Can you be a right-wing feminist? I am not convinced that it’s possible. Feminism is inextricably linked to socialism, but as more younger women are fearlessly calling themselves feminists, the challenge for Labour is to rediscover the common roots of both movements. This can only be done through better engagement with working class women and transforming the distribution of power in society.  

Although this younger generation feel disenfranchised from traditional politics, they are nonetheless undeniably political and very opinionated. As politics itself becomes increasingly disconnected from what is happening in society, what we are seeing are social movements growing outside of the traditional political space. However, these movements will not be able to generate real social change unless they occupy the Labour party, and reform it.

Feminism has flourished alongside the socialist demand for equality and fairness; it has also often nourished the wider liberation movement, fighting with other movements, including those for LGBT and BME rights. Equally, the demand for equal pay is both a trade union cause and a true feminist cause.

Labour has always embraced women’s rights and nurtured them through legislation. But in an era of rising inequality and wealth concentration in the hands of the few, as Thomas Piketty has highlighted, political parties must change, too.

An industrial strategy that works for women

Globalisation and technological advancement is destroying many low skilled jobs. However, a gendered impact assessment of how, for example, we rethink of our industrial strategy has never been cohesively attempted. For instance, the ‘Blue Labour’ school of thought has focused solely on the loss of identity of primarily working class men as a result of these global dynamics.

Yet we need to explore how such global changes have impacted on working-class women, their children and their socio-economic positions. All across the world, women have been at the sharp end of the economic divide. How we upskill thousands of more traditionally female jobs and, equally importantly, how we encourage young women to take up scientific careers are key economic issues of our times but they too often fall off the Labour party’s radar.

Feminism and power

So what are ‘feminist’ policies? Labour has put childcare at the heart of its manifesto for 2015, which is absolutely the right thing to do. However, it should not be seen as a ‘feminist’ policy. After all, not all women are parents and not all parents are women.

To me, feminist policy in modern times is about a radical transformation of the allocation of power, whether that is in families, institutions, the media or the wider economy. It has many parallels with the left’s ambition to reform the distribution of power, be it economic, cultural or political, by giving far more of it to the people.

And more than anything, power means presence – in workplaces, in politics and in society. Power means upskilling those thousands of people – a lot of women too – who have been hit by the growing impact of technology, so that they win back their place in the market. Having more women in company boardrooms is not just about recognising that 52 per cent of the population is female. It is about embracing a new culture of corporate governance, less focused on risk and more orientated towards long-term stability and sustainable growth. Having more women in politics, likewise, is about changing the way we do things and the way we run our institutions.

Finally, power means control over women’s bodies. The party should work with campaigners to put a stop to the hyper-sexualisation of our society, which has gone from liberation to the new and modern forms of slavery we are all entrenched in, and at a very young age. It is not by chance that the issue of power over our own bodies is exactly the topic which has most galvanised younger generations of women.

If Labour wants to engage with the new generation of feminists, it has to speak about the very core issue of power, and what that entails – from rights at work to violence against women and, most importantly, it has to continue to get those issues right at the heart of the movement, not as an appendix to the equality chapter of the manifesto. The party can, and should, embrace the radicalism of the feminist movement by allowing its vibrancy and energy to transform mainstream politics in Britain.

Ivana Bartoletti is chair of the Fabian Women’s Network.

This article originally appeared in the Fabian and Compass collection ‘Riding the New Wave: Feminism and the Labour Party’ edited by Anya Pearson and Rosie Rogers. It is available to read HERE