For a critique of expanded capitalism
A dialogue between the theories of social reproduction and materialist feminism.
Keywords:
expanded capitalism, social reproduction, Materialist feminism, Marxist feminism, general theory of exploitationAbstract
This article proposes a comparative reading of two contemporary feminist theories that develop new analyses of capitalism: Nancy Fraser's theory, based on the concept of cannibal capitalism, and Christine Delphy's theory, which seeks to construct a general theory of exploitation. Both analyses highlight the need to transcend (or expand) classical Marxism to make visible other forms of exploitation/dominance, which are conceptualized either as background conditions of the economic production process or as structural social relations. Based on this analysis, we aim to show the convergences between Fraser's post-Marxist or post-socialist feminist approach and Christine Delphy's materialist feminist approach, but also the distances that motivate their self-identification within different currents, all situated within anti-capitalist (non-liberal) feminisms. Ultimately, this will allow us to draw a contrast between the theories of social reproduction and materialist feminisms in France, a dialogue that has been scarcely addressed to date and which, as we will argue, warrants a specific analysis of how the material bases of capitalist oppression and their mechanisms of operation are understood.
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