Care Work is the New Code: Re-enchanting Labor Through a Feminist Economics of the Commons

Imagine a world where the work that sustains life – the care we provide to children, the elderly, the sick, and the vulnerable – is valued as highly as the work that generates profit. Where the invisible labor of social reproduction, so often dismissed as “women’s work”, is recognized as the essential foundation of a thriving society.

This is the vision of a feminist economics of the commons, a paradigm shift that challenges the capitalist devaluation of care and seeks to re- enchant labor through a more just and equitable distribution of resources and responsibilities.

The Invisible Engine: Unmasking the Hidden Labor

The capitalist assemblage, with its relentless focus on productivity and profit, has rendered invisible the essential labor of care. But what makes that machine run smoothly? What keeps its cogs turning, day after day, year after year?

Care work, often performed by women and other marginalized groups for little or no pay, is the invisible engine that powers the system. It’s the labor of nurturing, teaching, healing, and maintaining the social fabric.

Think of the territorial assemblages of families and communities where care work is traditionally performed. Think of the state assemblages of schools, hospitals, and social welfare systems that have historically relied on the underpaid and often exploited labor of women. Think of the nomadic assemblages of migrant care workers who cross borders to provide care for others, often at great personal cost.

Beyond the Market: A Feminist Economics of Value

Feminist economics challenges the narrow and androcentric focus of mainstream economics, which has long treated care work as an “externality” to be ignored or dismissed. It offers a new way of thinking about value, one that recognizes the diverse contributions that sustain life and well-being. Think of Silvia Federici’s work on “wages for housework”, which exposed the capitalist exploitation of women’s unpaid labor.

Here’s how feminist economics reframes the debate:

• Reclaiming Value: It recognizes the social and economic value of care work, challenging its devaluation and advocating for its remuneration.
• Beyond the Market: It recognizes that the market is not the only mechanism for valuing and rewarding work, advocating for alternative systems that prioritize social and ecological well-being.
• Rethinking Labor: It challenges the traditional gendered division of labor, advocating for a more equitable distribution of both paid and unpaid work and for the recognition of the interconnectedness of all forms of labor.

The Currency of Care: Postcapitalist Assemblages in Action

Postcapitalist Assemblages, like DisCOs, are putting these principles into practice. They’re designing new organizational models that value care work, promote a more equitable distribution of labor and resources, and build a world where the currency of care is as recognized as the currency of the market.

Here’s how DisCOs re-enchant labor:

• Recognizing and Rewarding: They track and measure the value of care work, integrating it into their value accounting systems and remunerating it through fair wages, time banks, and other mechanisms.
• Balancing Job Complexes: They create “balanced job complexes” where everyone has the opportunity to engage in both care work and other forms of labor, challenging the traditional gendered division of labor.
• Building a Culture of Care: They foster a culture of mutual support and solidarity, recognizing the interdependence of all members and prioritizing the well-being of the collective.

By re-valuing care work, DisCOs and other Postcapitalist Assemblages are creating a new kind of economy – a “care economy” – one that recognizes that the work that sustains life is just as important as the work that generates profit. They’re building a world where the common good is not an afterthought but a guiding principle, where labor is re-enchanted, and where the future of work is one of shared prosperity and well-being for all.

As capitalist structures come under increasing pressure—from the financial to the ecological, from the social to the technological – the flaws in their system are revealed. They create wealth, but not for everybody. They promote speed, but towards a destination that many of us no longer want to reach. In these turbulent times of the posthuman, the question we must ask is this: can we continue to prop up a system that devalues those who care for us, or should we instead work towards creating a world that recognizes the currency of care? The time is ripe to dismantle the capitalist logics that have for so long obscured the work that sustains our lives, to build communities that value the common good, and to design organizations that are driven by an ethics of care.