Social Reproduction: The Political Economy of the Labour Market

An important characteristic of labor that distinguishes it from capital is that it bears the costs of its own sustenance, the extent to which it does so varying with different institutional arrangements. Economic theory has generally overlooked this, one consequence being that it has neglected the distinctive role played by women. This book traces the deepening insensitivity of post-classical economic theory to this issue, taking the 1834 Poor Law and the reassessment of it in 1909 as illus...