International Working Women’s Day (IWWD) is not merely a date on the calendar to remind us of a fancy morning tea event; it serves as a battle cry for working-class women worldwide. Originally established as a revolutionary day of struggle, IWWD has been diluted by corporate branding and superficial celebrations. Today, what is commonly referred to as International Women’s Day (IWD) is often reduced to marketing campaigns, corporate morning teas, and other symbolic gestures, ignoring the ongoing oppression that women — especially working-class women in the Global South — continue to endure. A Marxist perspective on IWWD reclaims its radical roots, acknowledges the indispensable role of women in revolutionary movements, and highlights the interconnectedness of women’s oppression, class struggle, and imperialism.

The Revolutionary Origins of International Working Women’s Day

The history of IWWD is deeply tied to socialist and labour movements, sparked by Clara Zetkin, a revolutionary socialist who understood that women’s liberation could not be separated from the fight against imperialism and war.¹

At the outbreak of World War I (1914-1918), most socialist parties abandoned their anti-war positions and supported their national governments. Zetkin remained firm in her opposition, recognising the war as an imperialist conflict that sacrificed the working class for the profits of capitalists.² Women were drawn into war industries under exploitative conditions, while their sons and husbands were sent to the frontlines to die for the ruling class.³ In 1915, Zetkin organised the International Socialist Women’s Conference in Bern, Switzerland, where she brought together women from different nations to denounce the war and call for international working-class solidarity. She argued that IWWD must be a tool for mass organising against militarism, urging women to reject nationalism and capitalist propaganda.⁴ Her vision was realised in 1917 when Russian women launched strikes on IWWD that triggered the Russian Revolution. Their demand for “bread and peace” led to the fall of the Tsar and, ultimately, Russia’s withdrawal from WWI. This event proved that women’s struggles against war were inseparable from the broader fight against capitalism.⁵

Recognising the essential role of women in class struggle, Lenin and the Bolsheviks officially adopted IWWD in 1921, making it a day to mobilise and strengthen the fight against capitalism and sexism.⁶ Under Lenin’s leadership, the Soviet Union took concrete steps toward women’s liberation, implementing policies that provided legal equality, access to education, reproductive rights, and state-supported childcare. However, many of these gains were later reversed, underscoring the need for constant revolutionary vigilance.⁷

How Capitalism Perpetuates Women’s Oppression

Women’s oppression is not an unfortunate byproduct of capitalism; it is integral to its functioning. As Friedrich Engels outlined in
The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884)⁸, women were subordinated with the rise of private property and class society. Capitalism continues to exploit women through:

• Unpaid Domestic Labor: Women perform the bulk of unpaid reproductive labour—raising children, maintaining households, and caring for the elderly—without compensation, subsidising capitalists by ensuring a stable workforce.⁹
• Low-Wage Work: Women are overrepresented in precarious and underpaid jobs, making them more vulnerable to exploitation and economic dependency.¹⁰
• Diminishing Sexual and Reproductive Rights: Access to abortion and healthcare is increasingly restricted, limiting women’s autonomy over their own bodies.¹¹

The commodification of IWWD itself is a testament to capitalism’s ability to co-opt and depoliticise revolutionary struggles. Instead of recognising the day’s revolutionary essence, corporations now use it for PR campaigns and feminist sloganeering while wearing sweat shop-produced shirts with feminist slogans – and while those companies continue to exploit women’s labour worldwide.¹²

The Global South: Women on the Frontlines of Resistance

Women in the Global South face the compounded forces of imperialism, colonial legacies, and capitalist exploitation. From maquiladora workers in Mexico to garment workers in Bangladesh, multinational corporations profit from their underpaid labour while states suppress resistance.¹³

In Latin America, Indigenous and peasant women resist extractive industries that threaten their lands. For example, the Mapuche women in Chile and Argentina, along with the late Berta Cáceres in Honduras, fought against illegal logging and the presence of US military bases on Lenca land.¹⁴

African women workers resist neoliberal austerity policies. For example, South African domestic workers fight exploitative wages, and Nigerian market women protest economic hardship. In Ethiopia, garment workers battle repression in an economy reliant on foreign capital.¹⁵

In the Philippines and India, women lead militant labour struggles. Groups like Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Gabriela in the Philippines organise strikes against multinational corporations. At the same time, India’s Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and agricultural unions mobilise against land dispossession and exploitative reforms.¹⁶

These movements reject corporate feminism and demand structural change, keeping the revolutionary spirit of IWWD alive.

Imperialism, State Violence, and the Fight for Liberation

State repression and gender-based violence remain key issues for women. Whether through femicides in Latin America, the criminalisation of women-led protests in Africa, or the brutal suppression of labour strikes in Asia, capitalism and imperialism work hand in hand to silence women’s resistance.¹⁷ Moreover, neoliberal economic policies gut public services, forcing women into informal labour and worsening their economic vulnerability.¹⁸ Capitalist states’ so-called “feminist” policies often amount to superficial reforms that do not challenge the system itself or provide lasting structural change.¹⁹

Reclaiming the Revolutionary Spirit of IWWD

Women’s liberation must be central to the revolutionary struggle. The fight against capitalism is inseparable from the fight for women’s emancipation, as true liberation can only be achieved when economic and social structures that uphold oppression are dismantled.

This March 8th, let us recommit to the fight for socialism, internationalism, and proletarian women’s liberation, ensuring that IWWD remains a day of resistance.

1. Zetkin, Clara. Selected Writings. 1920. ↩︎
2. Lenin, Vladimir. The Emancipation of Women. 1919. ↩︎
3. Davis, Angela. Women, Race & Class. 1981 ↩︎
4. Zetkin, Clara. Selected Writings. 1920. ↩︎
5. Vogel, Lise. Marxism and the Oppression of Women: Toward a Unitary Theory. 1983. ↩︎
6. Lenin, Vladimir. The Emancipation of Women. 1919. ↩︎
7. Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya, and Nancy Fraser. Women’s Liberation for the 99%: A Manifesto. 2019. ↩︎
8. Engels, Friedrich. The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. 1884. ↩︎
9. Dalla Costa, Mariarosa. The Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community. 1972. ↩︎
10. Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. Women’s Liberation Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity. 2003. ↩︎
11. Bhattacharya, Tithi. Social Reproduction Theory: Remapping Class, Recentering Oppression. 2017. ↩︎
12. Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya, and Nancy Fraser. Women’s Liberation for the 99%: A Manifesto. 2019. ↩︎
13. Davis, Angela. Women, Race & Class. 1981 ↩︎
14. Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. Women’s Liberation Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity. 2003. ↩︎
15. Bhattacharya, Tithi. Social Reproduction Theory: Remapping Class, Recentering Oppression. 2017. ↩︎
16. Gimenez, Martha E. Marxism and Women’s Liberation. Monthly Review Press. 2018. ↩︎
17. Federici, Silvia. Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation. 2004. ↩︎
18. Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya, and Nancy Fraser. Women’s Liberation for the 99%: A Manifesto. 2019. ↩︎
19. Dalla Costa, Mariarosa. The Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community. 1972. ↩︎