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Essay On Social Reproduction

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Social reproduction is a term coined to describe the process of reproducing workers for the labour market. Although social reproduction is focused towards the labour market, Armstrong and Peck distinguish larger processes at work such as gender roles in the household as well as the role of the state in social reproduction. Peck, Armstrong, and Taylor & Rioux explore various ways that social reproduction is accomplished, such as the role of labour regimes and the state. With regards to the gender division of labour, Marglin, Federici, and Gaskell explore how social reproduction has contributed to women and men being treated differently through processes such as the devaluation of skill. With the knowledge of the process of social reproduction, …show more content…

Whether reproducing workers or gender norms, social reproduction can be defined as the process of reproducing the capacity to continue working, leading to the reproduction of the pseudo-commodity known as labour power. The reproduction of this labour power is reliant upon unwaged, domestic labour to help replenish the labourer for the next day of work. Reproducing this worker, typically the male breadwinner, is reliant upon women’s unpaid labour, creating the nuclear family form. Armstrong believes social reproduction involves the processes of “socializing children, repressing sexuality, and instilling appropriate hierarchical relationships through the education of future workers” (Armstrong, [ ] , p. 74). Peck views social reproduction in a spherical configuration, distinguishing the multiple factors involved in reproducing people, such as education, training, the media, and biological procreation (Peck, [ ], p. 38). Peck also explains that social reproduction not only exists in the labour market but also within the household, community and the state (Peck, [] , p. 38). Both Peck and Armstrong distinguish that social reproduction involves processes beyond the labour market. The socialization of children and workers, along with gender norms that attribute men as breadwinners and women as domestic workers encompass the sphere of social

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