Political Economy and the Household: Rejecting Separate Spheres

In: Studies in political economy: SPE ; a socialist review, Heft 17, S. 167-177

Abstract

The assumption of separate market & household spheres has been widely held by feminist as well as by nonfeminist theorists, despite increasing evidence for interpenetration of the household & the economy. Recent literature documenting this theme is reviewed, including works by Susan Strasser (Never Done: A History of American Housework, New York, 1982), Ruth Schwartz Cowan (More Work for Mothers: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave, New York, 1983), & Dolores Hayden (The Grand Domestic Revolution: A History of Feminist Designs for American Homes, Neighborhoods, and Cities, Cambridge, Mass, 1981). The current structure of the US household & family appears as largely a product of deliberate efforts by capital to give the Wc interests & living conditions that would induce them to cooperate with capital. Though these authors do not consistently support a Marxist interpretation of their evidence, they provide a strong case for recognizing the linkage of the personal & the political. W. H. Stoddard