Reproductive work against productivism from the Decent Work Agenda to the SDGs

Alessandra Mezzadri

Chapter 13 in The Elgar Companion to Decent Work and the Sustainable Development Goals, 2025, pp 163-174 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Exploring debates on domestic and care labour inside the household, their role within capitalism, and their progressive marketisation, this chapter analyses the features of ‘reproductive work’ and its relationship with ‘productive work’ . It argues that reproductive work is foundational to all labour given its role in regenerating The Worker. Yet, it is systematically devalued worldwide, in ways that neither the Decent Work Agenda (DWA) nor the SDGs framework have managed to counter. In fact, the analysis shows how both these policy frameworks have reproposed productivist understandings of what constitutes 'work', and reflects on the implications and ways forward. Starting with a review of household economics debates, the analysis builds on both Early Social Reproduction Analyses (ESRA) and Social Reproduction Theory (SRT), to explain, respectively, the value-generating nature of reproductive work and its marketisation under neoliberalism.

Keywords: Business and Management; Development Studies; Economics and Finance; Sociology and Social Policy; Sustainable Development Goals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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