The Role of Care in Contemporary Capital.

The production of values and knowledge would be unimaginable without the reproduction of life as such. Obviously, a mother's role goes far beyond basic biological reproduction; in fact, mothers define the production of subjectivity itself. Yet although their labor of love is so central, mothers have constantly been excluded from older conceptions of production, stigmatized as the performers of unpaid dirty work, incapable of sparking any social change whatsoever.

"Up to now, no policy has been developed for researchers who become pregnant during their research period. In reality, there is a need for such policy. "
- Policy Board Minutes, Jan van Eyck Academie, October 2007

A becoming-mother's work is never done

In thinking about motherhood in relation to the manifold of contemporary work, we are waylaid at once by diverse paths and traps:  the mother as the prototypical subject of always-on exploitation (with its attendant risks of central subject and subjectivised narrative of capital's shifts); the production of motherhood as a growth industry and a moral panic (with its attendant risks of hearkening back to an authentic free-range motherhood prior to the strictures of the nanny state). 

Comments on Vladimir Putin’s demographic speech

In his annual address to the nation May 2006, Russian president Vladimir Putin made several new suggestions concerning family and child care policy. Later in this year his proposals were confirmed by the Duma and received legal status. This is the first time that post-socialist gender politics have been so clearly outlined in Russia. While Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid-80s envisioned the possibility of women returning to their traditional roles as a means to lighten their double burden, Putin strongly advocated both wage-work and state support for Russian mothers. What rhetorical and political strategies explain this interesting move? What gender ideology lies behind them?

t h i s b o u n d l e s s n e s s i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c
open paragraph night comma the pain comma started comma i felt no fear comma i listened to the greek composer xenakis comma a drum piece comma intense drumming comma i read
somewhere that he found his inspiration to his huge moving sound structures from the demonstrating crowds comma moving through the streets of athens comma how the sounds move
from chaos to sense comma direction comma action and back comma starting anew comma other direction comma same force comma even as hesitation comma as hesitation comma the
height of the intensity close paragrph

Written for magazine Diagonal in February, 2005
Previously published on-line at
http://www.sindominio.net/karakola/precarias/cuidados/bodiesliesandvideo.htm
In the present context, the logic of security is the principal form of taking charge of bodies and organizing them around fear, contention, control, and management of unease. This article is a first approach and analysis of the concept of the body managed through securitarian logic, in order to see forms of regulation that are being used and to feed practices that take root in the politically radical character of care. The logic of care that we propose recognizes interdependence, wagers upon cooperation, and articulates itself as a social ecology.

Women do reproductive work - giving birth, breastfeeding and nurturing - without which human continuity is not possible. But this very reproductive work that they do as mothers, that makes them vulnerable, because it confines them to the lack of autonomy.

During the 20th century Sweden went from
being an almost all-blonde, agricultural kind
of society to a multicultural society based
on duty and education. A reduced number
of newborn babies, less people living in
confined quarters and increased economical
resources for the households were some of the
results. Accordingly, the Swedish people have
more space and more money but reproduce
themselves less than before. Also, fewer
babies are born today in families situated in
Stockholm compared to the rest of the country
(1.79 to 1.83 per family).

The Strike and its demands give a unique framework for
grassroots women and girls to express our needs whatever
our situation, race, nationality, age, income, occupation,
dis/ability, sexual preference . . . in towns and cities
but also in villages, where most of us live. We hope
that whatever demands you highlight or add, you will list
them ALL. The demands unite everyone taking part in the
Strike, and to each local action they bring international
power. The anti-globalisation, anti-war movement, to
which women are contributing so much hard work and
energy, is just beginning to recognise that Invest in Caring
not Killing is a perspective for winning.