A neglected Australian feminist theory that deserves to be read alongside the better-known interventions of the 1970s and 80s.

Clare Burton subjects the dominant schools of feminist thought to sustained critique: Marxism, Engels, radical feminism, psychoanalysis, domestic labour theory, anthropology and social reproduction all come under examination. Her concern is not simply with describing subordination but with asking why it persists, how different theoretical traditions explain it, and where those explanations fall short.

Published in 1985, Subordination emerged at a moment when socialist feminism was wrestling with the relationship between patriarchy, capitalism and the family. Burton is particularly strong on exposing the limits of technological determinism in Marxist accounts of women's liberation and on interrogating the assumptions underpinning evolutionary histories of gender. The result is a rigorous, historically grounded work that remains surprisingly contemporary, especially for readers interested in social reproduction theory, feminist political economy and the history of feminist debates before intersectionality became the dominant vocabulary.

1985 first edition paperback published by George Allen & Unwin Australia. Good condition with light shelf wear, some rubbing and age toning to the covers, clean interior and a solid binding.