Book cover

Dawn Foster is a writer on politics, social affairs and economics for the Guardian, London Review of Books and New Humanist, among other publications. Her debut book, Lean Out (Repeater), is a polemic that takes aim at the "1 per cent feminism" promoted by writers such as the Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg; a feminism that concentrates on individual achievement and, Foster argues, neglects the challenges faced by the majority of women in the world today.

The “1 per cent feminism” you criticise in Lean Out often focuses on issues that affect women in elite positions, such as equal representation in corporate management or at the top level of politics. Is there any evidence that such a focus can improve the lives of working and middle class women?

Not really, partly because the women are so few and far between. For there to be a knock-on effect for women lower down the social ladder the few at the top would need to enact some pretty bold policies. What often happens instead is that women are scrutinised far more than men, especially in hiring decisions, and become focused on proving themselves, often by assimilating the macho culture at the top, rather than subverting it.

Where things have changed, such as in the Swedish public sector, it’s due to a concerted decision to address gender equality in every part of the recruitment process, so women and men are represented in every part of the public sector, from top to bottom. That came from political will to change the entire culture, rather than a slow, trickle-down shift that relies on a few individual women breaking through to the top.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t be concerned with how few women are in top positions - it’s definitely a symptom of a rotten system that disadvantages women - but having one or two women at the top isn’t the only way to further women’s position in society, and is often used to distract attention from wider injustices.

The ideas expressed by Lean In have resonated with a large number of women. Perhaps its appeal is partly down to the confidence it inspires among some readers – is there anything worth redeeming there? In the effort to inspire, if not its execution?

Absolutely: as an inspirational book for women already in relatively good positions in business, I imagine it’s very helpful. Advice about how to deal with male-dominated meetings, and the importance of sharing childcare responsibilities would certainly be useful for women in particular roles with particular lifestyles. But most of the advice presupposes women work in particular sectors, and have already vaulted many of the obstacles in their way. For most women, advice about sharing responsibilities for children is a moot point if, even with pooled resources, you can’t afford childcare as a couple, or your employer demotes you after maternity leave.

Although your own book is a short polemic, you take the time to sift through statistical evidence and personal accounts that suggest the fight for gender equality is progressing in some areas, but going backwards in others. What would you say the main challenges are today?

Labour rights, especially: the attacks on trade unions and dwindling union membership have a knock-on effect for women, as permanent work contracts become rarer, and wages stagnate. With cuts to legal aid and legislation to limit the power of trade unions [in the UK] there’s almost no accountability for bosses who discriminate against and harass women in the workplace. Reproductive and health rights are also under sustained attack: there are continued attempts to attack abortion rights, constant political conversations about whether poor women should have children at all, and moves to limit child benefit to two children.

Cuts to the NHS disproportionately affect women too. But also migration is a big, and overlooked, battleground. Both in terms of detention, such as the conditions in Yarl's Wood that allegedly include sexual abuse, beatings and attacks, and in terms of restrictions on free movement. The fact the UK government plans to ban spouses from accompanying their partners unless they earn £35,000 or more directly affects women, both because on average they earn less (especially migrant women) but also because women still bear children and often take on the bulk of childcare responsibilities.

And are you optimistic about the future? You criticise the “women can have it all” strain of feminism that pervades the media, but there also seems to have a been a great surge of grassroots activity in recent years, amplified online in many cases.

I’m completely enthused by the grassroots activism I’ve seen, from women of all ages and backgrounds. I think the political class believed that they could cut, and cut, and cut public services with little backlash. It’s difficult to fight back when the media and political climate says you’re worthless, but increasing numbers of groups of women are strong enough to reject that portrayal of their lives, and fight for basic access to housing, women’s domestic violence services, a fairer benefits system and access to healthcare.

These groups seem to be gaining momentum, rather than burning out, and I think many other groups will spring up in solidarity, and inspire a different and more inclusive approach to feminism, that looks beyond the career success of individual women as a marker of where were are in terms of progress on women’s rights.

You argue that often, differences in wealth and social status mean that women have conflicting interests that cannot be resolved by conventional appeals to “feminism” – yet neither do you want to ditch the concept of feminism. How can that tension be resolved?

By accepting that the goals of feminism: economic equality, a fairer society, an end to the privileging of economic growth over civic society, are also the goals of many other oppressed groups. It’s possible to point out that cuts to housing affect women disproportionately, and make that a feminist argument, while also pointing out that building more social housing also helps disabled men and women. The goals of feminism aren’t to the detriment of other groups, by and large. Accepting that feminist wins can also help others and overlap with goals of disabled, migrant and anti-racist groups is key to building a movement that doesn't just represent women at the top.