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Women, Mode of Production, and Social FormationsAuthor(s): Heleieth I. B. Saffioti
Source: Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 4, No. 1/2, Women and Class Struggle (Winter -Spring, 1977), pp. 27-37Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2633160Accessed: 17-02-2016 18:59 UTC
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WOMEN,MODE
OF PRODUCTION,
ND
SOCIAL
FORMATIONS
by
Heleieth I. B.
Saffioti*
This
paper examines the specific problem
of
women within
social forma-
tionswhere the
capitalistmode of production s dominant.
The
difficultynherent
n the
analysis proposed
here arises from
he fact
that t deals withhuman aggregateswhich
are distinctas
regards both their
structural ormation
nd the scope
of their
political action. In
fact, a social
formation
ontains,
on the one
hand,
groupings
which derive from the rela-
tions
of production nd, on theother,
groupings
whose structure s
determined
byprinciplesother thanthoseofthe relations ofproduction.Thus . . . while
Marxism speaks of strata, fractions and
categories to designate particular
groupings, t is nonetheless true that these
strata,fractions nd
categories are
always pertinent o a class. The working-class
ristocracy
s a
specific stratum,
but
t s a stratum
f
the
bourgeois
class. 'Intellectuals' or the
bureaucracy'
are
particular
social
categories,
but
are
pertinent
to the
bourgeois
class.
...
Fractions, strata and
categories
are not outside or
alongside
classes, but an
integral art of them Poulantzas,
1972:37). Although
social
categories
have
a
heterogeneousclass
composition, they
should
be
distinguishedfrom
social
strata, class fractionsand, finally,
social
classes,
insofar as
their political
behavior may display relative autonomyin relation to the classes to which
theirmembers
belong.1
The
phenomenon
of
social classes
is,
therefore,
he
most
comprehensive,
and no
analysis
of
groupings
which
are
not
structurally
elimited
can
be
made
without
explicit
reference
to the
wider social
context which
necessarily
involves social classes;
while this
point
should
always
be
kept
in
mind, t is
nevertheless rue
that the
concept
of social
category may
retain
considerable
usefulness as an analytical category
for
examining
the
situation of women.
This does not mean that
the
sex
categories,
male
and
female, operate
inde-
*The
author is
a
professor
n
the Facultade
de
Filosofia, Ciencias y Letras, at Araraquara,
Sao
Paulo. She is well-knownforher many publications on women, and was invited to present this
paper at the Conference
on Women and
Development,Wellesley College, June
976.
'By
social
categories
we
may
understand
social
groupings
with
pertinent ffects' which, as
Lenin
showed, may
become social forces whose distinctive haracteristic
ies in their
specific
and
everdetermining
elation with
other tructures
han economic
ones: this
s above all the case
with
the
bureaucracy
in
its relations with
the
State,
and with
the intellectuals' n
theirrelations
with deology Poulantzas, 1968:88).
Latin
American erspectives:ssues 12 and
13,
Winter nd
Spring
1977,
Vol.
IV,
Nos.
I
and
2
27
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28
LATIN
AMERICAN
PERSPECTIVES
pendently f their
ndividual members'
class affiliation. n the contrary, ince
the sex categories
do not even
possess
the autonomy necessary for their
own
biological reproduction,
heirmost pronounced
tendency s tooperateon social
class lines rather than as categories which are relatively autonomous of
classes. From thestructural oint of
view, then, sex
category s not compara-
ble
with a
social class. However,
if
the
political
instance is
considered,
a
sex
category may display agglutinative
behavior around
certain values which,
while they do not
transcend
the
antagonistic
relations between social
classes,
are nonetheless
viable within
the
very
limits
imposed by
the
competitive
society.
In other words,
a sex
category
does not possess the structural
conditions forfighting o achieve
solutions which surpass the limits of
the
system nd,
in this
sense,
is far from onstitutinghe social forcewith the
most
potential
for subversion of
the
existing
order.
However,
it
may display
unity
and cohesion
in the
struggle
or social and civil
rights
the
right
o vote,to
earn
an
equal
wage for equal work,
and so
on
-
which are
compatible
with
the capitalist ystem.
Hence sex categories
do not
have historicmissions which
can be compared
with those of social
classes.
The
limits
of their
social and
political
action are much
narrower, wing
to the
very
nature of sex
categories
in themselves.
Indeed,
whilst a social stratum
or a class fractionmay, in given political-
economic conjunctures,have specific
interests
which diverge from those of
other
trata
and
fractions,
n
the long
run
and in the last
instance, there s
still
a convergenceof interests t least insofar as the maintenance of the macro-
structural ype
of society
is
concerned.
In other
words,
these
groupings
are
internal o social classes,
which means that
their nterests, hough heymay be
momentarily
istinct or
even
opposed,
are in the last instance derived
from
one and the same structural
position
and
oriented,despite
the
differences, o
the
preservationof
the
status quo
in
terms of the
division of society
into
social classes and the domination
of one class by another. Sex categories,
however, s typicalgroupings,
re
not situated nside social
classes.
Given that
any social class is composed
of
men
and
women,
it
is
important
o
note the
intersection f
two contradictions:
the contradictionbetween
social
classes,
which is dominant in capitalist social formations,and the contradiction
between
sexes,
which is subordinate
n the same
type
of social
formation.To
say this does
not imply the
attribution f greateror
lesser
importance to
the
former r the latter
type
of
contradiction.
Rather, hey
are contradictions f a
different
evel and thus perform
distinct
historical
functions
n
social forma-
tions
based on private property,
whether
the dominant
mode of
production
n
them be the slave, feudal,
or
capitalist
mode.
The
relations between sexes
may
perhaps acquire greater
relevance
in the
domestic
mode of
production
(see
Meillassoux,
1975:19),
where controlof
the mechanisms
of biological reproduc-
tion, which guarantees
the supply of labor power,
is extremely mportant
insofar as, in the absence of private propertyor control of the means of
production, tconstitutes
source
of
power.
In
capitalistsocial formations,
owever,
where
the contradictionbetween
social classes is
fundamentalowing
to the
historical
scope of their political
action, the contradiction
between
sexes
is
subordinatedto it and in empirical
reality appears in intersection
and
combination
with it. The contradiction
between
social
classes
commands
the social
operation
of the
contradiction
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SAFFIOTI:
MODE OF
PRODUCTION
29
between sexes, which assumes specific dimensions in each social formation.
This specificity s derived from characteristics which are peculiar both to
cultural radition nd to the mode of nsertion f the capitalist social formation
in the world's array of capitalist nations.
Careful note should
therefore
e
taken of
two basic
points concerning he
interrelation f the contradiction etween sexes and the contradiction etween
social classes in capitalist social formations. On the one hand, the sex
determinations manipulated by a society
which
is divided into social classes,
with
a resulting
istorical
configuration
n which
women's
situation s in large
measure a reflectionof the specificity of each social formation. This fact
justifies
he
necessity
for
empirical research,
whose
aim would be to show the
peculiarity
both of
the mode of women's insertion in
society
and of
the
discrimination f
which
they are the object through
he
effectsof legislation
and of social prejudice.The discrimination ufferedby women, then,takes on
a regional or national
character which makes
comparative research both
interesting nd useful. However,
the
comparison of distinct empirical situa-
tions
oses
part
of its
significance
f no identification s
made of the
common
coordinates which,
while
giving
rise
to
different
historical
configurations,
operate
n all
capitalist
social formations.
hus,
the second
fundamental
point
to
note concerns the
functioning
f the
capitalist
mode of
production,which is
dominant n those social formations nder examination here.
In
fact, given
the
basic
operating requirements
of the
capitalist
mode
of
production, ertainhuman contingents re necessarily relegatedto an inferior
condition
n
order
to
permit
more intense
exploitation. Despite
the
fact
that
discrimination
gainst
certain
human
contingents,
bove all
women,
is consid-
ered
to be the result of the persistence
of
certain features
of
juridico-ideologi-
cal superstructures istorically rior
o
capitalism,
he
truth s that
they
are
not
mere survivals but
characteristics
f the
superstructure
which are
supported
and nourished
by
the
economic
infrastructure
f
society. Thus,
at the level of
mode
of
production,
the situation of
women is
a constant:
relegation
to
an
inferior condition on the ideological plane
to
justify their fundamentally
economic
marginalization.
The
dominant
class,
whose
interest
s to
preserve
theclass structure fsociety,cultivatesa cultural tradition elatedhistorically
to
pre-capitalist
modes of
production
and
exploits
certain features of this
tradition
n a rational-functional
manner.The aim of this s
located on
another
plane; that is, the maintenance
of
great
masses of women at a
distance
from
the class
struggle or,
in other
words,
idle
or involved in
pre-capitalist
work
relations
in
order to be able
to
have
recourse
to
them
during
the
periods
of
capitalist
economic
expansion. Indeed,
in
order to
keep moving, capitalist
accumulation
needs to
be surrounded
by non-capitalist
ocial
formations,
ince
it
develops by
means of constant
exchanges
with
these
formations nd
cannot
survive
without
contact with
such
an environment
Luxemburg, 967:41).
Not
onlydoes theproperly apitalistsector of societyresort o pre-capitalist reas
in order
to
exchange
labor
power
and other
commodities,
hus
destroying
he
pre-capitalistorganization
of
production
in
certain
regions,
but
it
also
con-
stantly
recreates
pre-capitalist
ctivities.
From
its
interchange
with the
latter,
capitalism gains
an enormous
number of
advantages, amongst
which it is
worth
giving pecial
mention
o labor
rent
see Meillassoux, 1975:190).
A
social formation oes not
consist,
as
Poulantzas
would have
it,
in the
LatinAmerican
erspectives
ssues 12 and
13,
Winter nd
Spring1977, Vol. IV, Nos.
1
and 2
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30
LATIN
AMERICAN
PERSPECTIVES
coexistence of various modes of production,within
which one
has
the
domi-
nant role (Poulantzas, 1968:73).
It
is evident that
historically
a mode of
production
s not realized in a
pure
formbut
mingled
with a
variety
of
work
relationswhich belong to other modes of production.Each mode of produc-
tion, however,
is
vertically
differentiated
o that it
necessarily
involves
the
economic infrastructurend the ideological superstructures r, as Poulantzas
puts it,
the
economic, uridico-political
nd
ideological
instances.The
concep-
tion
of a social formation s the coexistence of several modes
of
production,
one of which is
dominant, mplies
the
recognition
hat each
mode of
produc-
tion
preserves
ts
own
identity r,
in other
words, displays
a
relatively arge
margin
f
autonomy
s
regards
the
others. t thus becomes difficult o conceive
of
the
dominant
character
of a
mode of
production
f it is
thought
f in terms
of
its
coexistence with other modes
of
production
with
each one
maintaining
itsown peculiar infrastructurend superstructure.Would dominance, then,be
effected
n horizontal
terms,
n termsof the
greater
xtension of the
dominant
mode of
production?
Empirical
observation ndicates
the
need to think
thingsout
from
nother
angle.
A mode of
production s dominant nsofar as it interferes ertically n
the
other modes of
production, hus provokingthe latter's loss of autonomy
and
redefining
heir
specific
activities.
n
fact,
n
capitalist
social
formations,
bourgeois deology
tends to
penetrate
those
sectors of
activity
which
are most
impervious o capitalist organization, herebydestroyingn an accelerated and
irrevocablemannerthe ideological superstructurewhich involved these sec-
tors. Hence they are only able to survive thanks to a process of redefinition
governed by thecapitalistmode ofproduction.Once the uridico-political nd
ideological
instances of
the
pre-capitalist
modes of
production
have
been
destroyed,
these modes
no
longer
survive
as
such.
What remains are
pre-
capitalistwork relations,
which now
have new
connotations.
For the economic
dimension of these pre-capitalistmodes of production,which is all that has
survived of them, is now involved
in an
ideological superstructurewhich
attributes ew
meaning
to it. The redefined
pre-capitalistwork relations thus
become an
integralpart
of the
capitalist
social
formation
nd
thereby
furthers
the accumulation process. All the evidence seems to indicate thatthe magni-
tude
of the
exploitationrate depends directly
n
the relative
weight
of
the
pre-
capitalist pockets with which the capitalist mode of production carries on its
interchange.To avoid encroaching upon problems whose discussion would
require a great deal of space, it will suffice o consider the labor rent which is
extractedfrom he
manpower
formed
n the
pre-capitalistpockets
and used in
activities
which are
strictly peaking capitalist. Capitalism disposes
of
a labor
force
towards whose
formation
t
never made
any
investment.
Thus,
to the
surplus value generated by the worker, abor rent is added in this case. A
process
of
this kind takes place under ideological conditions which are
specificallycreated by capitalism in order to increase the rate of exploitation.
Without
he
penetration
f
bourgeois deology
n all
spheres
of human
activity,
such a
process
would
not be
viable,
since the extraction
f
abor rent
mobilizes
different ocial
institutions rom
those mobilized
in the
process
of
extracting
surplus
value: . . . the
extraction
f labor
rent
requires
the
exploitation
of
the
specific
and
complex
mechanism of
the
migrations
o and
fro,
he
settingup of
a
double labor market
and
the maintenance
of a suitable discriminatory
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SAFFIOTI:
MODE OF
PRODUCTION
31
ideology Meillasoux, 1975:173).
If the social formation s examined
from vertical point of view, through
the dynamics of its substructures,
here s a certain sense in which thefamily
group forms a pre-capitalist pocket. The services which are carried out,
generallyby women in the family, re destined to the daily production
of the
worker's labor power, as well as the reproductionof this labor power.
Al-
though
this
labor
is
dedicated to
the production of a commodity abor power
-
which is indispensable to the functioning f the capitalist mode of
produc-
tion,organizationwithin the family
group does not assume a capitalist,
hat s
contractual, orm.On the contrary,
what dominates the family nstitution re
domestic relations of production,historicallyderived from he domestic
mode
of
production.The commodity abor
power, therefore,s produced in a frame-
work of personal relations,while
there s no contractto regulate the distribu-
tion of domestic duties, the workingtime devoted to each of them,or the
remuneration of these services.
Women's work, which is given over the
production of the worker, withouthaving a contractual organization
is not
remunerated n the form f wages
based on the time which is effectivelypent
on this production.Measured in termsof working ime,however, this
produc-
tion is no small achievement. n 1973, the average price, in France, of
female
labor power dedicated to the productionof workers was estimated
at 3,000
francs U.S. $667) per month Meillasoux, 1975:214).
Since
it s
not
a
capitalist
enterprise,
he
family
nvests n the
production
of
labor-power
a
commodity
on the labor market
without
any monetary
compensation. In other words, the family (above all its female members)
produces a commodity
which
it cannot commercialize.
Thus this is a case of
domestic
production
and not
simple commodityproduction.
The worker who
is
produced
in
this
way
will
only
benefit those
who, being
owners
of
a
capitalist enterprise,
re able to
offer
him a
job.
The
price
of
producing
and
reproducing
abor
power
does
not fall within
capitalist society's
accounting
system. t
constitutes
losing
nvestment.
In this
way,
the
permanentproduction
of the conditions
which
permit
he
reproduction
f
capital strictly
epends
on an
institution the
family
in
whichpersonalrelations and domesticproduction re predominant.Bymeans
of the
unpaid
mobilization of
labor, especially
of
female
labor,
this
nstitution
is more economical than any other
for the
purpose
of
supplying capitalism
with
the labor power it
needs.
There
is
yet
another
reason
why
the
family
institution
s so
profoundly dapted
to
the
functions attributed
o it
by
the
capitalist
mode
of
production:
this
resides in its
being
an
ideological
State
apparatus (Althusser,1970:12-16),
hus
carrying
ut
the
vital task
of transmit-
ting
the
ideology
of the
dominant
class
without
which there
would be no
possibility
of
daily creating
the
necessary
conditions for
the
reproduction
of
capital. The family, hen,performs
unctions
which are
basic
to the
continuity
and expansion ofthecapitalistmode ofproduction:
1.
production
of
a
product
which
only
becomes a
commodity
n the
labor
market,
hat
s,
in
the presence
of
owners of
means
of
production;
2.
dissemination, hrough
he
socialization
process
of the
young generation,
of the
ideology
which
ensures
disciplined
conduct on the
part
of the
worker
and
subjects
him to
the
rules
of
the
capitalist
economic
game.
This
analysis
calls fortwo comments.
First
of
all,
in
the
present
theoretical
Latin
American
erspectives:ssues 12 and 13, Winter nd Spring1977,
Vol. IV,
Nos.
1
and 2
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32 LATIN AMERICAN
PERSPECTIVES
context, here s no
sense in the arguments f either Mariarosa
Dalla Costa2 or
Ira Gerstein,3 lthoughthey are radically
opposed to each other. Dalla Costa,
by defendingthe
productive nature of domestic work in the
Marxist sense,
shows a lack of mastery of the most fundamental category in historical
materialism:
hat of
surplus
value. The production of value, of
commodities,
may
take
place
without that of surplus value. Thus, the production
of labor-
power by
the
family
outside
the
framework
f
the
capitalist enterprise
does
not produce surplus
values and consequently cannot ever
be considered a
productive ctivity.Given Dalla Costa's
lack of mastery ver
Marxist concepts,
her work would not deserve any comments
at
all
were
it not for the wide-
spreaddissemination rom
which it
has
benefited
n the United States.
As
to
Ira
Gerstein,
the problematic
of domestic work
is
treated at
a
different, hough
still
unsatisfactory,
evel. She
rejects
the
hypothesis
of
definingdomestic work as productive,which is correct according to the
scheme of interpretation f the capitalist
mode of production laid out in
Capital. However, in using
a
partial
argumentation,
he fails to convince. In
fact,
her
analysis
assumes the
perspective
of the first
olume
of
Capital,
which
is
writtenfrom he pointof
view of the individual
capitalist
enterprise.Thus
Gersteindoes not even
pose
the
problem
n termsof the
capitalistsystem as
a
whole. Perhaps because
of this,
he ends up makingthe elementarymistake of
considering heproductionof
abor
power
by
the
family
o be
simple commod-
ityproduction.
This weakness
can
be
seen in the
following tatements.
There
is an enormous
difference between
the motives of the
simple commodity
producer
and those
of the
capitalist
.
.
. The
production
oflabor-powerfalls
into the
first
of
these
categories
it
is
simple commodityproduction ...
Labor power
is
the
single
and
unique
commodity
n
capitalist
society whose
general production
does
not
take
place
in a
capitalist
manner
(Gerstein,
1973:113-114).
Here, a
few
questions
need to
be
raised. It
is
clear that the
activities which result
in the
production
of
labor-power by
the
family,
and
particularly ywomen,
are not
organized
in a
capitalist
form.But
it s not true
to
say
that
only
one alternative
emains,
hat
of
simple commodityproduction.
The work relations in the family are
distinctly
domestic ones, historically
linked to the domesticmode of production. f simple commodityproduction
were in
fact
nvolved,
the
commodity
in this
case,
labor
power
-
would
be
marketable
by
its
producers, which,
however,
is
not
what
happens.
The
commodity abor
power produced by
the
family
becomes
autonomous
once
its
production
s
completed,
nd it
is
only
marketable
by
its own bearer when
the
latter is face to face with the owners
of means of production. In simple
commodity roduction, he producer s
free
to markethis products
because he
is
the
owner of
them.
n
domestic production
of
the
commodity abor-power,
the
producerdoes
not have theproperty
f
his
product.
Furthermore,
t is
important
o
draw attention
o
the
type
of articulation
that exists between the capitalistmode of productionand pre-capitalistwork
relations.
While
the industrial
reserve army
s
indispensable to the
survival of
capitalism
in
that
t
makes possible
a higher
rate of
exploitation
of the active
2 What we
meant
precisely is
that
housework is
productive
in
the
Marxian sense,
that is, is
producing
urplusvalue
(Dalla
Costa,
1972:52, ootnote
2).
.
.
. is
the
production
of
abor-power
capitalist
production,
nd
can
domesticwork
be said to be
productive abor? I
have
assumed,
throughout his
paper,
that the
answer to
these
questions is no
(Gerstein,
973:112-113).
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SAFFIOTI: MODE OF PRODUCTION
33
army of
workers as well as
periodic
expansion
of
economic
activities, this
mode
of
production
feeds
to
a
great
extent
on
the
asymmetrical
relations
which it sets up with the
pre-capitalist
ectors
of
a
social
formation's
conomy.
In those social formationswhich are called underdevelopedthere s a manifest
difference
n
the behavior
of the
capitalist
mode of
production in
different
conjunctures.
When
the- conomic
conjuncture requires
the
expansion of the
internalmarket,
he
capitalist
mode of
production
ends to swallow
up
the
pre-
capitalist pockets by
monetarizing
he income
of
the
workers n these
sectors
and thus
enlarging
ts own field of
operations.
The labor force formed
by pre-
capitalist
ctivitiesbecomes a
part
of
the
wage-earning
masses
in the
capitalist
sectors
of the
economy.
When the
capitalist
model of
development
s based
on
highlyunequal
distribution
f the national income and
sophisticated produc-
tion of
industrialized
goods
for a reduced internal
market,
there is a
clear
tendencytowards the re-creationof pre-capitalist ctivities,above all in the
sector
which involves
services
performed
y
individuals: domestic
service,
car-
washing
and
car-watching,gardening,private
manicure,
etc.
Thus,
of
all
women
employees
in Rio
de
Janeiro,
3.8
percent
n
1950
and
48.7
percent
n
1960
were
working
n
the service
sector,
he
greatmajority
f
them as domestic
maids.
These
women,
the
greatmajority
of whom
(89.7
percent)
earned less
than three
fourths
f the minimum
wage
in
1960,
constituted
no
less
than
11.4
percent
of the
labor force in Rio.
Together
with
the
self-employed (12.1
percent), hey
constitutedGuanabara's
marginalized
masses which
then
repre-
sented
almost
one fourth of the active
population (Singer, 1973:83).
The
expansion of these activitiesfacilitates he realizationofsurplusvalue insofar
as it
represents
a certain redistribution f income. On the
boundary
line,
however,
hereremain
the mere subsistence activities
o
which the
contingents
marginalizedby
the
market
conomy
are forcedto
resort.
In
fact,
t
is
to the
capitalistmode of
production that the benefit
accrues
when
any
kind of
interchange
with the
pre-capitalist
pockets
is
established.
This
occurs at moments of
expansion
of
its
economic activities,through
he
mobilization
of
manpower
which it in no
way
contributed
o
create, or,
at
the
times
when the internal
market akes second
place, by
forcing
he
contingents
previously
mobilized as
wage-earners
in
capitalist relations of production
to
resort o subsistenceactivities.
The
articulation
of the
capitalist mode of
production with
pre-capitalist
work relations s
highly
relevant to the
situation ofwomen, given that
women
are above all
involved in
activities
which are
not
typically capitalist. This
phenomenonacquires
greater ntensity
n
underdeveloped
social formations,
where the
relative
weight
of
pre-capitalistwork
relations s much greater
han
in
highly
industrialized
social formations. mperialism
eliminates the need
permanently
o
recreate pre-capitalist
activities in developed nations:
these
nations can then
rely
on
the
advantages obtained in
their relations with
the
pre-capitalistareas located on the peripheryof the internationalcapitalist
system.
Thus,
the
human
contingents
nvolved in
pre-capitalist ctivities
are
the
object
of
exploitation
by
national and
international
apitalism.
Here it
is
necessary
to
make
explicit the
differentiation etween female
roles
in the
hegemonic
countries nd those in the nations
which are
peripheral
to
international
capitalism. In the former, given the
very economic and
political
hegemony xercisedby these
regions,women have far greater
oppor-
Latin
American erspectives:ssues 12 and
13, Winter nd Spring1977, Vol. IV,Nos.
1
and 2
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34
LATIN
AMERICAN
PERSPECTIVES
tunities to performeconomic activities
organized
within
capitalist
norms.
Evolution of theWorld's Economically
Active Population
Over 15 Years Old From 1950to1980,BySex
Percentage nthe
respectiveperiods
Population
1950
1960
1970 1980
Men 87.3 85.9 83.8
82.4
Women 46.4 46.0 44.8
43.7
Totals
66.5 65.6
64.0
62.9
Source: LO, 1970:10
Although
in the
West
women
rarely
make careers
and
generally occupy
subordinate and
badly-paid posts,
the rate
of
female
activity
has shown
appreciable
increases
in the
most
industrialized
nations. Whilst
this rate is
24
percent
for
Spain,
25
percent
for
Portugal,
nd 29
percent
for
taly, t
reaches
49
percent
for the Federal
Republic
of
Germany,
58
percent
for
Denmark, 59
percentforSweden, and 63
percent
forFinland.
Even ifonly the
Scandinavian
countries re
taken,
t can
be seen
that
the West
is
far
behind
Eastern
Europe
as
far as the rate of female
activity
s
concerned.
ndeed,
this
rate
s
significant-
ly higher
for the
socialist
countriesof Eastern
Europe:
73
percent for
Hungary
and
Rumania,
74
percent
for
Bulgaria,
80
percent
for
the
German
Democratic
Republic, and 82 percent for the Soviet
Union.
This
high rate
of female
participation n the labor forceof the socialist nations is responsible for the
improvement,
s time
goes on,
in
women's
position
relative to
men's,
on
a
world
scale.
If the
twenty years
between
1950 and 1970 are
taken,
it is seen
that,
whereas the
rate of male
participation
fell
3.5
points,
the female rate
fell
only
2.5
points.
However,
the
significance
of these 2.5
points
is
greater
than
it
appears
to
be, given
the
smaller
relative
weight
of female
participation
n
the
labor force.
Clearly,
the
improvement
n
women's
position
on a world scale
is
to a
great
extentthe
result
of
the
behavior
of the
rate
of female
activity
n
the
socialist
countries, ince,
with
the
exception
of
the
imperialist
nations
where
women'sparticipation n theeconomicallyactivepopulationhas shown appre-
ciable
increases,
the
expulsion
of women
from he abor market n
competitive
Economically
Active
Female
Population
in
Industrialized
and
Non-Industrialized
Regions:
1950
to
1980
Age
1950 1960
1970 1980
REGIONS
I. Non-I. I.
Non-I.
I.
Non-I.
I.
Non-I.
0-14
1.7 4.7
1.2 4.0
0.9 3.2 0.5 2.4
15-19
54.7 48.7 48.9 46.3
45.1 43.4 40.8 40.0
20-24
59.0 53.0
62.6 50.8
59.8 50.2 59.6 49.1
25-44
44.1 53.1
50.0 50.3 51.2 49.8
41.6 49.4
45-54
41.4 51.3
49.0 49.8
49.3 48.6
50.4 47.3
55-64
32.5
42.6 25.5 39.7
36.3 38.0
36.7 36.3
55+65
13.6 21.9
13.0 22.0
12.4 19.8 11.7 17.7
Totals*
41.8 49.5
44.4 47.0
43.4 45.6
42.8 44.2
Source:
LO, 1970:11-12
*
The
totals
were
calculated
excluding theage bracketbetween 0
and 14 years old.
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SAFFIOTI:
MODE
OF PRODUCTION
35
societies
accompanies
the
development
of capitalism.
The
data below
show
how
the
gains
in
female
participation
were much
smaller
in the
industrialized
countries,
even
though
these
include
the socialist
countries,
than
were
the
losses innon-industrialized egions.
The
less industrialized
areas,
that is,
those
in
which
the
development
of
capitalism
is less intense,
happen
to
be
located
on
the
periphery
of
the
international
apitalist
system.
They
are
thus
the
object
of
exploitation
on
the
part
of
the
imperialist
countries.
As
the
process
of
expansion
of
capitalist
activities
progresses,
bove
all
through
he
multinational
orporations,
o
the
marginalization
of
women
in
relation
to
economic
activities
is
accentuated.
Thus,
despite
the fact
that
the above
data
also
include
the socialist
countries,
whereas
in
the
industrialized
regions
female
participation
n the
economically
active
population
will gain
one
point
in
1980
in
relation
to
1950,
in
the
non-
industrialized egions twill lose morethanfivepointsduring hesame period.
This
is due,
fundamentally,
o
the
penetration
f
capitalism
on
the
basis
of
the
use
of
highly
abor-saving
echnology.
n
Brazil,
to take
merely
he
period
from
1940
to
1970,
there
is
a
distinct
reduction
in
female
participation
in
the
economically
active
population.
The following
able
shows
this
reduction.
Brazil's
Economically
ActivePopulation
Over
Different
eriods
bySector
of
Economic Activity:
n
Percentages
1950
1950
1960
1970
Sector Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women
Primary
87 13
93
07
90
10
91
09
Secondary
80
20
83
17
83
17
88
12
Tertiary
66
34
70
30
70
30
62
38
Source:
BGE,
1970:xxx
In terms
of women's
participation
n
the
strictly
apitalist
sector
of
the
Brazilian
economy,
the reduction
must
have
been
much
greater
than
the
statistics
show.
In
fact,
although
there
are no precise
data
available,
it
is
estimatedthat,given the highconcentration
f income,
the
number
of
wage-
earning
women
involved
in domestic
work
has
proportionally
ncreased.
For
Latin
America
as
a
whole,
40
percent
of the women
engaged
in
the
tertiary
sector
of the
economy
are
made up
of
domestic
maids.
Chaney
and
Schmink
1975:25-26)
demonstrate
how
women
lose
status
and
are
economically
marginalized
in the
so-called
Third
World
countries
as
modernization
progresses.
Unfortunately,
nstead
of
working
with
the
heuris-
tic
category
f
development
of
the
capitalist
mode
of
production,
heyprefer
o
use
the notion
of
modernization,
which
is
identified
with
the
concept
of
development.
Modernization
constitutes
a
historically
subordinate,
general
category, ince itmay, and does in fact,occur both in the capitalistmode of
production
nd in
socialism.
Since
there
s
as
yetno
evidence
that
moderniza-
tion
n
the socialist
societies
has
deleterious
consequences
for
women,
there
s
no way
to blame
it,
either
in
the abstract
or in
relation
to capitalist
social
formations,
or
women's
loss
in status
and the
reduction
in
their
economic
participation.
he
consequences
of
the
massive
introduction
f
technology
nto
the
economyvary
depending
on its
social
utilization.
Therefore,
he
mode
of
Latin
American
erspectives:
ssues
12 and
13, Winter
nd Spring
1977,
Vol. IV,
Nos.
1
and 2
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36
LATIN AMERICAN
PERSPECTIVES
production s of the greatest mportance
n
appraising
the effects f
technologi-
cal advance on women's social roles. The progress made by the socialist and
capitalist countries s an indication that technologyonly has negative conse-
quences for women's social position when utilized in the capitalist mode of
production. But this idea is not a
new one (see Saffioti,1969). Even though
Boserup's approach (1971) does not
make rigoroususe of concepts ike mode of
production,
t s
undeniably
richer
han those which are
oriented
by the
notion
of modernization.
Moreover,
f the
descriptiveconcept
of modernization s taken for a
basic
explanatory
one
when analyzing
the
changes
in women's
situation,
this
may
lead to the idea that the family n its
present phrase represents
n
obstacle to
the ntegration
f women
in
society.
n
this ine of
argument,
he
family
will
in
the future be susceptible to modernization
in order to
adapt
to modern
industrialsociety. On the contrary, f the concept of mode of productionis
taken as the starting oint,
t
will
be
possible
to demonstrate hat
the
family,
s
it stands at present
n
theWest,
constitutes
social institutionwhich is
highly
adapted
to
capitalist production.
This
is
because
it is
precisely
the domestic
character
of the
production and
reproduction
f
labor
power
that
guarantees
capitalism a higherrate
of
exploitation
and
consequently
a
more
rapid process
of accumulation.
Even if women
work outside the
home,
once
they
are also
executing
domestic
duties, they
are
working
for
nothing
to
produce
and
reproduce
the
labor
power
which
will be
exploited by capitalism.
For
this
reason, there s
no
sense
in
Mickey
and
John
Rowntree's statement hat
. . .
capitalism itself s undermining he nuclear familyas mothersbecome work-
ers
(Rowntree, 1970:30).
What
capitalism
has
destroyed
is the
family
as a
productive unit,
but this has not
prevented
t
from
retaining
he functionof
producing commodity
labor
power.
It is
not
convenient
for
the owners of
the means
of
production
o
organize
domestic work
within
capitalist norms,
n
that
this
would mean a rise
in
the costs
of the
commodity
abor
power.
On
the
other
hand,
this
process
would liberate
the
female labor
force
from
domestic
duties,
thus
increasing
the
pressure
on an
economy
which is not
capable
of
absorbing
the whole
of
society's
abor
force
even
in
expansionist conjunctures.
For this reason, women remain a veryconvenient nd elastic part of the
industrial
eserve
rmy Benston,1969:23).
Thus,
even
though
women
may considerably improve their situation in
capitalist nations, they
will
never reach
total equality
in
relationr o men. The
limits
of
women's
liberation re to
be found
in
the active existence of capital.
This statementdoes not
express
the
belief
n some
kind of
social automatism.
The
mere abolition
of
capitalism
n favor of the
mplantation
f
socialism does
not
signify
he
total iberation of
women. The fight or the historical achieve-
ment of
sexual
equality
should
be one of the most
mportant tems n the class
struggle nd
should
be the object of more than one cultural revolution,once
socialism is already being implanted. The relative inertia of the ideological
superstructures mposes
the
necessity
of
constantly revising
not
only the
political
conduct of those who decide
the destinies of
a nation but also the
possibilities
of
self-realization eingoffered
o
the differentex categories.
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SAFFIOTI: MODE OF PRODUCTION
37
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1970 Ideologie t appareils deologiques 'Etat, a Pens6e,151 June),2-16
Benston, .
1969 Political conomy fWomen's iberation,
onthly eview, XXI September)
Boserup, .
1971
Women's ole
n
Economic evelopment,
ondon:GeorgeAllen nd Unwin, td.
Chaney,
lsa M. and Marianne chmink
1975 Las mujeres la modernizaci6n:ccesoa la tecnologia, n Maria del Carmen lu de
Lefieroed.),
La
mujer
n Am6rica
atina,
Mexico:
epSetentas
DallaCosta,
Mariarosa
1972 Women
nd the Subversion
f the
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fthe
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he
Falling
Wall
Press,
td.
Gerstein,
ra
1973 DomesticWork nd Capitalism, adicalAmerica,VII (July-October)
IBGE
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nd
John
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Saffioti,eleieth. B.
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QuatroArtes,
currentlyeing ranslatedyMonthly
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ress
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1973 Desenvolvimento
repartigao
a rendano Brasil, ebate Cr1tica, July-December)
Latin
American
erspectives:
ssues
12 and
13,
Winter
nd
Spring
1977, Vol.
IV,
Nos.
1
and
2