Using the Lens of Social Reproduction to Reassess the Role of Subaltern Women in the Political Economy of the Arab Region in the Context of Neoliberal Restructuring

Dominant narratives tend to completely obscure the relevant role of subaltern women in the political economy of the Arab region, ignoring the central contribution of working-class women, specifically peasants, the poor and migrants, in reproducing Arab societies and dynamics of capital accumulation, particularly in the context of neoliberal restructuring. It is repeatedly argued that women in the Arab region have the lowest labour market participation rates in the world and that their contribution to economic development is limited, thus conveying the false and simplistic idea that the majority of them do not work. In fact, official statistics only record work that is considered ‘productive’ , namely work that has a monetary value, takes place in the public sphere and is formally registered. Building on the useful insights of critical political feminists who have placed the concept of the labour of social reproduction at the centre of their analysis, the paper aims to make a first attempt to propose a complete shift in the prevailing understanding of the role of subaltern women in the political economy of the Arab region. Focusing on Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan and Lebanon, the paper argues that, in the context of neoliberal policies, subaltern women have become even more central to the reproduction of human life and the maintenance of capital accumulation, while at the same time being at the epicentre of the current crisis of social reproduction. The concept of “struggles over social reproduction” is tentatively explored to show how it could help to make visible the collective agency of subaltern women by bringing together multiple and heterogeneous struggles within a broader conceptualisation of anti-capitalist struggles.