Social Production in a Capitalist World Market

This chapter sets out Marx’s ‘general law of social production’ and addresses its implications for the world of work and for gender, household, and family relations. Marx and Engels understood production to include the production of life itself and of individuals from day to day. At the same time, they thought that the development of industry on a global scale would transform social relations in ways that previous forms of production did not, as technological innovation led to increased division of labour and demanded versatile, flexible, and mobile workers. They were acutely attentive to the impact of these changes on families and households, but in their own lifetimes this was relatively limited. A comparison between gender relations, families, and households in their day and today shows how these have been transformed as capitalism has developed, and suggests, contrary to the arguments of some ‘social reproduction’ theorists, that capital tends without limit to penetrate and transform the ‘domestic sphere’. As women enter the labour market in increased numbers, they postpone or reject childbearing, while the ‘male breadwinner’ and the ‘nuclear family’ become increasingly uncommon. The proponents of the politics of global competitiveness embrace these changes, as they make for more competitive labour markets and a larger and more productive workforce.