Depletion

Abstract

In this article we explore the concept of depletion through social reproduction (DSR). We describe depletion, identify its key indicators and suggest different methodologies that could be used to measure it. We discuss issues having to do with gendered harm as well as questions about how depletion might be reversed. We conclude that recognizing DSR in this way can be a powerful tool for understanding the consequences of non-recognition of the value of domestic work to national economies, as well as the harm that might accrue in the doing of this work at both a systemic and individual level.---

Dispossession and the Depletion of Social Reproduction

“…Drawing on Diane Elson's () conceptual framework of these multiple dimensions of social reproduction, Rai et al develop the concept of depletion which they define as “the level at which the resource outflows exceed resource inflows in carrying out social reproductive work over a threshold of sustainability, making it harmful for those engaged in this unvalued work” (:88–89). Resource outflows could include unpaid domestic, subsistence, caring and voluntary community labour, while replenishing resource inflows could include health care, welfare provisioning and community support networks.…”

“…To identify the gendered consequences of dispossession faced by the Miyana, this paper draws on Edholm et al's () conceptualization of three types of social reproduction to examine the gendered dynamics of access to productive resources and division of labour in fisher households. I will then use the concept of depletion (Rai et al ) to analyse the flows of resources within fisher households under conditions of dispossession.…”

“…Yet gender remains under‐theorized in the now well‐developed literature on dispossession, and Nancy Hartsock's (:187) observation in her critical review of Harvey that “this round of primitive accumulation is not gender neutral but is built on the backs of women” has gone largely unheeded except for the work of feminist scholars (Casolo and Doshi ; Federici ; Keating et al ; White and White ). This paper contributes to the analysis of the gender dimensions of dispossession by bringing the literature on dispossession into conversation with the feminist literature on social reproduction, specifically the concept of depletion of social reproduction (Rai et al ). The paper uses an empirical case study of the multiple vectors of dispossession that confront the Miyana, a Muslim fisher community dependent on the arid, semi‐desert region of the Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) in Gujarat, India for their traditional livelihoods of seasonal prawn harvesting and artisanal salt production.…”

“…The paper uses an empirical case study of the multiple vectors of dispossession that confront the Miyana, a Muslim fisher community dependent on the arid, semi‐desert region of the Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) in Gujarat, India for their traditional livelihoods of seasonal prawn harvesting and artisanal salt production. Foregrounding social reproduction as a central axis of analysis, the paper offers a set of theoretical propositions using the concept of depletion (Rai et al ) as a diagnostic tool to assess the gendered consequences of the dispossession faced by the Miyana.…”

Wench Tactics? Openings in Conditions of Closure

“…Certainly feminists have good reason to be wary of calls for a kind of continuous opening. Being continuously open risks depleting the very bodies we need to sustain critical engagement (Rai et al 2014).…”