Gender and CaringGender and Caring

Barbara E. Hopkins, Ph.D.Barbara E. Hopkins, Ph.D.

http://www.wright.edu/~barbara.hopkinshttp://www.wright.edu/~barbara.hopkins

11Gender as Methodology and Caring LaborGender as Methodology and Caring Labor

Gender as Methodology and Caring LaborGender as Methodology and Caring Labor 22

Power's (2004) Model of Social Power's (2004) Model of Social Provisioning: a consensus of Provisioning: a consensus of Feminist Political Economy Feminist Political Economy

• incorporation of caring and unpaid labor as fundamental economic activities

• use of well-being as a measure of economic success• analysis of economic, political, and social processes and

power relations• inclusion of ethical goals and values as an intrinsic part

of the analysis• interrogation of differences by class, race-ethnicity, and

other factors.

33Gender as Methodology and Caring LaborGender as Methodology and Caring Labor

Gender as a Variable in Gender as a Variable in Economic ModelsEconomic Models

Wage = f (education, experience, gender, race, etc.)Wage = f (education, experience, gender, race, etc.)

Gender as Metaphor: Collapsed Gender as Metaphor: Collapsed Categories (Nelson 1996)Categories (Nelson 1996)

Masculine + Feminine -

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Hierarchical DualismsHierarchical Dualisms

Masculine• Reason

– practical

• Hard• ….

Feminine• Emotion

– caring

• Soft

…

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Gender as Methodology and Caring LaborGender as Methodology and Caring Labor 66

Gender CompassGender Compass

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Gender as Process -- Thinking Gender as Process -- Thinking through Cultural Norms through Cultural Norms

• What is the relationship between cultural norms and human behavior– existence of non-conformists

• Gender as “Habit of thought” (Institutional Economics (old) )

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Folbre’s framework for Folbre’s framework for Collective Action (Folbre 1994) Collective Action (Folbre 1994)

• Gender as Non-Chosen Group - Identity for Collective Action

• Gender as Structure of Constraint

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Advantages Advantages

• Allows for the interplay between individual choice and social constraints

• Multidimensional construction of identity and, thus, of power. • Allows for change; groups and individuals can change the rules of

the game. • Allows researchers to define beneficiaries of structures of unfair

constraint– women's choices may be more constrained than men's (which

women?) – Men and women may have different rights or responsibilities.

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Folbe on Rational ChoiceFolbe on Rational Choice

• Replace Rational Choice with Purposeful Choice

• Replace constrained choice with structural constraint

Caring LaborCaring Labor

• Labor undertaken out of affection or a sense of responsibility for other people, with no expectation of immediate pecuniary reward. (Folbre 2003, p. 214)– Caring motive is crucial

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Typology of Caring LaborTypology of Caring Labor

• Reciprocity– Informal cooperative contract

• Interdependent preferences – Altruism– Utility derived from someone else’s happiness

• Obligation and Responsibility – Political, social and legal enforcement

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““family labor” “reproductive labor” family labor” “reproductive labor” “unpaid labor” “social reproduction”“unpaid labor” “social reproduction”

• Work done in households (the domestic sector)

• Work done to reproduce the labor force (raise children)

• Work defined by the lack of remuneration

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WomenWomen

• Women do a disproportionate share of caring labor, domestic labor, unpaid labor, etc..

• Social norms that develop through an evolutionary process determine the gendered responsibility for all of these forms of work (Himmelweit 2003)

Gender as Methodology and Caring Gender as Methodology and Caring LaborLabor 1717