The Global Household: Toward a Feminist Postcapitalist International Political Economy

Abstract

The goal of this article is to introduce a new category into international political economy-the global household-and to begin to widen the focus of international political economy to include nonmarket transactions and noncapitalist production. As an economic institution composed of transnational extended families and codwellers (including international migrants and family members left behind in countries of origin), the global household is engaged in coordinating international migration, sending and receiving billions of dollars in remittances, and organizing and conducting market- and non-market-oriented production on an international scale. We first trace the discursive antecedents of the global household concept to theories of the household as a site of noncapitalist production and to feminist ethnographies of transnational families. In order to demonstrate the potential significance and effect of this newly recognized institution, we estimate the aggregate population of global households, the size and distribution of remittances, and the magnitude and sectoral scope of global household production. We then examine the implications of the global household concept for three areas of inquiry: globalization, economic development, and the household politics of economic transformation. Finally, we briefly explore the possibilities for research and activism opened up by a feminist, postcapitalist international political economy centered on the global household.