Abstract
Labor geography is a vibrant, variegated subdiscipline, but there are also concerns over its lack of theoretical coherence. In this paper, I examine Open Marxist approaches that engage with post-structuralism and feminism based on Marx's concepts of abstract and concrete labor to frame a review of recent labor geography and related contributions on (a) social reproduction, difference, and class; (b) work, technology and precarity; and (c) labor's agency. I make three main arguments. First, while many conceptual tools for the analysis of social reproduction and difference exist within Marxism, because of their engagement with feminism and post-structuralism, these are being more fully developed. Second, Open Marxist contributions to this dialogue require greater emphasis upon the dialectical relationship between concrete, non-wage workers struggles against abstract labor and wage worker struggles of abstract labor within the totality of capitalism. Third, while important engagements are ongoing between Marxism, post-structuralism and feminism greater integration is neither needed nor desirable precisely because of Marxism's unique combination of conceptual coherence and open-endedness, which means that this interaction is a source of its theoretical development.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 95-107 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Human Geography(United Kingdom) |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2024 |
Keywords
- Labor geography
- Open Marxism
- engaged pluralism
- labor
- restructuring
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Philosophy