Intersectional Political Economy: Reconceptualizing Care, Power, and Patriarchy

This podcast episode features an insightful discussion with Nancy Folbre, author of "The Rise and Decline of Patriarchal Systems and Intersectional Political Economy," who challenges conventional economic thinking by centering the concept of 'care.' Folbre argues that traditional economics, focused on commodity production, overlooks the fundamental process of producing and maintaining human capabilities. She proposes reversing the lens, viewing the production of human capabilities as the end goal, with Gross Domestic Product serving as an input rather than the ultimate measure of economic success. Care, in her definition, encompasses the creation, development, and maintenance of human well-being across all ages and states of health, highlighting that its organization involves both cooperation and conflict, influencing resource allocation.

A core argument presented is that the very nature of care, requiring identification with and concern for the cared-for, inherently reduces the social bargaining power of caregivers. This 'stickiness' of attachment makes it difficult for caregivers to withdraw their labor, a dynamic that social institutions, particularly patriarchal systems, exploit by channeling caring commitments, often disproportionately onto women. This institutionalized empathy, rather than being a purely natural force, is reinforced by social structures, leading to women's reduced economic and social leverage. Folbre then reinterprets classical Marxian concepts through this care-centric and power-focused lens, expanding 'production' to include people and relationships, and defining 'exploitation' as one group's ability to claim a disproportionate share of cooperative gains due to collective bargaining power, thereby subsuming traditional surplus value theory.

The discussion delves into intersectionality, not merely as a concept of multiple identities, but as a framework for understanding the interplay of economic, social, and cultural processes that create and stabilize hierarchies. Folbre explains that many individuals are simultaneously advantaged in some dimensions and disadvantaged in others, leading to strategic dilemmas in collective action and a reluctance to challenge systems that might reduce their net benefits. This helps explain the stability of hierarchical structures. Despite the pervasive nature of patriarchy, the book's title, "The Decline of Patriarchal Systems," reflects a cautious optimism. Folbre suggests that capitalism, with its technological dynamism, can destabilize some patriarchal relations by moving production outside the family and offering women alternatives to traditional roles, though this destabilization is uneven, benefiting certain groups (e.g., single white women in rich countries) more than others.

However, Folbre also critically notes that capitalism often reinforces the idea that care is women's responsibility and should not be socialized or publicly supported. In developing countries, capitalist development has frequently led to a ballooning informal sector and a lack of independent opportunities, often reinforcing patriarchal norms, especially under neoliberal policies that shift care burdens onto households. The episode concludes by highlighting the potential for new coalitions to emerge in response to global problems like COVID-19 and climate change, which transparently require unprecedented global cooperation, potentially serving as an impetus to rethink existing institutional arrangements and challenge entrenched power structures.