1Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska (1860-1934) was a scientist, economist, feminist and activist, whose career was shaped by the political reality in Central Europe at the turn of the 20^th century. Poland effectively did not exist on European maps since 1795 due to three partitions (1772, 1793 and 1795), in which it was divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria-Hungary (cf. Lukowski, 1999). The turn of the 20^th century was marked by increasing Polish hopes of regaining independence due to conflicts arising between the three partitioning powers, but also by the women’s emancipation movement growing stronger. Indeed, that period was characterised by an unprecedented activity of women struggling for better education, access to universities, and voting rights all over the world, including in Central Europe. In 1918, with the end of World War I, Poland regained independence, while Polish women won their right to vote and to stand for election.

2Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska was an assiduous and conscientious economist, public intellectual and activist who used her knowledge in partitioned Poland to campaign for the improvement of the economic and political situation of groups that lacked economic and political power—Poles, workers, and women. She authored many monographs and articles, including press releases, in which she promoted moderate socialist and feminist perspectives advocating equal rights for women. Her activism also manifested itself in the form of involvement in the temperance movement. When Poland regained independence after World War I, Daszyńska-Golińska was also actively involved in politics as a civil servant and a member of the Polish Senate (1928-1930).

3Daszyńska-Golińska wrote about issues related to the history of economic thought and methodology. She presented her original thoughts concerning a debate on economic systems—socialism and capitalism. However, her greatest input was in the area of demography, social policy and the role of women in the economy. Unfortunately, her achievements are not widely known, neither in Poland, nor outside of its borders. There are not many sources in English mentioning Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska (cf. de Haan et al., 2006; Leszczawski-Schwerk, 2016), and there is no broader presentation of her scientific works. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to present her biography and discuss the main threads of her writings. To contextualise our reflections, we compare Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska with a much better-known Polish female economist of that time—Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919). Even though this comparison is not the main focus of our paper, it serves the purpose of finding out the reasons why Daszyńska-Golińska has been forgotten both in the discipline and as an outstanding figure in and outside Poland.

4The structure of the article serves the objective formulated above, with the major focus on Daszyńska-Golińska’s output. We begin with a bibliographical note about Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska, and then we present a general overview of her publications. In her writings she covered a wide range of issues, and we had to make a selection of topics discussed by Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska for a more detailed presentation. The selection includes: socialism, the role of the state in the economic system, women’s question, demography and her vision of the future. The topics chosen by us were not only extensively deliberated by Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska in her writings, but they were also covered by Rosa Luxemburg to whom she is compared in the last part of the article. This last part aims to demonstrate the main differences between the two Polish economists, of which Luxemburg is well-known not only to economists and social scientists, but to the general audience as well, while Daszyńska-Golińska has disappeared from the discourse. The main conclusion drawn from the analysis of Daszyńska-Golińska’s biography and legacy is that she has vanished as a writer and a figure despite covering important issues in her writings linked to the economic system, workers, and female workers in particular, which are deliberated even by contemporary scholars. Similarly to Rosa Luxemburg, Daszyńska-Golińska was active both as an academic, and as an activist and a politician. Contrary to Luxemburg though, she moved to Poland and led an active, but quite a regular life of a married woman at the turn of the 20^th century.

5Traditionally, economic historians or scholars in the history of economic thought have focused on the greatest and most influential economists, trying to develop a more complete and clearer understanding of their theoretical contribution (Biddle, 2007, 2). In this article, however, we explore the life and writings of lesser-known Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska to appreciate her legacy and learn why she has been forgotten. Apart from a systematic review of Daszyńska-Golińska’s writings, we explore her biography and historical context following Alan Ebenstein’s argument (2001, cited in Moggridge, 2003) that knowing her life and times better, it is possible to obtain a deeper insight into her thought. To paraphrase Skidelsky (2000), we are trying to rescue her from the historians and place her back in the history of economic thought.

6According to Donald E. Moggridge (2003), it is worth not only looking into historical context and biography but also the autobiography of the author, which we have also included in our research (cf. Daszyńska-Golińska, 1932). As Moggridge (1992, XXV) claims, “… facts do not speak for themselves. … Selection and arrangement do matter—both for purposes of persuation and enlightenment”. The autobiography of Daszyńska-Golińska (1932) contains a list of 71 publications, such as monographs and journal articles, translations, and lectures (including publications in French and German). She divided her works into seven categories: (1) Situation in Poland, (2) Monographs, (3) Theoretical works, (4) Publishing (including edited volumes), (5) Varia, (6) Popular brochures, and (7) Translations. This list is not complete, though, since Jagiellonian University archives include 12 positions not mentioned in her autobiography. Thus, after conducting research in the digital archives of the Jagiellonian Library, our research expanded to other Polish universities from Warsaw, Poznań, Gdańsk and Krakow as well as Daszyńska-Golińska’s Alma Mater University of Zurich.

1. Biography of Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska

10In 1918, Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska with her husband moved to Warsaw. In 1919, she became a professor at the Free Polish University, where she delivered lectures in: social economics; history of economic doctrines; labour protection; emigration and colonialism; wealth, property, and income; population policy. Daszyńska-Golińska was the first to introduce new methods of teaching, such as seminars and instructions, that became popular among students and professors. Daszyńska-Golińska was also involved in political activities. From 1918 to 1921, she worked in the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, being responsible for women’s and juvenile work. Referring to the results of two surveys conducted among Christian seamstresses and house servants, she wrote two drafts of bills (on the protection of women’s and juvenile employment and on domestic work) (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1932, 15-16). Apart from the activities mentioned above, she served as a senator in 1928-1930 (at the request of the women’s movement), participated in international congresses (e.g. the International Congress of Women at the Hague in 1915), and was a member of many associations. For instance, Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska was a vice chairman of the Polish Society for Social Policy (Auleytner, n.d.), member of the board of the Association of Polish Economists and Statisticians (Kruszka, 2012, 264) as well as a member of several women’s organizations. She died in Warsaw in 1934, after forty years of intensive scientific and journalistic work (Biegeleisen, 1934, 7).

2. Works of Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska: An Overview

13Daszyńska-Golińska criticises the belief that economics as a science is concerned with the accumulation of wealth and that wealth should be achieved mostly via international trade, while the domestic market can play a minor role in this respect. She emphasises that the accumulation of capital goes hand in hand with the impoverishment of the society, which implies that welfare achieved in this way may not be persistent (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1914, 14). She also criticises the prevailing belief based on classical economics (and its credo of cosmopolitan capital and success measured by the wealth of individuals) that economic relations should be dictated by international development (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1914, 11). According to Daszyńska-Golińska, the historical analysis clearly proves that the approach advocated by the classics and incorporated as economic policies did not ensure harmonious development for all members of society (Giza, 2006, 167).

14For instance, one of the classical economists strongly criticised by Daszyńska-Golińska is Thomas Malthus with his assertion that the poor do not deserve any allowance from the state, because it is an unjustified burden levied upon richer classes and a moral damage to the poor who get addicted to such help. According to Daszyńska-Golińska, Malthus salved people’s conscience, demonstrating that poor life conditions among the working class are the result of their own faults of reproducing disproportionately to accessible food supplies (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1927, 102). Daszyńska-Golińska does not focus on the techniques of agricultural production, but she claims that Malthusian arguments are likely to lose their strength when confronted with statistical data, clearly demonstrating that demographic processes are subject not only to physical laws related to human physiology but also social and historical laws which contradict Malthus’ general, ahistorical conclusion (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1927, 115).

15Her writings are very detailed and analytical, supported by all available data and interdisciplinary references to existing scholarship. For instance, when discussing the situation of Polish territory, she takes into account geography, natural resources, climate, agriculture, industry, trade and banking, division of labour, international trade, and balance of payments (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1914). When she debates the workers’ issue—confident that this class, if educated, can be the backbone of the Polish society—she dwells on the statistics on number of employed workers, hours worked, wages and salaries in various industries, strikes and lockouts, intermediation in the labour market, creation of employment agencies in the first decade of 20th century, insurance against accidents, trade unions as well as differences between partitions in terms of the length of the labour day and the protection of women and juvenile workers (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1920).

16Given that Daszyńska-Golińska was deeply interested in social problems, in the next section, we discuss her works on her vision of socialism and the role of the state, followed by the women’s question and demography. We conclude the presentation of selected writings by Daszyńska-Golińska with her vision of the future of the social system.

3. Daszyńska-Golińska’s Views on Political, Social and Economic Issues

3.1. Socialism and Democracy: Reforms, not Revolution

17The turn of the 20^th century brought about extensive literature on the political and economic aspects of socialism. Authors not only compared two economic systems—socialism and capitalism—but also engaged in discussions about socialist visions in details, and Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska was one of them, next to Karl Kautsky, Eduard Bernstein and Rosa Luxemburg. One of her monographs devoted to this topic is Turn in Socialism (original title Przełom w socjalizmie) (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900), in which she compares concepts of socialist systems, starting from the classic approach of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, through the theoretical modifications that appeared at the time of her writing. Following Marx’s vision, she points out that the concentration of capital and enterprises is at the forefront of the theoretical debates (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 139). In her view, Marx suggests that in result of the competitive struggle under capitalism, large-scale production or big capital is victorious, while small production disappears. The concentration of capital and enterprises is accompanied by the formation of the proletariat and the decline of the middle class. Under capitalism, society is divided into two classes only: a minority of capitalists and a majority of workers without ownership of the means of production, forced to sell their labour force (proletariat). For Marx and Engels, the concentration of capital in a few hands appears as a historical tendency (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 140).

18Daszyńska-Golińska is not entirely convinced by this analysis. First, she criticises the idea of polarisation of classes between the proletariat, that is constantly increasing in number and awareness, and a small class of capitalists, as well as the claim that the middle class perishes together with small-scale production. According to her, such a simplification does not take into account the whole variety of factors which, in the form of talents, professions, jobs, earnings, unequal degrees of education and income, cannot reduce social elements to an increasingly homogeneous pattern. She points to Gustav von Schmoller and Karl Kautsky, who notice the emergence of a new middle class, which replaces the old class of artisans and small entrepreneurs (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 143). According to her, the ruling and labour-intensive classes are ceding more and more functions to paid intelligent forces. Daszyńska-Golińska stresses another important factor contributing to the emergence of the middle class, namely the democratisation of society, associated with a higher standard of living, wealth and culture of the broad segments of the population. These processes generate the demand for services provided by liberal professions. She concludes that the belief that society is divided into two distinctive classes (proletariat and capitalist) is false. The middle class is not perishing in a capitalist society. On the contrary, it is growing (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 146). And even though she admits that the working class is increasing, she claims that workers are not becoming poorer. And that leads her to believe that the socialist system will develop through a number of humanitarian reforms, not the revolution leading to communism (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 168-169).

19In the Marxist project of the future, development is dependent on production. This project does not take into account other sectors of the economy, neither exchange nor consumption. Meanwhile, Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska notices that a part of the exchange is becoming the property of the state and municipalities. It does not happen by a sudden social change, but by gradual socialisation. Consumption, organised via cooperative companies, becomes an increasingly conscious activity of the proletariat, threatening private trade. In her view, social democracy must take into account the cooperative movement (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 152). Daszyńska-Golińska agrees with two theorists who developed such a vision of gradual social change—Eduard Bernstein and Karl Liebknecht. Bernstein claims that the development of the socialist system does not exclusively depend on economic evolution, but assumes gradual democratisation. Democracy is the absence of a class rule, a social condition in which no class has political privileges over others. According to Daszyńska-Golińska, Bernstein builds his vision of municipal socialism based on institutions of city councils and other self-governing bodies. The development of a modern society aims at the continuous expansion of tasks that appear with the development of the society and economy and the expansion of municipal freedoms (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 155-157). Liebknecht focuses on the gradual transformation of capitalism into the socialist system by introducing new forms of organisation that change it from the inside (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 158). She also agrees with Paul Kampffmeyer, who claims that the working class, which increasingly takes over the leadership of politics and the economy, will gradually transform capitalism into a socialist system. Political and economic struggles are direct means of socialising the capitalist economic system (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 160).

20According to Daszyńska-Golińska, democracy is not only a type of governance but also a way of life, which can shape the method and form of socialism. Socialism wants to keep the technique of capitalist production while removing the personal gain that motivates individuals to work diligently (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 223). One might justifiably fear that in such a scenario, the feeling of responsibility will fade away, diminishing productivity. But Daszyńska-Golińska also believes that workers’ organisations will assume collective responsibility for the work they do and that workers will supervise one another (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 224). She writes that in the further development of socialism, proper consideration must be given to the economic (expressed in cooperative and professional associations) and moral aspirations of the proletariat. Otherwise, social democracy would become a party of one class only, on the way to a revolution (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 229). Her vision of historical evolution rejects Marx’s belief in the inevitability of revolution. Instead of the dependence of economic development on purely material factors, which are supposed to lead to revolutions by natural laws, moral factors come to the fore in development of society and economy (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 242).

21Also, when discussing the workers’ issue, Daszyńska-Golińska does not glorify Marx. Instead, she puts him in a long row of socialist thinkers, such as Robert Owen, Johann Karl Rodbertus, Jean de Sismondi, and Louis Blanc. In her later works, she emphasises the importance of attention and invention in the context of labour—work should not be mindless. Mechanical work should be automatised since it only involves simple, repeatable tasks (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1924a, 5). She points at the differences between skilled and unskilled labour and the tendency to eliminate tasks realised by unskilled labour. Skilled workers can more easily understand the goal of their tasks and their own interest in realising them, and their motivation cannot be substituted by surveillance. Responsibility for one’s own work is strictly linked to human dignity (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1924a, 6-7). According to her, division of labour is an obstacle to developing a sense of responsibility among the working class. Thus, division of labour and cooperation are inseparable. Heterogeneity of needs, recognised by the intellect, leads to division of labour followed by the exchange of goods and services. Empathy and cooperation are the basis of such relations (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1924a, 14-15).

22In her autobiographical notes published two years before her death, Daszyńska-Golińska describes her attitude towards socialism in the following way:

Apart from first years of absolute faith in Marx’s precept, I have not been an orthodox socialist unconditionally believing in socialist doctrine as a) I don’t accept the socialist theory of value, b) I have always had two objections regarding the concentration of capital which is not universal and even if it occurs, it can be a temporary phase, c) For long months I was worried whether the current social structure can transform itself in a socialist one through mechanical evolution. Finally, I averaged that it cannot happen in another way as through the medium of human efforts. Therefore, repudiation of defining the program for the future structure (as done by Marxists) is an impractical escape from responsibility, d) In the same manner, I don’t believe in social revolution. Political revolution can be done even in one night. Achieving social changes requires changes in human individualities: feelings and beliefs. It is less subject to external influence (law and institutions) than to social consciousness. It is possible through evolution of relations and a gradual change of feelings, opinions and habits. e) Socialism of Marx and his followers is missing religious and thus ethical elements. For me, this is a negative or moot point—apart from that, e.g. the whole world of critique towards the current social structure, empathetic attitude towards broad masses, idealisation of labour, makes socialism close and related to me (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1932, 23-24).

3.2. The Role of the State in Support of the Working Class

23The considerations focused on socialism as a socio-economic system led Daszyńska-Golińska to theorise about the role of the state in the economic system. She discusses Friedrich Engels’ claim that in every epoch, the state is a product of the economic conditions in which citizens live. Friedrich Engels sees an ideological aspect in the existence of the state—he considers it as an entity created by society to defend its interests. This ideological character changes once power of the state becomes more and more independent until it becomes an institution of one class and a tool to exploit other classes (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 161-162). Thus, communism seeks to overthrow the state. However, as Daszyńska-Golińska writes, it is difficult to imagine the socialisation of the means of production without a central institution which would integrate all the aspirations of society. Social democracy, then, must keep the concept of the state, rejecting only its present role among social classes. According to her, there are two trends in socialism regarding the role of the state: the transformation of the existing state and a gradual change into a socialist one, or a complete abolishment of the state and its transformation into independent communes or free groups that would organise themselves and merge with others (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 164).

24The transfer of means of production to the state became one of the themes developed by Daszyńska-Golińska, along the lines discussed by many schools of state socialism, especially German. After all, the majority of supporters of state socialism, like Karl Rodbertus and Adolf Wagner, both mentioned by Daszyńska-Golińska (1924a, 227) demand far-reaching state intervention in the relations between capital and labour. The very idea of nationalisation was put forward in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the Communist Manifesto, demanding the abolition of private property and justifying it by historical evolution. In practice, Bolshevik Russia implemented the following measures: (1) expropriation of land and use of land rent for state expenses, (2) abolition of inheritance law, (3) centralisation of credit in the hands of the state by a national bank with state capital and an unconditional monopoly, (4) centralisation of means of transport in the hands of the state, (5) multiplying the number of national (state) factories (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1924a, 228). According to Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska (1924b, 230), the Bolshevik experiment, in which social forces were to be replaced by a conscious organisation imposed from above (according to the principles of a general doctrine), did not stand the test of time.

25Referring to the Bolshevik reform and drawing on the first of the two trends regarding the role of the state in the socialism, Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska claims that Western democracy, which owes its power to self-help, fought too long against the state to allow the thought of losing freedom, even in favour of the people’s state and the dictatorship of the proletariat. Therefore, for her, the state has the role of the legislator (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1924, 231). Such a new socialism is about a social transformation, with the aim of collective appropriation of the means of production through the gradual limitation of inheritance rights and the freedom of will. The means of production become the property of the public only when public utility requires this (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1900, 243). Speaking of the role of the state, Daszyńska-Golińska emphasised that the state creates legal norms and guarantees compliance with them. State action, however, should not weaken individual initiatives. Moreover, she also emphasises that the local government has an important role in supporting the state (Giza, 2006, 169).

26Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska proposed an interesting interpretation of the national interests arising from economic relations, inspired by her interest in regaining independence by Poland. Referring to Fryderyk Skarbek and Friedrich List, she strongly asserts that economic patriotism is not less important than political patriotism and claims that it is the nation that should be the starting point for defining economic relations, especially when the existence of the state is threatened (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1918a, 13). According to her, it was in the interest of Polish statehood to support the working class through general and vocational education and care for its wellbeing. One justification for such a state action was political, as patriotism and willingness to defend the country depend strongly on mental development. The other was economic—in fact only workers were Polish in the industry which was of foreign origin—built upon foreign capital, using foreign resources and producing for foreign markets. Besides, a satisfied worker is likely not only to support the country but also to stimulate domestic demand. According to Daszyńska-Golińska, the growth in the domestic market can be further stimulated by appropriate tariff rates (protecting domestic industry) and agricultural reforms (increasing the standard of living and demand of rural areas). However, prosperity cannot be experienced without development of the industry and with unemployment of hundreds of thousands of people aggravating the discord between capital and labour. She saw the urgent need to create new job places to solve the problem of unemployment, prevent the spread of social revolution observed in the East and the West and entrench patriotic feelings among the working class (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1920, 52-53).

27This postulate can be linked with Daszyńska-Golińska’s works on social policy. According to her, social policy is the youngest of social sciences, strictly linked with the workers’ issue, and concerns reforms through which the state unfolds its care over the employees (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1927, 151-152). In her publication from 1924, Daszyńska-Golińska understands protection laws for workers as a result of the development of humanitarian and legal thought and as the manifestation of the social structure in which they were introduced. After World War I, protection laws ceased to be a remedy for social injuries but started to be an instrument of the creation of a new social structure in which the dependence of labour on capital is alleviated so that the system of hirelings is substituted with the work of free people (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1924a, 111). According to her, the social security system results from the employer’s responsibility for the existence of his employees. Hence, the belief that saving and putting aside a penny for a rainy day by individuals should be replaced by collective responsibility (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1929, 3). As a legal and public organization, it is responsibility of the state to care for its citizens in times of illness and misfortune because the state exists through them and for them. Daszyńska-Golińska witnessed the rise of new collective needs along with the changes in social awareness (expressed by the pursuit of raising work and housing standards and leisure time), urbanisation processes, the desire to move freely thanks to the invention of the railway, and the need to ensure the welfare of future generations (Giza, 2006).

28Among many other issues, which may and should be the subject of the obligation of the state, Daszyńska-Golińska points to the housing problem. In 1928 she claims that the eight-hour working day was the main achievement of the working class after World War I. Due to that achievement, people spend most of their lives in the apartments, their health, disposition, morality, and even the ability to work to a large extent depend on the housing environment. Housing thus becomes a public issue. The city can provide not only land for construction but also credit. The task of the municipal authorities is, therefore, to create institutions (banks, cooperatives, credit unions) that would facilitate the construction of housing projects. It is also up to the city and the government to build public buildings such as people’s homes, museums, universities, meeting and playrooms, as well as to maintain parks, street trees, squares, afforestation of suburban areas, meadows and coasts surrounding the city, as places which facilitate living conditions and improve the city’s hygiene. Daszyńska-Golińska was impressed by the Garden-city, the movement initiated at the end of the 19^th century in the United Kingdom (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1928, 287).

3.3. Women as Workers and Citizens: Heterogeneous Experiences for Different Classes and Occupations

30Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska started to write on the women’s question as early as in 1897 when she delivered a lecture Before tomorrow. Contemporary women’s movement and female workers (original title Przed jutrem. Współczesny ruch kobiecy wobec robotnic). She recognises that the first division of labour was between men and women. With the development of society, it turned out that women could (and often had to) undertake almost all types of work, for women gave rise to agriculture, pottery, fabric making, and even house building. Later, however, in the Middle Ages, their role was limited to a slimmer scope: they played a very minor role in medieval craftsmanship. They ran workshops as widows of masters with the help of skilled and liberated journeymen (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1924b). The industrial revolution in the second half of the 18^th century in England, and later in continental Europe, according to Daszyńska-Golińska again made women an indispensable factor in capitalist development. The massive demand for unskilled labour, the operation and the human complement of the machine pointed to women as the most convenient workforce—humble, undemanding, persistent, and skilful. This, however, instead of liberating women, led to abuses of freedom of contract by extending the working day and imposing starving wages, replacing adult male workers with women and children (Daszyńska, 1897). Finally, World War I drew women into industries that were supposedly purely male: metallurgical plants, and ammunition production. Increased demand in mechanical weaving led to the replacement of male workers by female ones. The enormity of the work done by women amazed governments and people, and according to Daszyńska-Golińska it was commonly admitted that women, replacing men, saved Europe from hunger and culture from destruction (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1918b, 5).

31Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska notices that class structure additionally complicates the situation of women since women face different kinds of struggles due to class differences. Men already perform paid activities that women from higher classes would like to undertake. Since there are not many job positions of this kind, men are not willing to share them with women, as this would mean increased competition. Whereas working class women encounter no problems with job opportunities due to the undervaluation of their work (Daszyńska, 1897). Daszyńska-Golińska points at the necessity of combining the interests of women from different classes to build the women’s movement. She claims that women’s task is to fight for new legal rights and job positions to help the poorest, since the fight for dignity and humanity is more important than fighting for privileges of the rich classes (Daszyńska, 1897).

32She analyses the reasons for the mass involvement of women in the labour market. And she concludes that it was not the development of industry or independent job positions for women but rather the low level of men’s wages and the necessity of performing paid activities by all members of the family. She notices that a female worker shares all the dark sides of work in industry, agriculture, and commerce with male workers. They belong to classes that do not possess tools of work and thus can only sell their own labour force. Female work, as well as male one, is subject to all fluctuations in competition, job precariousness, industrial crises, harms resulting from an excessively long working day, poor hygiene conditions, and low wages. She writes that the uncertain present does not bind the proletarian woman neither to her place of permanent residence nor to a specific occupation. Mobility of women increases faster than of men both within the country and as emigration of tens and hundreds of thousands of outgoing women every year (Daszyńska, 1897).

33Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska also pays attention to another problem – men and women working side by side (in spinning mills, for example) are paid differently, with women receiving less. Daszyńska-Golińska mentions this particular issue in many publications (e.g., Daszyńska-Golińska, 1921; Daszyńska-Golińska, 1925; Daszyńska-Golińska, 1927, 205) and emphasises that low wages affect the morality, health and work efficiency of female workers. She claims (Daszyńska, 1897) that women often consider their jobs as temporary, to which they were entitled to only until they get married, and women living with their parents, cover only part of their needs from their own earnings. According to her, such a perception of women as temporary workers is a harmful element that reduces wages. She points out that the working conditions similar to those of industrial workers are also experienced by women who come mainly from the middle class and work as shorthanders, cartoonists, lithographers, typewriters, etc. In these cases as well, the work of a woman is not remunerated the same as that of men. She points out that skilled and unskilled female workers receive the same remuneration per hour. This reflects a widespread acceptance of exploitation of the female labour force, with the highest pay of a female worker equal to the lowest pay of an unskilled and inexperienced male worker (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1920, 22). In her later publication from 1927, she goes back to this issue and writes that before WWI, women received, on average, 40-50% lower remuneration than men and their pay did not exceed that of juvenile workers. Due to low remuneration for their work, in the first half of the 19^th century, female workers were doomed to misery with consequences ranging from physical handicap, moral collapse, to excessive mortality of new-borns, in short, the misery of whole generations (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1927, 201). The misery of female workers had an international character. It manifested itself in chlorosis, diseases of reproductive organs, tuberculosis, premature senility. Poor nutrition made their organisms vulnerable to poison and dust present in factories. In tobacco factories, female workers fell for tuberculosis after ten years at the latest; in silk factories they suffered from rheumatism; in lead factories—from epilepsy, blindness, insanity etc. Industrial districts with a significant proportion of female labour force were characterised by higher numbers of miscarriages and greater mortality of new-borns. Children deprived of the care of their mothers during long hours were subject to illnesses and accidents (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1927, 202). Daszyńska-Golińska notices:

Capitalism, with its technique and division of labour, indiscriminately draws women into factory labour. In its brutal and spontaneous period (the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century), it simply preys on female material, which it acquires cheaply; gaining a humble and obedient worker, [capitalism] gives them starvation wages. … Protection of women’s work, healing of relations between factories, and the professional movement restore the balance in a way. … English Saturday, the reduction of women’s working hours on the continent, the introduction of women’s forces to labour inspectorates, and even breaks for breastfeeding infants, and finally, the care of sickness insurance funds for obstetricians and mothers put an end, thanks to the new law, to the most blatant abuses of capitalism (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1925).

34Drawing from historical analysis, she observes that the issue of raising the wages of women, making remuneration dependent not on gender but on the value of contribution and qualifications of the employee, becomes the first priority after WWI, almost next to the issue of the 8-hour working day. However, in most countries, including Poland, the equality of wages between the sexes remains a postulate of the distant future. And even though the Treaty of Peace of Versailles (signed on 28 June 1919) postulated “that men and women should receive equal remuneration for work of equal value” (Part XIII, Art. 427), women were still not admitted to better paid jobs, their career was discontinued due to pregnancies and motherhood, and society was not appreciating this role. Daszyńska-Golińska (1927) concludes that public opinion is thus passive regarding harm done to female workers.

35Daszyńska-Golińska also points at another category of female workers, namely domestic workers. In 1897 she writes that the greatest poverty and exploitation, the instability of earnings, and the longest working day can be found among domestic workers. Importantly, it was not only the matter of the wages being much lower than in the factory, but also the lack of care of industrial legislation that was not given to domestic workers. While describing their work, she points out that working time, which can result in a slightly higher wage only when excessive, stretches late into the night; a domestic worker does not actually have a house, because her room turns into a workshop, and her children turn into helpers. Besides, it is extremely difficult to get associated among the scattered workers who only meet by handing over, dependent on intermediaries, each of whom exploits them, and each one is careful not to solidarise with each other. In such a perspective factory work seems to be an unconditional progress as compared to domestic work. Daszyńska-Golińska comments on this issue in the following way:

It was easier to limit the direct use of women in the factory than the forms of exploitation which, under the name of domestic or cottage work, appear in the swamp of mass production. This extra work is paid below the minimum for life. And all kinds of confectionery: underwear, blouses, skirts, vests, pants are mostly housework, in cramped and stuffy apartments, from the earliest morning until late at night, interrupted by cooking dinner, rocking and taming children, carrying meals to the husband. A woman never rests because she fulfils the triple duties of a worker, housekeeper and mother (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1925).

36Despite writing about the female labour force and different paid activities performed by women, Daszyńska-Golińska recognises the economic significance of women’s unpaid work: “I call it intentionally not production, trade, but unprofessional organisation of the family economy” (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1917). This explains why she concludes that “in the view of the obligations and tasks of motherhood, one should think about how to prevent women from being excessively attracted to work, rather than about increasing the amount of earnings” (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1927, 203).

37As a consequence, Daszyńska-Golińska emphasises the necessity of the general provisions of the protection legislation for workers that must be complemented with special laws for the categories of workers whose physiological system, social role, weaker physical strength and considerations for future development require separate treatment (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1924, 129). In one of her articles (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1921), she writes that a woman—the mother of future generations—must be under special protection by the state. Daszyńska-Golińska further notices that the growth of the population is closely related to the paid work of women, which negatively influences infant mortality. She recommends a number of solutions which could improve conditions of work for mothers (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1924b, 133):

1) During pregnancy, a woman should be under medical supervision and stop working whenever necessary;

2) For a normal birth, a maternity rest of at least twelve weeks is needed for the newborn to develop to a normal weight and height, and for the mother to surround it with care after birth;

3) Since artificial food is inferior to mother’s milk, rational hygiene, therefore, requires that working mothers be given the opportunity, time and place, to breastfeed the infant;

4) Nurseries are also necessary, where small children are looked after during the time when mothers are forced to work.

38According to Daszyńska-Golińska, such a minimum protection of motherhood would mean recognition of the double role of women as workers and mothers. In her autobiographical notes, Daszyńska-Golińska wrote:

My attitude towards women’s question is vivid and heartfelt from my early juvenility. My first master was Mrs. [Paulina] Reinschmit Kuczalska [meritorious leader of women’s movement in Poland, note by Daszyńska-Golińska], however, I could never reach such a high emotional strain in this direction like hers. I occupied myself with the issue of women’s work, female professions, education, their political rights at last and I think that: a) We cannot forget that gender differences and resulting from them different types of life and passions cannot yield two groups comprising the same kind of individuals, b) Nevertheless, I am in favour of complete equality of women and therefore granting them full rights, education, and access to all positions and professions, c) Against this background a heterogeneity associated with psychological differences and social needs has to emerge, d) Full equality, access to every profession and each position is a postulate of social democracy and the only way through which the civilisation can benefit from virtues of woman’s soul which play the most important role in social reforms (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1932, 24).

3.4. Demography: Departure from Malthus

39Daszyńska-Golińska perceived the women’s question as important as demographic analyses and she often linked these two areas. For Daszyńska-Golińska, demography is a science that is concerned with observations of people, their state and movement, dependence on historical, social, ethical factors, and tendencies shaping population processes, which are analysed with well-established statistical methods (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1927, 4-6). When discussing the women’s question, she goes back to ancient times when childlessness started to proliferate among the Roman aristocracy. Due to fears of depopulation, regulations were put in place according to which motherhood (having three or four children) allowed Roman matrons to achieve almost full legal capacity. Thus, motherhood was the basis of equality of rights. Later, especially after coining the population theory by Malthus, an opposite tendency started to dominate—married women and mothers were excluded from rights that single women were entitled to. Allegedly, this was the expression of fears of a rapid demographic growth (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1927, 36-37).

41In short, Thomas Malthus predicted overpopulation and associated disasters, and Herbert Spencer believed that human reason could prevent this (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1927, 131), while Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska claimed that there is no general theory explaining demographic processes, but its elements are known. These are: 1) there is no risk of overpopulation, even if overpopulation arises at a given territory or in a given profession, disturbances are temporary, 2) demographic processes are no longer purely biological phenomena and started to be historical and social, 3) laws of demographic processes ceased to be natural laws and transformed themselves into historical, dependent on particular times and the state of knowledge and human will (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1927, 144). Daszyńska-Golińska justifies these elements by pointing at declining birth and death rates: rapid population growth rates are the result of declining death rates, not of high fertility (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1927, 144). Therefore, one can conclude that Daszyńska-Golińska was an important but forgotten forerunner of theories of demographic transition (cf., e.g., Notestein, 1945).

3.5. Vision of the Future: The Role of Cooperatives and Women

42In her writings, apart from focusing on past and present economic conditions, Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska poses the question about the future of the social system. She describes the prevailing system as being driven by greed, jealousy, intrigue, the oppression of the weaker by the powerful, and the exploitation of the worker by the capital owner (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1921, 5). And she believes that if the great landowner and capitalist cease to dominate, the misery of the exploited worker will end. The gate to this better future is through cooperatives. She points out that already a hundred years earlier, new forms of enterprises were created: factories, warehouses, farms, which did not belong to the rich private owners but to the working people. People created them themselves, maintained them with their own work and money, and managed them through their own officials (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1921, 3). According to her, the cooperative system removes the exploitation and domination of private capital, brings about better living conditions and can become the most important method of production and division, the form of life that will prevail in the future system (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1921, 4).

43She writes that the purpose of every paid activity is to meet people’s needs. Importantly, social provisioning can be done in ways different from the capitalist market, as demonstrated, for instance, by Robert Owen (Daszyńska-Golińska 1921, 17). Organisation is the crucial element of provisioning and is associated with power. In the organization, there is no longer a struggle, but mutual understanding, common goals and cooperation to achieve these goals (Daszyńska-Golińska 1921, 5). In cooperatives, as elsewhere, there is the workers’ question. However, the possible improvement in their situation comes from the fact that the same cooperativist who co-owns the association, might be employed in it as a labourer. And in this way, almost the darkest side of working-class life according to Daszyńska-Golińska—the impermanence of occupation—is reduced. Workers employed in cooperative factories face far fewer challenges of this kind (1921, 41). According to her, the form of a cooperative is better for workers than that of an individual enterprise which seeks profit and is based on the interest of the individual. Cooperatives are driven by: the sense of solidarity, respect for other people’s rights to prosperity, and management of the economic sphere, as well as the desire to release hidden energies and the ability to use them in the public interest. Only in an organisation based on democratic principles, such as a cooperative, it is possible to allow each member to have an equal influence over matters because, as a rule, one person casts one vote, regardless of whether he/she has a large or a small financial contribution.

44In one of the issues of At the Post (Na Posterunku) magazine (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1917), Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska writes precisely about cooperatives and women, pointing out that traditional women’s activities predestine them to such a form of economic activity since life and tradition have left the matter of consumption in women’s hands. She complains that, in the case of women’s activities, they mindlessly follow the same path as their mothers and grandmothers. However, at the same time, women do not lack innovative ideas, nor inventiveness, even in such traditional endeavours.

45Cooperatives destroy the capitalist system, but destroy them through peaceful work (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1921, 59). And peace is also a feature that describes women’s activities:

The policy of women, even in the raging war storm, was a policy of peace, and the civilisation of the future, provided that women are allowed to participate in it permanently, must be based on the elements of humanitarianism, must strive in every country to create a people's labour state, the goal of which will not be annexation, war and expansion of markets, but health, contentment and intellectual development of the widest possible masses (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1925).

4. Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska and Rosa Luxemburg: Diverging Paths

46The life and work of Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska overlaps partially the life and work of another Polish female economist—Rosa Luxemburg (born in 1871 in Warsaw). However, Rosa Luxemburg chose a different path in her career. After completing her PhD at the University of Zurich in 1898, she did not return to Poland but went to Berlin (that year Daszyńska-Golińska was no longer in Berlin, but in Kraków) and got involved in the socialist movement. She became a member of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), which was the most powerful and influential in the world at that time. According to Alexandra Kemmerer (2016, 854), Luxemburg became a communist icon, despite the fact that her intellectual voice was silenced through the selective choice of her works being published.

47In her work Rosa Luxemburg covered an impressive variety of topics, including leftist transnationalism, critique of imperialism, and social democracy. Tadeusz Kowalik, Polish economist, in his preface to the latest Polish edition of Accumulation of Capital (Luxemburg, 2011) writes that her works shaped the “golden age of Marxism” along with the works of Karl Kautsky, Otto Bauer, Rudolf Hilferding, Eduard Bernstein. According to Kemmerer (2016, 859), even though Luxemburg was celebrated as a German icon of Marxism, her writings were not fully appreciated. In Soviet bloc states Luxemburg was often criticised due to her critique of Marx in her opus magnum Accumulation of Capital, her concept of socialist democracy and her criticism of the Russian Revolution (cf. the introduction to the first Polish edition of Accumulation of Capital by Józef Zawadzki, 1963). Daszyńska-Golińska does not often refer to Luxemburg’s writings, and when she does, she is rather critical. For instance, Daszyńska-Golińska does not agree with Luxemburg and her adherents that the development of industry in the Kingdom of Poland was stimulated by the economic policy of the Russian government and the availability of Russian markets. She refers to research done by Henryk Radziszewski (1900), Ludwik Janowicz (1907) and others who found the evidence for roots of capitalistic industry in the Kingdom much earlier—in the deliberate economic policy conducted in the Duchy of Warsaw at the beginning of the 19^th century (Daszyńska-Golińska, 1914, 110).

48Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska claims that socialism and democracy are linked together. Interestingly, Rosa Luxemburg was also a proponent of socialist democracy beyond dictatorial party structures (Kemmerer, 2016, 855). Nevertheless, there are important differences between the two. Daszyńska-Golińska departed from orthodox Marxism, moving towards revisionism inspired mainly by Eduard Bernstein, while Luxemburg is a well-known critic of the revisionist movement in German socialism, who wrote pamphlets including critique of both Kautsky (1918) and Bernstein ([1908] 1970). In her essay entitled Reform or Revolution (Luxemburg, [1908] 1970), she clearly disagrees with the position that at the time of writing, many German socialists became revisionists. The assessment of the Russian Revolution by Daszyńska-Golińska seems to be similar to Luxemburg. However, Luxemburg’s critique was less pronounced. In a pamphlet written in prison in 1918, Luxemburg criticises the Bolshevik’s agrarian policy, their handlings of the national question, the abolition of the parliamentarian institutions and processes as well as of the dictatorship instituted by Lenin. Her vision of the socialist society consisted of socialist democracy in which the masses acted independently as subjects of revolution (Kemmerer, 2016, 856).

49Luxemburg wrote that the development of capitalism depends on the contradictory relationship with non-capitalist, so-called ‘natural’ economies, e.g. peasant economy. She points out that maintaining such subsistent, non-waged economies is an important source of cheap goods and services and that they serve as a market for capitalist output. The existence of non-waged economies also provides a surplus population to keep wages low. Additionally, there are pressures to integrate them into the capitalist system by transforming such subsistence workers into wage workers. In both cases, this leads to exploitation. Similar analysis could be employed in the explanation of women performing unpaid domestic labour, which has been in fact, done later by Maria Mies (1986). Luxemburg’s most important analysis presented in Accumulation of capital does not explicitly address the women’s question (Bergeron, 1999, 456). As it has been described in the earlier parts of the article, Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska could be classified as an important economist and feminist, but it is Rosa Luxemburg, who is acknowledged as such. Margaret Lewis (1999, 435) writes in The Elgar Companion to Feminist Economics that Rosa Luxemburg was an avowed feminist whose contributions corresponded to the activism in socialist movement.

50Rosa Luxemburg held a long-lasting friendship with Clara Zetkin, a German feminist, Marxist, communist and activist interested in women’s politics (Pakszys, 2012). Interestingly, differences between Daszyńska-Golińska and Luxemburg, to some extent, mirror the conflict between Lily Braun and Clara Zetkin in the socialist feminist movement. Both Daszyńska-Golińska and Braun were more moderate activists, interested in gradual reforms, while Luxemburg and Zetkin were more radical and orthodox Marxists. Luxemburg’s radical beliefs and attitude contributed to her tragic death. Rosa Luxemburg was murdered in Berlin in January 1919 (together with another leader of the Spartacus League, Karl Liebknecht) at the age of 47, as an aftermath of her engagement in the wave of strikes and riots called the Spartacus Revolt (Eley, 1989; Jacob, 2021, 96).

5. Concluding Remarks

51The scientific achievements of Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska are very important for the history of economic thought. She focused on work relations, women in the economy and society, and demography. However, she was mostly interested in Poland, since she was involved in rebuilding the country after regaining independence. Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska’s legacy shows that an interesting and valuable contribution might get lost. There is a question about the reason for this. Was it because she was a woman in a highly masculine profession, or because she was publishing mainly in Polish?

52Works of Zofia Daszyńska-Golińska include many concepts and theoretical insights there are currently discussed by economists, such as impact of demographics on the economy (with the causes of aging discussed already by her), heterogeneity of agents (men and women from more than two social classes, juvenile workers etc.), gender equality (women’s paid and unpaid work), automation of repeatable tasks, or sustainability within cities. Daszyńska-Golińska was deeply engaged in the struggle to improve the situation of women – both female workers, as well as women coming from the middle and upper classes, and today she is recognised as a feminist and activist (Gąsiorowska, 1936, 227; Leszczawski-Schwerk, 2016), even though in her autobiography, she has not used these labels herself. Her biography can be inspiring for contemporary generations of economists, activists and feminists, and her forgotten input is a lesson that there is much to be done to fill in the gaps in the herstory of economic thought.

We are indebted to two anonymous referees and Magdalena Małecka for their helpful and constructive comments which helped to improve the article, and to Francesco Sergi for advice and guidance. We are also grateful to conference and seminar participants at the 2021 Workshop “Women, Economics and History – Diversity within Europe” in Paris, 2022 International Women's Day Conference in Economics, Finance and Management in Katowice, and 2022 IAFFE Annual Conference in Geneva for their feedback.