Capitalism vs Socialism: What’s Better for Women’s Rights?

Why do women’s rights advance in some societies — and decline in others?

In this episode, historian and gender scholar Kristen Ghodsee explains why economic inequality is one of the most powerful drivers of gender inequality.

Drawing on decades of research comparing socialist and capitalist societies, Ghodsee shows how policies such as universal childcare, public services, and guaranteed employment dramatically expanded women’s opportunities in the twentieth century — and why the collapse of these systems often led to renewed discrimination and inequality.

But the story is not only historical.

We discuss how today’s surge in online misogyny, “trad-wife” narratives, and the rise of the manosphere may be connected to deeper economic transformations — including the possibility that AI-driven job disruptions could trigger a new backlash against women’s participation in the labor force.

In this conversation we explore:

• What Cold War history reveals about women’s rights
• Why inequality and patriarchy reinforce each other
• The rise of the manosphere and online misogyny
• How AI and labor market shocks could reshape gender roles
• Why reducing economic inequality is key to reducing violence against women
• What egalitarian communities today can teach us about building a more equal future

Ghodsee also discusses hopeful alternatives — from cooperative communities to new ways of organizing economies around care, cooperation, and shared prosperity.

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Kristen Ghodsee is the author of Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism and Everyday Utopia: What 2,500 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life.

This conversation is a part of Oxfam’s #PersonalToPowerful campaign. The campaign calls for our shared feminist future where gender justice starts with bodily autonomy. It echoes the stakes outlined in Oxfam’s Personal to Powerful briefing on gender justice, which shows how unequal economic systems, rising inequality, and anti‑rights movements are not just historical legacies but real threats to women’s rights.

As a part of the campaign, we invited feminist & queer activists this International Women's Day (IWD) to share their letters from the future, a future where bodily autonomy reigns. Check out the Letters from the Future repository here. You can also submit your own ‘Letter from the future’ using this link.

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