Feminist Understanding of Productivity

The concept of productivity, meaning output per unit of input, is at once general and specific. Economists have used productivity as a very specific measure, denominated in dollars, which shows the output of a produced or consumed good per unit of labour or capital used in the production process. However, productivity can also be understood more broadly as a fundamental human value which denotes optimal use of the natural environment for individual, social and cultural benefit. This involves questioning, testing and replacing many of the static assumptions of the neoclassical economics paradigm: What are the significant inputs and outputs? Can their cost or value be measured in dollars? What additional, related outputs and inputs are silent, "external", or ignored in the production and consumption process? How do improvements in productivity take place, and how can they be measured and fostered? Feminist economists critique the exclusion of many important aspects of production and reproduction from most economic equations; the discussion on alternative ways of valuing inputs and inclusionary approaches to the question of productivity is well advanced in feminist debates. Building on recent research in ecological economics, feminist economics, community economic development, political ecology, and social/cultural studies, this paper explores and articulates several alternative conceptualizations of productivity. The paper's intent is to re-examine the capitalist concept of "productivity" which Maria Mies calls "the most formidable hurdle in our struggle to come to an understanding of women's labour" (Mies, Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale, p. 48).