Social Reproduction Under Lockdown: Capital, Labor, and Gender

Abstract

This article argues that the pandemic-related growth of the gendered burden of care work in the Global North ought to be understood as symptomatic of the entangled contradictions between capitalist accumulation and social reproduction, on the one hand, and between value-production and wealth-creation, on the other. The article addresses whether social reproductive labor produces value. The article, moreover, shows that pandemic-induced lockdowns have extended crises of social reproduction to relatively privileged middle-class households in OECD countries and particularly the US. The article argues that efforts to improve the conditions of reproductive work must move beyond proposals for a more equitable distribution of care work and the expansion of care infrastructure. HIGHLIGHTS Social reproduction is integral to capitalism but also points beyond capitalism. Marxian value-critique helps us better understand social reproduction. The COVID-19 pandemic extended crises of social reproduction to more households. The pandemic showed the need for radical solutions to crises of social reproduction. Redistributing reproductive labor and/or expanding public services is not enough. Wealth-production must be liberated from the capitalist value-form.