Social Reproduction Theory:
Understanding Life Under Capitalism

Social Reproduction Theory, children, family, elderly
Women




Conceptual

What is Social Reproduction?

Social reproduction refers to the processes that maintain and reproduce human life. These processes include childcare, education, healthcare, cooking, and emotional support. They ensure workers can show up ready for work each day.

Social reproduction is the name for this work that goes in to making and maintaining people. This work happens mostly at home and in communities. Women traditionally perform most of this unpaid labor.

Social Reproduction Theory (SRT) emerged from Marxist feminism in the 1970s. It explains how capitalism depends on unpaid domestic work. Without this work, the economic system would collapse.

Historical Origins

Social reproduction theory began with Italian feminists in the 1970s. Mariarosa Dalla Costa and Selma James wrote influential works on housework and capitalism. They argued that domestic labor creates value for capitalists.

Silvia Federici later expanded these ideas. She connected domestic work to the global expansion of capitalism. Her work showed how capitalism commodifies every aspect of life.

The theory evolved through several generations of feminist scholars. Each generation added new insights about race, colonialism, and global development.

Key Concepts and Framework

Social reproduction theory examines how capitalism depends on unpaid care work. This work includes:

  • Raising children who become future workers
  • Caring for sick and elderly family members
  • Preparing meals and maintaining households
  • Providing emotional support to workers
  • Maintaining social networks and communities

Social Reproduction theory pushes Marxism beyond its preoccupation with class, exploring how race and gender oppression are produced by capitalism. The theory shows how these different forms of oppression interconnect.

Relation to Global Development

Social reproduction theory reveals how global capitalism exploits women worldwide. Development policies often ignore unpaid care work. This creates additional burdens for women in developing countries.

Contemporary social reproduction feminism has demonstrated a new commitment ‘to examine the operations of capital, class, and gender not only within borders but also across them’. Scholars now study how global processes affect care work everywhere.

International development programs frequently fail women. They focus on formal employment while ignoring domestic responsibilities. This approach reinforces gender inequality rather than addressing it.

Major Criticisms and Debates

Social reproduction theory faces several criticisms from different perspectives. Some argue it reduces complex social relations to economic terms. Others claim it overemphasizes gender while neglecting other forms of oppression.

The critique of how the PRA hinders the production of emancipatory categories was made long ago; on one hand, by Marxist feminists such as Dalla Costa and Federici, and, on the other hand, by postcolonial, decolonial and materialist feminists. These critics argue the theory needs updating for contemporary conditions.

Recent scholarship debates whether the theory adequately addresses racial and colonial oppression. Some scholars argue it remains too focused on white women’s experiences.

In redefining social reproduction to mean only the reproduction of labor-power, Social Reproduction Theory has deemphasized a central insight of Marxist-feminism—the necessary role that household production plays in the reproduction of capitalist society. This criticism suggests the theory has lost some of its original insights.

Current State and Contemporary Relevance

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of social reproduction theory. Lockdowns made care work more visible. Schools closed, forcing parents to manage childcare and education simultaneously.

The unravelling of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has forcefully remarked the relevance of social reproduction as a key analytical lens through which we can interrogate and analyse contemporary capitalist processes. The pandemic revealed how dependent the economy is on unpaid care work.

Current research examines how technology affects care work. Digital platforms now organize domestic services. This creates new forms of exploitation while maintaining old patterns of inequality.

Climate change adds new dimensions to social reproduction. Environmental degradation increases care burdens. Women often bear the heaviest costs of ecological destruction.

Important Organizations and Scholars

Several key figures shaped social reproduction theory. Silvia Federici continues to write influential works on capitalism and care. Her recent books examine how capitalism colonizes everyday life.

Thinkers such as Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya and Nancy Fraser connect the domestic and economic spheres so as to understand the systemic nature of global gender inequality. These scholars represent the current generation of social reproduction theorists.

Susan Ferguson has written extensively on the theory’s development. Her work bridges earlier feminist insights with contemporary analysis.

Organizations promoting social reproduction research include:

Global Perspectives and Variations

Social reproduction theory varies across different global contexts. Postcolonial feminists add insights about colonialism and development. They show how imperial exploitation affects care work worldwide.

The concept of social reproduction has gained renewed interest in the past decade. Discussed and elaborated by generations of feminists, the concept offers a rejection of productivism. This renewed interest reflects growing awareness of care work’s importance.

Different regions face unique challenges. Rural areas often lack basic infrastructure for care work. Urban areas may have services but at costs many cannot afford.

Contemporary Challenges

Modern capitalism creates new pressures on social reproduction. Neoliberal policies cut public services. This forces families to provide more care privately.

They stress the exposure of racialised people to greatly depleting processes of work across the history of capitalism, and how they may be made into surplus labour and/or surplus populations. These processes particularly affect marginalized communities.

Globalization separates families across borders. Migrant workers often cannot care for their own families. They provide care for wealthy families while their children receive less attention.

Technology and Social Reproduction

Digital technology transforms care work in complex ways. Apps connect care workers with clients. However, these platforms often exploit workers through low wages and poor conditions.

Social media creates new forms of emotional labor. People must manage online relationships alongside offline ones. This adds to existing care burdens.

Artificial intelligence may automate some care tasks. However, many aspects of care work require human connection and empathy.

Policy Implications

Social reproduction theory suggests several policy directions. Universal basic services could support care work. This includes free childcare, healthcare, and education.

Governments could recognize care work through paid leave policies. Some countries provide parental leave and elder care support. However, most policies remain inadequate.

International development aid could prioritize care infrastructure. This means investing in hospitals, schools, and community centers rather than just economic growth.

Looking Forward

Social reproduction theory continues evolving to address contemporary challenges. The capitalist world-ecology constantly organises and reorganises states, ethnic groups and households in a historically dynamic way to respond to and contain capitalist crises of decreasing profitability. This dynamic process requires ongoing analysis.

Future research must address climate change’s impact on care work. Environmental degradation increases care burdens while reducing resources. This creates new forms of inequality that theory must explain.

Technology will continue transforming care work. Scholars must examine whether digital platforms liberate or exploit care workers. The answer likely depends on how societies regulate these technologies.

The theory must also address aging populations worldwide. Most countries face growing elder care needs. This creates new demands on social reproduction that existing systems cannot meet.

International cooperation could support care work globally. This might include technology transfer, funding for care infrastructure, and policies protecting migrant care workers.

Social reproduction theory offers tools for understanding these challenges. However, it must continue evolving to remain relevant. The theory’s future depends on incorporating diverse perspectives and addressing contemporary realities.

The ultimate goal remains the same: creating societies that value care work and support human flourishing. This requires fundamental changes to how economies organize and value different types of labor.

Sources and Links

Supporting social reproduction is central to the prospects of enduring peace

By Jay Lingham and Melissa Johnston

Oct 2, 2019 – Social reproduction refers to the reproduction of social life, which includes biological reproduction, the unpaid production of goods and services in the home, social provisioning such as voluntary work to maintain communities, and the reproduction of culture and ideology. Such work is, by and large, undertaken by women, who also engage in paid productive work in the double shift of labour long identified by feminists.
> opendemocracy.net/hidden-work-post-conflict-recovery