Feminism. Art. Capitalism.

Angela Dimitrakaki author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Pluto Press

Publishing:20th Nov '25

£24.99

This title is due to be published on 20th November, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

Feminism. Art. Capitalism. cover

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.

'At this moment of real and perceived impasses, techno-anxieties, and collective exhaustion, Dimitrakaki offers an unflinching and salutary critique of feminist art history and theory and their role in the concealment of labour in the work of art'

-- Alexandra Kokoli, Associate Professor, Middlesex University and Senior Research Associate, University of Johannesburg, editor of Feminism Reframed

'Angela Dimitrakaki stands among the foremost Marxist-Feminist art historians of our time. With extraordinary scope and ambition, this book maps the terrain on which contemporary feminist art discourse is being shaped. Conceptually bold, historically grounded and politically incisive, it is essential reading for anyone engaged with art, feminism and anticapitalism. A landmark contribution to a twenty-first century social history of art'

-- Dave Beech, author of Art and Labour

'As 'feminist art' has become yet another art historical category with high market value, Dimitrakaki's book offers essential tools to disentangle feminist artistic practices from capitalism's capture. A much-needed analysis of feminism’s transformative potential, in and beyond art'

-- Giovanna Zapperi, Professor of Contemporary Art History, University of Geneva

'Applying personal reflection and rigorous investigation, Dimiktrakaki unflinchingly examines the contradictory intersection of contemporary art, politics, and ideology in bold, inspired analysis that positions her as a leading intellectual while delivering a much-needed critical work to facilitate insight and resistance'

-- Gregory Sholette, author of The Art of Activism and the Activism of Art

'This book sets out its arguments with shattering clarity. By offering complications instead of banalities, questions rather than endings, it cuts through the bullshit and cracks open the field of feminist art history to new possibilities'

-- Victoria Horne, art historian, Northumbria University, co-editor of Feminism and Art History Now

ISBN: 9780745351247

Dimensions: 216mm x 140mm x 22mm

Weight: unknown

320 pages