Capitalism and the production of uneven bodies: women, motherhood and food distribution in Britainc.1850–1914

Abstract

This article argues that processes of social reproduction are central to our understanding of body formation under capitalism. Articulated through a feminist historical materialist framework founded on a social ontology that recognises the material foundation of social life as constituted of both productive and reproductive activities, this paper develops the concept of uneven body as a more holistic approach integrating into corporeal geography a social reproduction lens. I explore the social and historical analytical capacity of the concept through a study of food distribution in Britainc.1850–1914 in order to reveal how certain bodies absorbed, mediated and embodied contradictions between production and social reproduction.