GENS:A FEMINIST MANIFESTO

FOR THE STUDY OF CAPITALISM

1. GENS IS TH E E TY M OLOGIC AL R O O T O F G ENDER , G ENU S, G ENR E, G ENER AT I O NS AND GE N E RA TE .

IT S PE C IF IC A LLY RE F E RS TO A H I ST O R Y O F CO NT R ADI CT I O NS B ET W EEN M AL E AU T H O R I TY A N D F E MA LE KIN S HIP
T IE S. TH E F LE XIB ILITY OF TH E TE R M R EFER ENCES O U R I NT ER EST I N T H E G ENER AT I V E P O WE RS O F C A P ITA LIS M

2. FEMINIST APPROACHES HELPS US TO:

- DISPLACE OTHER MODELS IN WHICH THE WORLD OF THE
HOUSEHOLD, KINSHIP, AND “NON-CAPITALIST”
INSTITUTIONS ARE RADICALLY DIFFERENT IN THEIR FORMS
OF SOCIALITY FROM THE WORLD OF THE MARKET .

3. WE CHALLENGE THE IMAGINED

“ECONOMIC LOGIC” THAT RETURNS
AGAIN AND AGAIN AS THE DRIVING
FORCE OF CAPITALISM. INSTEAD OF
TAKING CAPITALISM A PRIORI, AS AN
ALREADY DETERMINING STRUCTURE,
LOGIC, AND TRAJECTORY, WE ASK HOW
ITS SOCIAL RELATIONS ARE GENERATED
OUT OF EVERYDAY LIFE RELATIONS MORE
FRAGILE AND MORE INTIMATE.

THE GENS APPROACH, THEN, IS A CONCERTED

STRATEGY TO REVEAL THE MESSY PROCESS THAT
ENABLE CAPITALISM TO APPEAR TOTALIZING
4. CLASS IS GENERATED WITHIN HISTORICALLY SHIFTING AND COHERENT.
DYNAMICS OF GENDER, RACE, SEXUALITY, AND KINSHIP. WE
ARE INTERESTED IN THE CENTRALITY OF KINSHIP TO CAPITAL
ACCUMULATION AND CLASS RELATIONS.
INHERITANCE FROM PARENTS TO CHILDREN HAS PLAYED A
CRUCIAL ROLE ON THE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH.

2005
THIS HOUSE WILL BE YOURS,
SO YOU WON’T HAVE TO
WORRY ABOUT MONEY WHEN

INHERITANCE
YOUR MOTHER AND I HAVE
PASSED AWAY.
5. FORMAL MODELS EMERGE FROM DIVERSE
LIFEWORLDS AND ARE NOT SIMPLY
MANIFESTATIONS OF SINGULAR CORE
ECONOMIC LOGICS. CONVERSION DEVICES
THIS IS THE THIS IS THE MEDIATE, BUT DO NOT DETERMINE SOCIALITY
PERFECT HOUSE! PERFECT DEBT! OR HUMAN/NON-HUMAN RELATIONS.

I’M LOOKING FOR A P er son a l C on sum pt i on Ex pen d i t ur es

JOB. I CAN CLEAN,
COOK AND TAKE
CARE OF YOUR
( pe r c e n t c h a n ge fr o m y e a r a go )

CHILD.

STEREOTYPE ALERT
BANK r e s e r c h. s touis fe d. or g
Ja n 2 003 Ja n 2 004

S our c e . US B ur e au of E c onom ic A nal ys is

Ja n 2 005 Ja n 2 006 Ja n 2 007 Ja n 2 008 Ja n 2 009 Ja n 2 010

m yf. r e d/g /3 j N5

THIS IS,
SADLY, THE
HEGEMONIC IDEA OF
FAMILY. ONE OF A MILLION
POSSIBLE FAMILIES. WITH THIS
DEPICTION, THOUGH, WE WANT TO
DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THE RACIAL
HIERARCHY THAT IS PRESENT IN CAREGIVING
RELATIONSHIPS

2008
6. FINANCIALIZATION IS THE EXPLICIT APPLICATION OF PARTICULAR
FINANCIAL MARKET VALUES TO NEW DOMAINS, SUCH AS THE HOUSE- “MATERIAL
HOLD, CORPORATIONS, OR EDUCATION. LABOUR”
THE FAR-REACHING INFLUENCE OF FINANCE IS DEPENDENT UPON
CULTURAL, MATERIAL, POLITICAL, AND LEGAL TRANSFORMATIONS. “IMMATERIAL
LABOUR”

I’M SORRY, WE
LOST OUR HOUSE.
7. THE CATEGORY
OF IMMATERIAL
YOU CAN’T STAY LABOR CREATES A
HERE ANY FALSE BINARY THAT
LONGER. . CLASSIFIES FORMS OF
LABOR IN A
...
WHAT I’M SUPPOSED TO
DO NOW? I’LL HAVE TO HIERARCHY OF
GET A STUDENT LOAN TO VALUE. THIS BINARY
PAY MY TUITION FEES. IS AN IDEOLOGICAL
CONSTRUCT THAT
OBSCURES THE
COMMUNICATIVE
AND AFFECTIVE
WHAT I’M GONNA DO NOW?
AUC TIO N DIMENSIONS OF ALL
HUMAN ACTION.

NOT YET! WE ARE WAITING FOR THE PRICES TO RISE...

8. THE FIRST WAVE OF THEORIES OF “NEOLIBERAL” CAPITALISM WROTE OF
I NEED IT IN TWO HOURS! GLOBAL WORKPLACES AS THE EPITOME OF THE COMPRESSED AND ACCELERATED
SPACE-TIME. BUT ETHNOGRAPHIC ANALYSES REVEAL A DIFFERENT REALITY. WE
HAVE TO ANALYZE THE HETEROGENEOUS FORMS OF PACING, DURATION, WAITING,
HOLD ON! PAUSE, OBSOLESCENCE, AND DELAY THAT ALSO CHARACTERIZE THE GENERATIVE
THE MARKET IS NO READY FOR IT. RHYTHMS OF CAPITALISM.

HURRY UP!

Laboratorio de Antropología Abierta Ilustración

www.antropologiaabierta.org www.saratoro.com.co
@antropologiaabierta @torosarart

BEAR, LAURA, HO, KAREN, TSING, ANNA AND YANAGISAKO , SYLVIA. "GENS: A FEMINIST MANIFESTO FOR THE STUDY OF CAPITALISM." THEORIZING THE CONTEMPORARY, CULTURAL
ANTHROPOLOGY WEBSITE, MARCH 30, 2015. HTTPS://CULANTH.ORG/FIELDSIGHTS/652-GENS-A-FEMINIST-MANIFESTO-FOR-THE-STUDY-OF-CAPITALISM