The Financialisation of Social Reproduction: Domestic Labour and Promissory Value

Social Reproduction Theory: State of the field and new directions in geography

“…Unable to repay their microcredit loans, poorer families were driven to sell their lands, switch to cash-crops, or mechanize their production, fueling the transition to capitalist agriculture, increasing the reliance of farming households on remittances and market goods, and clearing the path for alternate and often more predatory forms of credit. Thus, farming households now "juggle a variety of debt obligations in order to meet their basic needs" (Green, 2020), reconfiguring their socially reproductive practices around financial calculation (Adkins & Dever, 2016) as opposed to agricultural production. As households increas-ingly care for debt at the expense of social reproduction (Karaagac, 2020) debt in turn is shaping a new agricultural landscape.…”

“…In the context of sustained economic crises, austerity measures have transferred the costs of social reproduction from the state to ‘ordinary people’ (Bhandar & Ziadah, 2020), entailing “a widening and deepening dependence on assets and personal and household debt for survival” (Pollard et al., 2020, p. 3). At the same time, as socially reproductive labor becomes increasingly commodified and supplied through global migration, an alternate path for the production of financial value has emerged, linking reproductive work with global economic growth and capital accumulation via financial speculation (Adkins & Dever, 2016). These shifts describe a process of ‘financialization of everyday life’ (R. Martin, 2002), suggesting that financialization and social reproduction are intimately related operations (Adkins & Dever, 2016; Roberts, 2016).…”

“…At the same time, as socially reproductive labor becomes increasingly commodified and supplied through global migration, an alternate path for the production of financial value has emerged, linking reproductive work with global economic growth and capital accumulation via financial speculation (Adkins & Dever, 2016). These shifts describe a process of ‘financialization of everyday life’ (R. Martin, 2002), suggesting that financialization and social reproduction are intimately related operations (Adkins & Dever, 2016; Roberts, 2016).…”

Social reproduction, finance and the gendered dimensions of pawnbroking

“…The linking of social reproduction to global financial markets – or what some have called ‘the financialization of social reproduction’ (Adkins & Dever 2016; Federici 2014; Roberts 2016) – is both central to the on-going expansion of financial power and accumulation and to the ability of households to reproduce themselves. At the same time, it has rendered social reproduction increasingly precarious as it is linked to financial markets and their attendant crises in new ways.…”

“…Others have further shown how social reproduction has increasingly become linked to global financial markets through other forms of debt, ranging from microcredit (much of which is now securitized and exchanged on global markets) to private pension plans (Federici 2014;Pollard 2013;Strauss 2009). The linking of social reproduction to global financial markets -or what some have called 'the financialization of social reproduction' (Adkins & Dever 2016;Federici 2014;Roberts 2016) -is both central to the on-going expansion of financial power and accumulation and to the ability of households to reproduce themselves. At the same time, it has rendered social reproduction increasingly precarious as it is linked to financial markets and their attendant crises in new ways.…”