Abstract

DOES SOCIAL INCLUSION COMPRISE DOMESTICITY?

Paul Kershaw

As a normative objective, “social inclusion” presumes an answer to the question: Inclusion where? Citizenship literature that builds on the liberal tradition of T.H. Marshall (1949) generally prioritizes inclusion in public spaces. The marketplace has received particular attention in the social inclusion literature, moving Esping-Andersen (2002, 21) to conclude that “more jobs are seen as the sine qua non in the pursuit of an inclusive society.”

While labour force participation is important for integration, this paper advances the social inclusion debate by arguing that obstacles to participation in one’s network of domestic relations are just as much impediments to full social membership as are barriers to inclusion in the market. The starting point for this argument is a stream of feminist literature represented by Collins (1991). The literature diverges from the depiction of domesticity as primarily an obstacle to gender equality by examining the frustration that some women of colour express about the lack of time they enjoy in their own domestic sphere due to long hours in the labour force. Implicit in this frustration is a vision of domesticity as (i) a potential site of refuge from, and resistance to, forces of discrimination or economic misfortune; and (ii) an important locus of identity politics for individuals and community groups in pluralist societies.

The paper’s investigation reflects the author’s broader interest in work-family balance as a principle for welfare regime reform. Working in this framework, the author identifies the need to embrace domestic time as a critical element of social inclusion without reinforcing the patriarchal division of labour, or the cultural perception that children under six are primarily a private responsibility of those who bear them which underpins limited state support for child care in Canada as compared to much of Europe.

Bio

Paul Kershaw is a postdoctoral research fellow at the UBC Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP). His research examines the development of the social element of citizenship in Canada following World War II, paying particular attention to welfare state restructuring since 1980. Much of his current research bridges normative theorizing about citizenship and caregiving with careful policy analysis. Policy domains of particular interest include parental leave, child care, provincial employment standards regulating hours of paid work and the tax treatment of caregiving and dependency.

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