Social Reproduction : The Political Economy of the Labour Market

This book focuses on the relationship between the process of production of commodities and the process of social reproduction of the labouring population, and seeks to restore that problematic relationship to the central place it had in the analysis of Smith, Ricardo, and Marx. The argument is directly opposed to that of the wages-fund theorists, who rejected the classical view of labour as a very special type of commodity whose price was determined exogenously by material, historical and institutional factors. By substituting a strict supply-and-demand mechanism they and their followers effectively removed the whole question of social reproduction from economic theory. This rendered marginal or analytically invisible certain fundamental aspects of the system. In this investigation the author draws on the history of economic thought, social history, and applied economics, using the surplus definition of profit. The resulting perspective, centred on the relation between production and social reproduction, opens new directions for economic analysis. 1. Wages As Exogenous Costs Of Social Reproduction. 1.1. The Historical Context. 1.2. The Analytical Context. 1.3. Smith, Ricardo And Malthus On Wages. 1.4. The Supply Of Labour. 1.5. The Family And The State -- 2. The Displacement Effect Of The Wages Find Theory. 2.1. Introduction. 2.2. Malthus Versus Rechart. 2.3. James Mill. 2.4. Robert Torrens. 2.5. J. R. Mcculloch. 2.6. Conclusions -- 3. The Role Of The State In The Labour Market, I.e. Social Insecurity. 3.1. Starting From The Bottom. 3.2. The Royal Commission On The Poor Laws And Distress, 1905-9. 3.3. The 1834 Poor Law. 3.4. The Failure Of The 1834 Policies. 3.5. The Minority Report -- 4. Women And The Poor Law. 4.1. Victorian And Edwardian Housework. 4.2. Women And Poverty. 4.3. 'are Women Able Bodied?' -- 5. Women's Work At The Core Of The Labour Market. 5.1. The Work Of Reproduction. 5.2. Some Empirical Evidence. 5.3. Becker's 'home-economics'. 5.4. Two Jobs For One Wage. 5.5. Policy Perspectives. 5.6. Women And The State. 5.7. A Political Subject. 5.8. Conclusions -- 6. The Supply Of Labour As A Process Of Social Reproduction. 6.1. Standards Of Living: The Quality Of Labour. 6.2. Inherent Conflicts. 6.3. The Quantity Of Labour. 6.4. Supply And Demand. 6.5. A Different Approach. 6.6. A Starting Point. 6.7. A Critical Perspective. Antonella Picchio. Includes Bibliographical References. 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 illustrations of the social implications of this theoretical inadequacy. These examples reveal the general remoteness of housewives from market discipline, and the need for state intervention to offer them support. This book is a distinctive contribution to the development of a social-policy relevant theory of the labor market. Traces the insensitivity of post-classical economic theory to the fact that labour bears the cost of its own sustenance, taking the 1834 Poor Law and the reassessment of it in 1909 as illustrations of the social implications of this theoretical inadequacy - particularly in relation to women