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A common assumption is that commodification--the process by which goods and services are increasingly produced by capitalist firms for a profit under conditions of market exchange--is colonizing, albeit slowly and unevenly, ever more areas of daily life. Yet little evidence has been supplied to show either the extent or unevenness of this penetration. Here, therefore, we first draw upon secondary data to evaluate the degree to which the advanced economies have been permeated by commodification. This identifies large spaces of non-exchanged work, non-monetized exchange and nonprofit-motivated monetary exchange. To both explain the existence of these spaces as well as the uneven penetration of commodification, we then report case study evidence from the sphere of domestic services in UK urban areas. This displays that although domestic services are slightly more commodified amongst higher-income populations, the uneven contours of commodification cannot be explained simply in terms of whether populations can afford to use formal service provision. While economic constraints do prevent the advance of commodification, especially in lower-income populations, strong 'cultures of resistance' are also uncovered that impede its deeper penetration. To conclude, therefore, the contrasting roles played by economic and cultural constraints in slowing the advance of commodification and creating its uneven contours are explored.

Research is presented on the specific form of income, paid informal exchange, within an unidentified northern city and an unidentified southern city in England. It is suggested that regional variations call for research methodologies that address cultural, social and geographical differences.

The aim of this paper is draw out some policy lessons from a study of self-help activity amongst 200 households in deprived urban neighbourhoods of Southampton. Commencing with a critique of the popular prejudice that promoting self-help should be opposed in case it leads to a demise of formal welfare provision, the paper then interrogates the empirical evidence to understand and explain the nature and extent of such work in deprived neighbourhoods. Finding that self-help is a crucial component of household coping practices, but that no-earner households are unable to benefit from this work to the same extent as employed households, the paper proposes both bottom-up and top-down solutions to tackle the barriers to participation in self-help amongst unemployed households. In particular, it calls for a modification to Working Families Tax Credit and the creation of Community Enterprise so as to recognise and value much of the self-help activity that currently takes place but remains unrecognised and unvalued.

Social polarization refers to the divergence in the life chances of the poor and the rich. Social polarization in the UK is examined using the 'whole economy' approach, which focuses on the impact of economic restructuring on household work practices. The 'whole economy' approach is effective because it considers not only formal occupations but also paid and unpaid informal work., INTRODUCTION The social polarization thesis addresses the degree to which the life chances of the relatively poor and affluent are diverging (JORDAN and REDLEY, 1994). To study this phenomenon, two [...]

Macroeconomic analyses and individual case studies reveal the extent of black market work in the European community and their influence on capitalism. Black market work refers to low-paid wages, and social, institutional, economic and environmental factors contribute to the exploitation of the workers. The common characteristics of the localities involved in Black Market work determine whether black market work prevailed during the precapitalist era or the classical capitalist era.

A seminal analysis of regional variations in the informal sector was conducted for the European Community in 1984. A re-examination of the same phenomenon was conducted in 1994 to analyze long-term trends. A key focus was the relationship of the informal sector to deprivation given different regional characteristics. The analysis does not support the conventional view that informal work is an exploitative and marginalized form. Rather, the informal labor market has a hierarchy similar to that of the formal sector and its character depends upon regional conditions., INTRODUCTION A decade ago in this journal, BUTTON, 1984, published the first analysis of regional variations in the informal sector. Ten years later, this paper charts the progress which has [...]

Qualitative empirical research on explanations of women's relationship to their home and family in France does not arbitrate between the opposing standpoints of the microeconomists and the feminists regarding the degree of choice women enjoy in assuming domestic responsibilities and the extent to which their biological status defines their role. The 25-year old debate has not been resolved because empirical studies so far have not addressed the question of why women are responsible for domestic labor. Some of these studies are biased toward a particular theoretical viewpoint and some offer explanations that conform to neither theory. Additional research on the subject should be interpreted within a political context.

Quantitative studies currently being used by the EC as a basis for its labor policy formation are insufficient and a qualitative form of research is proposed as an adjunct. A less structured, cross-national study would be better suited for exploring and explaining through interviews, the specific factors and experiences that serve to advance or inhibit the cause of egalitarian labor practices for women.

In contrast to the majority of research on the relationship between women and the state which bases its findings on nationally aggregated data and concentrates its analysis on the forces which shape national policy concerning gender, this article adopts a micro-social approach to this question. based on the findings from an in-depth qualitative cross-national study of the child care strategies of 112 mothers working in secretarial or clerical occupations in two countries with very different configurations of 'political motherhood', namely, France and Britain, the article assesses the impact of these varying policy environments on the construction of mothering in the everyday lives of employed women. It finds that different configurations of political motherhood have a significant impact on the practical aspects of these women's child care strategies but less impact on their fundamental conceptions of the duties and responsibilities of mothering. It concludes by considering the significance of these findings for current debates concerning the role of the state in perpetuating or combating unequal gender relations.