Social reproduction: the Achilles heel of feminist transformation?

Shirin M. Rai and Catherine Hoskyns

Chapter 49 in Handbook on Gender in World Politics, 2026, pp 324-330 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter argues that social reproduction – encompassing biological reproduction, domestic labor and the reproduction of culture and ideology – is the ‘Achilles heel’ hindering feminist transformation. Despite its foundational role in sustaining economies and societies, social reproductive work is largely unvalued and excluded from economic calculations like GDP, a practice standardized by the UN System of National Accounts. This exclusion renders invisible the immense subsidy that unpaid labor, disproportionately performed by women, provides to the market. The authors trace feminist debates on this topic, from calls for ‘wages for housework’ to analyses of how structural adjustment and austerity policies intensify the burden on women. They advocate for methodologies like time-use surveys to measure and value this work, arguing that recognition is crucial for addressing the ‘depletion’ of caregivers’ resources and achieving genuine gender justice. Without confronting this systemic invisibilization, progress toward an equitable society remains fundamentally flawed.

Keywords: Social Reproduction; Unpaid Work; Care Economy; Feminist Economics; Gender Justice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781803923765
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