A Value Theory of Inclusion: Informal Labour, the Homeworker, and the Social Reproduction of Value

Abstract

Critically engaging with Marxist-Feminist debates, this article argues that only interpretations of social reproduction as value-producing capture the features of contemporary informalised labour relations. Building on early social reproduction analyses and informed by debates in political economy of development and feminist geography, the article sketches a "value theory of inclusion" premised on the centrality of all labour to value-generation; accounting for different forms of exploitation; and stressing the dynamic interpenetration of production and reproduction in processes of labour-surplus extraction. By re-centring the geographical focus on the global South, the article illustrates this interpenetration by identifying three reproductive mechanisms of valuegeneration, based on: industrial housing arrangements; spatial processes of externalisation of reproductive costs across urban-rural divides; and processes of formal subsumption of labour, analysed with special reference to women homeworkers in India. An inclusive theorisation of value-generation is crucial for the development of inclusive politics, recognising exploitation in its varied manifestations. Resumen: A trav es de una discusi on critica de los debates marxistas-feministas, este art ıculo sostiene que solo las interpretaciones de la reproducci on social como productora de valor capturan las caracter ısticas de las relaciones laborales informales contempor aneas. Sobre la base de los primeros an alisis de la reproducci on social e utilizando debates contempor aneos propio de la econom ıa pol ıtica del desarrollo y de la geograf ıa feminista, el art ıculo esboza una teor ıa «inclusiva» del valor. Esta, partiendo de la premisa que todo trabajo genera valor, permitir ıa dar cuenta de las diferentes formas de explotaci on y de extracci on de plus valor que se encuentran en el cruce entre las din amicas de la producci on y de la reproducci on. Al volver a centrar el enfoque geogr afico en el Sur Global, el art ıculo ilustra este cruce identificando tres procesos de reproducci on social que permiten generar valor: el alojamiento de trabajadores en las fabricas o en las viviendas fabriles; la externalizaci on de los costos reproductivos en el espacio geogr afico, utilizando las divisiones entre los espacios urbanos y rurales; la subsunci on formal del trabajo, en particular con referencia a las trabajadoras a domicilio en la India. Una teorizaci on inclusiva de la generaci on de valor es crucial para el desarrollo de ideas y construcciones pol ıticas de clase inclusivas, reconociendo la explotaci on en sus variadas manifestaciones.

Merging the public and private spheres of women's work: Narratives from women street food vendors during Covid‐19 crisis

“…It is often argued that these two spheres cannot be described as “ two spatially separate, functionally independent activities ” (Peterson, 2000 ). Such a dichotomous separation of women's productive (paid) and reproductive (unpaid) work has been also contested by the proponents of Social Reproduction Theory who argue that this categorization has obscured women's contribution in the production process and devalued their work (Mezzadri, 2019 ).…”

Feminist global political economies of work and social reproduction

“…Third, many of the contributions presented here also show the central role played by social reproduction in paving processes of value generation (e.g. Mezzadri, 2020b); based on the way it structures industrial rhythms and times or externalise reproductive costs; on how it devalues women's work within and beyond the household with the complicity of the state or in its absence; or due to novel processes of commodification and commercialisation of reproductive work and its arrangements.…”

“…Moved by these considerations, and inspired by and building on a number of previous IPE contributions (in RIPE, see Steans & Tepe, 2010), in this special issue we explore social reproduction as a key analytical yet concrete lens to examine the complex and contested features of the global political economy of work from a feminist standpoint. We note that while the fortunes of social reproduction analyses have gained considerable momentum in recent times, with the exponential rise of numerous worthy studies and contributions, these mainly focus on the Global North and do not necessarily reflect the different ways in which reproductive sectors, institutions and realms may work across the Global South, nor the ways in which productive and reproductive work may interplay and co-constitute in economies largely characterised by agrarian and/or informal labour relations (Naidu & Ossome, 2016;Mezzadri, 2020b).…”

“…Bhattacharya, 2017;Ferguson, 2019). We contribute to these debates by exploring the purchase and/or limitations of arguments pointing at a 'crisis of social reproduction' (Fraser, 2014; in the Global South; through an engagement with the debate on the role of reproductive activities and realms for value-generation (Mies, 1986;Federici, 2004;Mezzadri, 2020b); through an analysis of the nature and features of the actors involved in shaping regimes of labour and work across production and social reproduction in the Global South (Kunz, 2010). Moreover, the issue also contributes to debates on the relations between exploitation and commodification, through its exploration of novel processes of commodification of reproduction and life, shaping new circuits of labour and survival in the context of the rising mercification of the (female) body and its 'fruits'.…”

Labour’s Spatial Fix: State Socialist Hungary in the 1970s

“…Household economies have also been a focus for some influential research in the Eastern European context (Smith and Rochovsk a 2007), which showed how commodified individual and household practices are intermingled with non-commodified ones in social reproduction. Nevertheless, how labour beyond wage labour and therefore social reproduction broadly understood, can be integrated into the concept of labour's spatial fix remains a blind spot for labour geography research (see also Mezzadri 2020;Strauss 2020). This research gap will be addressed in this paper through a Hungarian case study.…”