Crystallizing the essential principles of social reproductive theory, this anthology provides long-overdue analysis of everyday life under capitalism. It focuses on issues such as childcare, healthcare, education, family life, and the roles of gender, race, and sexuality--all of which are central to understanding the relationship between exploitation and social oppression. Tithi Bhattacharya brings together some of the leading writers and theorists, including Lise Vogel, Nancy Fraser, and Susan Ferguson, in order for us to better understand social relations and how to improve them in the fight against structural oppression.

In Marx, Women and Capitalist Social Reproduction, Martha E. Gimenez offers a distinctive perspective on social reproduction which posits that the relations of production determine the relations of social reproduction, and links the effects of class exploitation and location to forms of oppression predominantly theorised in terms of identity. Grounding her analysis on Marx’s theory and methodology, Gimenez examines the relationship between class, reproduction and the oppression of women in different contexts such as the reproduction of labour power, domestic labour, feminisation of poverty, and reproductive technologies. Because most women and men, whether members of dominant or oppressed groups, are working class, she argues that the future of feminist politics is inextricably tied to class politics and the fate of capitalism.

Exploring difficult and crucial aspects of the transnational gender politics of globalization, this book provides a unique and valuable introduction to the history of the concept of social reproduction from an inter-disciplinary perspective.

"As an introductory text, The Global Political Economy has much to offer. It presents theoretical material clearly and concisely, offers an up-to-date review of the academic literature, and reviews a wide range of issues current in policy circles."--Thomas Ilgen, Pitzer College, Perspective.

Using a feminist political economy approach, contributors document the impact of current socio-economic policies on states, markets, households, and communities. Relying on impressive empirical research, they argue that women bear the costs of and responsibility for care-giving and show that the theoretical framework provided by feminist analyses of social reproduction not only corrects the gender-blindness of most economic theories but suggests an alternative that places care-giving at its centre. In this illuminating study, they challenge feminist scholars to re-engage with materialism and political economy to engage with feminism.

Where pregnancy is concerned, let every pregnancy be for everyone. Let us overthrow, in short, the “family” The surrogacy industry is estimated to be worth over $1 billion a year, and many of its surrogates around the world work in terrible conditions—deception, wage-stealing and money skimming are rife; adequate medical care is horrifyingly absent; and informed consent is depressingly rare. In Full Surrogacy Now, Sophie Lewis brings a fresh and unique perspective to the topic. Often, we think of surrogacy as the problem, but, Full Surrogacy Now argues, we need more surrogacy, not less! Rather than looking at surrogacy through a legal lens, Lewis argues that the needs and protection of surrogates should be put front and center. Their relationship to the babies they gestate must be rethought, as part of a move to recognize that reproduction is productive work. Only then can we begin to break down our assumptions that children “belong” to those whose genetics they share. Taking collective responsibility for children would radically transform our notions of kinship, helping us to see that it always takes a village to make a baby.

Written by leading authorities from Europe, the Americas and Asia, this path-breaking work develops an innovative and original theorization of global political economy. Whilst most approaches theorize global political economy from the perspectives of power and production or states and markets, this work argues that what feminists call social reproduction is a more basic framework, upon which most forms of power and production, and states and markets, must necessarily rest. By combining Feminist and Radical Political Economy with Critical International Studies, the volume explores how global transformations of states, growth in the power of capital, and extension of market values and market forces in everyday life, all affect the security of the majority of the population, and the reproduction of communities and societies. The book shows how public and private forms of power regulate three main aspects of social reproduction: biological reproduction; reproduction of labour power; and social practices connected to caring and provisioning of human needs.