engleski

Marx and Social Reproduction Theory

If our task is to propose a theoretical and historical model best suited for understanding the origins of the oppression of women under capitalism, then we should without a doubt consult Marx. Although we cannot speak of a systematic analysis of the oppression of women in any of Marx’s work, his explanatory methodological framework is key for a feminist analysis of women’s oppression. Marx’s critique of the trans-historical assumptions of classical political economy, his definition of the specificity of capitalist societies as a “collection of commodities”, as well as his account of the circulation of capitalist production and reproduction as a whole, are fundamental elements of social reproduction theory (SRT). Starting from these Marx’s theses in CapitalSRT focuses on one specific aspect of the relation between productive and reproductive labour which is left undertheorised and undeveloped in Marx. What we are referring to are the implications of Marx’s famous theory of the circular course of capital, which describes how surplus value is created through the processes of production and reproduction, described by the formula M-M’. It is exactly this formula that serves as a starting point for SRT because it provides an entry into Marx’s “tacit” issue on the link between the market and household relations. Following from the above, the task of this presentation is to reflect on a connection between Marx’s critique of political economy and SRT and to focus on what is not “visible” in the process of production – we will ask what kind of processes enable a worker to show up at her workplace and examines the conditions of her existence and the social processes related to those conditions.

Marx ; Social Reproduction Theory ; surplus value ; productive and reproductive labour ; dual-systems theory and unitary methodology

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