Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale

By Maria Mies,

Book cover of Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale: Women in the International Division of Labour

Book description

'It is my thesis that this general production of life, or subsistence production - mainly performed through the non-wage labour of women and other non-wage labourers as slaves, contract workers and peasants in the colonies - constitutes the perennial basis upon which "capitalist productive labour" can be built up and…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I really learnt a lot from this book! It is an important contribution to the debates about women’s labour, accumulation of capital, and extraction of resources from the global south.

It traces the social origins of the sexual division of labour, which Mies called 'housewifization' (not my favourite word, but it captures something about the way in which the term housewife hides women’s labour!). Layering this with the history of colonialism and the new international division of labour, Mies is able to locate the history of capitalism not only in the roots of colonialism but also in the gendered division…

Want books like Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale.

Browse books like Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale

Book cover of Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation
Book cover of Social Reproduction Theory: Remapping Class, Recentering Oppression
Book cover of The Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,355

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in women, presidential biography, and feminism?

Women 653 books
Feminism 362 books