shaped within an evolving capitalism where production and reproduction are in conflict? Posing this question enables a rethinking of feminism and art in terms of material and ideological determinations - one of relevance to a broader exploration of how emancipatory politics fare at the intersection of social reality and the art field under capitalist hegemony. Feminism. Art. Capitalism. calls for a revolutionary rethinking of the feminist struggle and its relation to art. Championing Marxist feminism, the book explores the exploitation of enthusiasm in contemporary art as a field that promises a self-determined subject, the ideological capture of feminism, the impact of postmodernism, and the crucial notion of social reproduction. In addressing the contradictions of capitalist modernity, including its technological imaginary, this critique considers a present feminism when the need to oppose capital's world-making, to which art both contributes and questions, is greater than ever. Provocative and uncompromising, the book offers an indispensable guide for art history, criticism, theory, and practice—inviting readers to confront what claiming art and feminism as sites of resistance may actually entail.
