Formal, Informal, and Care Economies

Abstract

Abstract This chapter outlines key feminist contributions to understanding the contested meanings of formal, informal, and care economies. It first examines feminist efforts at making visible the essential yet generally unacknowledged unpaid household labor of women. Second, it examines tensions around viewing care work—in both its unpaid and paid forms—as a distinctive form of labor. Third, it provides an overview of feminist writing on the complex articulations of social reproduction and capitalism. Fourth, it addresses the gendered dynamics of paid work. Finally, the chapter turns to a discussion of the gender aspects of informal, flexibilized work that has become increasingly precarious for both women and men. Throughout the chapter, the focus is on the interactions among the gendered formal, informal, and care economies.

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