The International Wages for Housework Campaign 1972-1978: Contributions and Critiques


Laxana Paskaran, York University

Through an analysis of the literature documenting the International Wages for Housework (WfH) Campaign (1972-1978), this research outlines some of the movement’s major contributions and critiques. As such, the research draws from various literatures situated in different geographical contexts, mainly Canada and the United States, to locate the impact of the WfH movement. Further, the research will consider the intersections of race, class and gender, as it privileges the viewpoints of Black women and Black queer feminists and scholars regarding the movement and its theorization of gendered and domestic labour as a whole. To investigate the contributions of the International WfH Campaign, it is essential to define social reproduction. The definition of social reproduction typically includes three main prongs (Bakker 2007). Firstly, it encompasses the biological reproduction of the working population. This also includes the social and political constructions of motherhood (Bakker 2007). These constructions of motherhood are different across race and class (Roberts 1997). For example, racist constructions of motherhood devalue poor Black women’s social reproduction within their homes but inscribe value and construct racist but acceptable figures that care for white families in America (Roberts 1997). Secondly, social reproduction includes the necessities such as care work, education, and training to reproduce the labour force (Bakker 2007). Historically, women have been responsible for domestic labour, which includes cooking, cleaning, and raising children, all of which, according to Marxist feminists, are essential for capital accumulation (Bakker 2007, Luxton 2010). Thirdly, social reproduction also encompasses the family income or state support used to reproduce care work as it pertains to the labour force (Bakker 2007). In other words, capital accumulation depends on the family units securing and paying for care work in different ways to support the reproduction of the labour force (Bakker 2007). Further, this can be paid for through household incomes and in other cases, government support (Bakker 2007). Paying attention to race unveils the workings of White supremacy within social reproduction. Thus, this research considers groups such as Wages Due Lesbians (WDL) and Black Women for Wages for Housework (BWfWfH) and their critiques of the WfH movement’s ignorance of the unique relationship Black women have to social reproduction, one that includes a connection between enslavement and capitalist accumulation, the state’s control of Black women’s bodies and reproductive autonomy, and finally, the constructions of “othermotherhood,” (Lewis 2018). A comprehensive definition and understanding of social reproduction lay the foundation for a nuanced view of the International WfH Campaign. Understanding social reproduction produces transformative ways to understand the labour force. Moreover, scholars trace the beginnings of theorizing social reproduction to the formation of the WfH Campaign (Montgomerie and Tepe-Belfrage 2017). However, as this research will explore, can the theorization of social reproduction produce valuable praxis to solve the issue of the devaluation of housework? The WfH Campaign was initiated by Marxist feminists who believed that placing waged value on domestic work may challenge and bring awareness to domestic houseworks devalued and invisible nature (Toupin 2018, p. 83). The movement sought to share a “political perspective” and was not necessarily concerned with solving the issue (Federici 1975, p. 74-75). Further, the WfH Campaign’s main mission was to organize women against the capitalist organization of society. Critiques beginning in the 1970s, unveil important limitations of the movement in addressing the devaluation of the division of housework. These critiques include the lack of an anti-racist lens to understand social reproduction, locally, nationally and globally. Further, these critiques also attributed WfH campaign’s “failure” to gain traction and make substantial societal, political, economic and legal change due to its inability to appeal to men (Hartman 1981). Additionally, the WfH movement was also accused of being anti-feminist by ignoring issues women face currently in the workforce, especially in the care work sector (Rousseau 2015). Finally, this research also concludes that despite the limited academic literature that directly engages with the International WfH campaign, what should be noted is the appearance of the campaign in many academic theorizations of social reproduction. 

This paper will be presented at the following session: