Feminist Perspectives on Work and How It Developed Over Time
Marxism:
Marxism refers to ideas originating from the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and has relevance for how socialists, Marxists and feminists understand the intersections between work, class, gender and society. One of the core ideas of Marxism is that the world is divided into classes: the workers on one hand, and the wealthier capitalists who exploit and profit from the labour of workers on the other.
Marxist-Feminist Analyses:
Marxist feminists built on the work of Engels by examining the sexual division of labour inherent to capitalism to reveal women’s exploitation. Marxist feminists have focused on topics such as women’s gendered roles within marriage, women’s sexual practices, women’s work in the home and in the public sphere, and the sexual division of labour. During the first-wave feminist movement, Marxist feminists such as Mary Harris “Mother” Jones (1837-1930) and Alexandra Kollonti (1872-1952) drew attention to the situation of working-class women as workers, exposing exploitative working conditions and proposing policies that would address gender imbalances in the private and public sphere, such as state-subsidised child care.
Analyses of housework:
During second-wave feminism, various feminist debates centred around theories of how housework oppresses women. One school of thought argued that, because housework is unpaid, women are more likely to be dependent on men and devalued as contributors as their labour existed outside of the sphere of public economic production. Other feminists went further. Silvia Federici, for example, argued in her 1975 publication, Wages Against Housework, that housework is part of the social reproduction of capitalism: as the necessary work of reproducing the working classes (through reproductive labour, childcare and housework) is unpaid, this increases the profits that capitalists accumulate from paid labour. Federici and other feminists who subscribed to this analysis made this the basis of their demands for wages for housework.
Social Reproduction Theory:
Social Reproduction Theory (SRT) is a framework of analysis that explores the relationship between oppression and exploitation by examining the social processes that produce labour power as a commodity. SRT theorists argue that the daily renewal of human life (and therefore human labour power) is essential to the continuation of inequality and capitalism. This framework of analysis pushes beyond earlier feminist engagement with ideas of social reproduction, work and care. Recent works (such as the 2017 publication, Social Reproduction Theory: Remapping Class, Recentering Oppression) grapple not just with gender and gender inequality, but with how other oppressions – race, colonialism, class and sexuality – are also implicated within exploitative capitalist systems. SRT analyses extend the focus beyond the private sphere of the family and a focus on familial reproduction and labour, pointing instead to other ways in which the worker is ‘produced’. Immigration or slavery, for example, or access or denial of access to healthcare, amenities or education affect and are crucial to the social reproduction of the working classes.‘Marxism teaches us that, in the capitalist mode of production, it is workers who produce commodities, and that is the beating heart of the system, but Social Reproduction Theory asks the question that if workers produce commodities, who produces the worker?’ Tithi Bhattacharaya
Intersectional Feminist Analyses:
The concept of intersectionality (a term coined by professor of law, Kimberlé Crenshaw, in 1989) refers to the complex and often cumulative ways that different forms of oppression or discrimination – such as racism, sexism and classism – overlap and affect people. The adoption of an intersectional lens of analysis cautions against some of the over-generalisation that other feminist approaches to work and care have fallen prey to. Women in general may perform more unpaid labour in the household than their male partners and there are gendered inequalities between men and women regarding wage levels, career opportunities and working environments. Yet, inequality in the workplace and in the allocation of unpaid caring responsibilities is not solely about gender difference. Ethnicity, race, class background, sexuality, and ability or disability are also significant factors in the opportunities and obstacles that people face in their working lives. Multiple forms of oppression can interrelate to strikingly differentiate the experiences of women. For example, an able-bodied, middle-class, white woman is presented with certain advantages over, say, a working-class, disabled, woman of colour; advantages such as the ability to afford childcare and to not suffer discrimination based on race or ability. Intersections of advantage or oppression therefore pose the potential to either alleviate or compound the negative implications of capitalism and patriarchy. Intersectional approaches provide a way to understand how informal and formal hierarchies create and preserve differing levels of inequalities in working and caring responsibilities.
A Global History of Sex and Gender: Bodies and Power in the Modern World

Our purpose is to transform access to education.
We offer a diverse selection of courses from leading universities and cultural institutions from around the world. These are delivered one step at a time, and are accessible on mobile, tablet and desktop, so you can fit learning around your life.
We believe learning should be an enjoyable, social experience, so our courses offer the opportunity to discuss what you’re learning with others as you go, helping you make fresh discoveries and form new ideas.
You can unlock new opportunities with unlimited access to hundreds of online short courses for a year by subscribing to our Unlimited package. Build your knowledge with top universities and organisations.
Learn more about how FutureLearn is transforming access to education