The political economy of patriarchal accumulation

Melissa Johnston

Review of International Political Economy, 2025, vol. 32, issue 6, 1864-1894

Abstract: This paper investigates an empirical puzzle in brideprice that raises issues for social reproduction approaches’ unitary framework of ‘capitalist-patriarchy’. In Timor-Leste, brideprice averages around US$5000, but can be up to US$120,000. Fieldwork revealed that aunts and sisters of the groom pay a substantial portion of the brideprice, while uncles of the bride receive most of the brideprice. This results in a net flow of brideprice goods and cash from women to men. The paper argues brideprice is part of a commodity circuit that is also motivated by men’s interests, rather than by capitalism alone. It develops the concept of ‘patriarchal accumulation’: the end point of a repetitive process of appropriation and accumulation of surplus labour and commodities aimed at reproducing the social relation of men’s domination and women’s subordination. In demonstrating the utility of patriarchal accumulation, the paper suggests that unitary theories of capitalist-patriarchy may insufficiently address situations where men have institutionalised the direct appropriation of women’s labour and the commodities they produce. While social reproduction analyses of the imbrication of capitalism and patriarchy in a unitary system will always be salient, patriarchal accumulation could be a useful political economy tool to analyse patriarchal drivers of resource distribution and inequality.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2025.2513381

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