description Wages Against Housework Overview
Wages Against Housework is a foundational feminist pamphlet written by Silvia Federici in 1975 as part of the international Wages for Housework campaign. In this text, Federici argues that domestic labor is a form of unrecognized and uncompensated work that is fundamental to the functioning of the capitalist system. The pamphlet challenges the traditional Marxist view by positioning reproductive labor—traditionally performed by women—as the hidden base of all economic production. It remains a central text in socialist and intersectional feminist discourse regarding labor and gender equity.
help Wages Against Housework FAQ
Who wrote Wages Against Housework?
Silvia Federici wrote the pamphlet in 1975 as part of the international Wages for Housework campaign. Its central claim is that domestic labor is real work even when it is unpaid and hidden inside family life.
Does Federici literally argue that housework should become a normal job?
The demand for wages is presented as a political strategy for exposing domestic labor and giving women more power, not as an endorsement of permanent unpaid or isolated housework. Federici links the demand to resistance against the social system that assigns this labor to women.
What kinds of labor does Wages Against Housework include?
The argument covers cleaning, cooking, childcare, emotional labor, and the wider work of reproducing everyday life and future workers. By naming these activities as labor, Federici challenges the idea that they are simply natural duties.
How is the pamphlet connected to Selma James and Mariarosa Dalla Costa?
Federici's 1975 text belongs to the broader Wages for Housework movement associated with activists including Selma James and Mariarosa Dalla Costa. Their work connected domestic labor to class politics, welfare, childcare, and the organization of paid work.
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