Emerging from the pandemic, we are confronted with hard lessons challenging our understanding of the economy’s purpose. Its role in the production of good and services became acutely sharpened as the essentials of everyday life came into clear focus. And, surprising to some, the provision of these essentials is often dependent on our most marginalized workers. Also, the prime capitalist tenet of maximizing profits even in the human services disintegrates in the face of the failure to protect senior populations in its commercial operations. UK sociologist Sara Farris argues here that “social reproduction theory” should reframe how we think about the purpose of the economy and value both the role of public services and the community in organizing our economic activity to support quality of life over profit-making. – Peter Clutterbuck
“A society that prioritises life-making rather than profit-making would be a more sustainable society in which the top priority is quality care. A society wherein certain forms of environmental destruction would not be permissible, because emphasising social reproduction means stressing our interdependence not only as people – when we care for each other, we accept our interdependence as human beings – but also with nature. If we were to fully understand our dependence on nature, we would prioritise a different way of living on this planet. […]”
