For what it’s worth: An examination of the persistent devaluation of “women’s work” in capitalism and considerations for feminist politics

Abstract

This article examines the gender division of labour as it has developed under capitalism, sketching the transformation of “women’s work” from Fordism to post-Fordism and the pending crisis of social reproduction of the present. Drawing on the work of early Marxist feminists who revealed the productivity of women’s reproductive labour in the home, it investigates the mechanisms that contribute to the persistence of the devaluation of women’s work and the gender division of labour which continues to hold women responsible for unpaid and underpaid care and reproductive labour. This analysis leads to the conclusion that the analytical framework of the Marxist feminists, which focuses on the relation between labour and value, cannot fully account for the persistence of gender economic equality. Attention must also be given to the broader social institution of gender beyond labour relations, which defines women as inferior to men. Thus, efforts to valorize women’s work will only succeed in combination with struggles to liberate women.