Nieodpłatna praca w domu i polityka rodzinna jako formy przemocy instytucjonalnej
Unpaid domestic work and the family policy as forms of institutional violence

Summary/Abstract: Following the developments in the EU and Polish family policy, the paper connects the unpaid work at home with domestic violence. While glorified and indispensable, values with respect to care and household work remain – across EU systems − unjustified in terms of economic profitability. Defined by such differentiation, those who ”stay at home” are plunged into strenuous negotiations between care for others (children, elderly) and their own dependence on the financial provider, either through breadwinner or indirectly through welfare provisions. This logics splits care into the economically devalued work (marked as feminine) and the ability to provide for oneself and the other (marked as a masculine subject position). Following this dichotomy, care and its almost complete economic devaluation correspond to distinct forms of social subordination and trigger domestic inequality, violence and abuse. My subsequent analysis situates this devaluation as a powerful socio-economic mechanism − also referred to as ”institutional violence” − towards marginalized subjects and values. Simultanously, I reflect on the current feminist economic thought that has joined global ecological postulates in articulating new visions, needs and political strategies for sustainable development of the world.

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