Trabalho reprodutivo: repercussões pós-pandêmicas

Abstract

19 Abstract This doctoral dissertation analyzed the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the distribution and composition of reproductive labor performed by middle-class couples within the domestic sphere. We framed the pandemic period as a potential catalyst for changes in the labor field that reverberated in the configuration of the relationship between production and reproduction at that historical moment. Among these modifications, we highlight social isolation and quarantine, which required a large portion of the population to restrict themselves to the domestic space, prompting them to reconfigure the private sphere into a productive and reproductive space simultaneously. We questioned whether the pandemic event brought about new modes of spatial and temporal work structuring that led to a shift in the distribution of reproductive labor between couples. We anchored our analysis in Social Reproduction Theory articulated with the Theory of the Sexual Division of Labour, grounded in Marxist feminist epistemology, to understand the relationship between production and reproduction within contemporary capitalist society. There, reproductive labor—invisible and devalued—emerges not only as a sine qua non condition for the maintenance and reproduction of society, but also as a means by which capital ensures the renewal and reproduction of the labor force necessary for the capital accumulation process and, consequently, for the perpetuation of the system as a whole. Such labor has been historically assigned almost in its entirety to women, performed on an unpaid basis and under the guise of “family love”. Hence, the general objective emerged, namely: “To analyze the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the distribution of reproductive labor performed by middle-class couples in the domestic sphere," as well as the specific objectives: 1.To describe the scenario of reproductive labor in the contemporary context; 2. To identify the distributive dimension of reproductive labor during the pandemic period; 3.To investigate whether the distribution of reproductive labor experienced during the pandemic was maintained in the post-pandemic context; 4. To discuss the meanings that middle-class couples attribute to the distribution of reproductive labor among themselves”. Situated within the field of empirical Abstract research, we opted for a qualitative research perspective. For data construction, we chose the narrative interview in articulation with a data construction model supported by the simple/crossed self-confrontation method (self-referenced interview), conducted with heterosexual middle-class couples in the city of Fortaleza-CE, as well as the field diary kept during data construction. Research participants were selected by accessibility and convenience. Individual interviews and self-confrontation sessions were recorded and transcribed both for the self-confrontation itself and for subsequent narrative analysis. The analytical discussions were carried out in light of the theoretical framework supporting our investigation. The data pointed to a partial alteration in the distributive arrangements used by couples, with a temporary dismissal of domestic workers—which was resumed after the pandemic period—as well as a relative redistribution of childcare labor between couples. In this scenario, men took on a more significant role, which persisted after the end of the health crisis. We conclude that the distribution of reproductive labor underwent shifts toward a less unequal, though not yet equitable, division.