Over the past few years, the world has been reminded of the power of women rising up to change society, whether it is from women leading strikes in Egypt, to the colossal anti-rape movement in India, to women sparking off the Idle No More movement in Canada. Across the planet, working women and men are fighting against increasing poverty and social inequality.

Today marks the 100th anniversary of International Working Women's Day.  Throughout history, women have often played the lead role in revolutionary struggle.  The current revolution of the Arab masses is no exception.  We publish this article that highlights the important role currently being played by Egyptian women.

One hundred years ago today, 99 women from 17 different countries attended the Socialist Women's Conference held in Copenhagen in the House of the People. In this first part, we look at the origins of Women's Day, the origin of women's oppression in class society, how capitalism lays the material foundations upon which the question of women's emancipation can be tackled as part of the struggle of the working class for the emancipation of the whole of humanity from class oppression.

This weekend marks International Women's Day, one of the most important dates for revolutionaries.  To celebrate this date, and to remind everyone of the revolutionary significance of this day, we publish here an address by Lenin, where he talks about the struggle against women's oppression and how this struggle was tied to the struggle against capitalism.

As women, feminists tell us that we live in a society where men oppress us, and thus, in order to get ahead in life, we need to unite with other women to break free of the shackles that men have placed upon us.  This logic presupposes that men are the ultimate oppressor, and that all women have the same interests at heart.  However, with the Ruby Dhalla controversy, women must ask themselves how it is that a woman can oppress other women, and if so, do all women have the same interests at heart?

The present economic crisis, through its sheer scale and reach, is bringing about a wholesale change in the consciousness of working people the world over. It is the poor, the oppressed, and the workers who shoulder this weight in order to hold up the privileges of the rich. There is no portion of the working class that has so greatly and extensively borne this affliction than working women.