The original sin was not woman’s deed: from marxism to feminist political economy

Abstract

In this text, I review Marxist conceptualization of primary accumulation. I then highlight a series of authors who are either explicitly feminists or have been influenced by feminism, and their emphasis on the “extra-capitalist” conditions that allow the creation of capitalist social relations. Among these conditions, the forced separation of the processes of reproduction and production and the subordination of the former to the latter are central to primary accumulation. In an effort to land this discussion on the sphere of public policy, I then analyze the gender premises behind the provision of social rights in Spain and, more specifically, behind the retirement pensions system. In this analysis, I show that the logic behind the provision of rights stems from a continuation and intensification nowadays of the separation between reproduction and production. Lastly, I reflect on possible routes to enunciate social protection public policy from a feminist perspective