Feminist Movements in Historical Perspective: The Wages for Housework Network through Transnational and Intersectional Lenses

This paper examines a current within the feminist movement focused on wages for housework, with an emphasis on its transnational trajectories. It analyzes two phases: first, the early 1970s coordination of Lotta Femminista, a separatist Italian feminist group influenced by operaismo, and second, its successor, the Rete dei Comitati per il Salario al Lavoro Domestico, which joined the international Wages for Housework network. The study explores how the movement’s expansion from Italy to North America reshaped its political analyses, leading to the emergence of black and lesbian feminist groups. Its approach, described as ‘intersectional ante litteram’ (Toupin 2018), examined not only class but also race, sexuality, and labor. Methodologically, this research challenges national historiographical frameworks, highlighting transnational exchanges that create a ‘reciprocal interplay’ (Baritono 2018). Finally, it questions traditional feminist chronologies, showing how the movement’s legacy persists, influencing postcolonial and contemporary feminist activism.