Men be ing away for long periods gives women more bargaining power, which leads to more rights for women. People have agency, but they also tend to make somewhat predictable choices over the long run. The story of how women got the right to vote is a little different in each country,. But the fact that it happens for all these countries around the time of the big world wars is not coincidental.
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Human beings have free will, but our actions are constrained by material realities. Understanding how material and practical conditions shape human behaviour can make all the difference between success and catastrophic failure when it comes to the whole spectrum of political action, from private sector negotiation, to crafting legislation, to making a revolution.
In this episode we look at:
The relationship between economic activity and the high status of women in traditional Haudenosaunee / Iroquois society
How World War I helped women win the right to vote in Europe and North America
How World War II catalyzed the Black civil rights movement in the United States.
The success, failure, and accidental success of the English Peasant’s Revolt of 1381
The implications of the Anarchist Revolution in Spain in 1936-1939 for the future of industrial civilization.
