Nancy Folbre 
The Rise and Decline of Patriarchal Systems 
An Intersectional Political Economy

Why do patriarchal systems survive? In this groundbreaking work of feminist theory, Nancy Folbre examines the contradictory effects of capitalist development. She explains why the work of caring for others is under-valued and under-rewarded in today’s global economy, calling attention to the organisation of childrearing, the care of other dependants, and the inheritance of assets. Upending conventional definitions of the economy based only on the market, Folbre emphasizes the production of human capabilities in families and communities and the social reproduction of group solidarities. Highlighting the complexity of hierarchical systems and their implications for political coalitions,
The Rise and Decline of Patriarchal Systems sets a new feminist agenda for the twenty-first century.

Over de auteur

Nancy Folbre is Directorof the Program on Gender and Care Work at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Senior Fellow of the Levy Economics Institute at Bard College. She is the author of numerous books, most recently Greed, Lust, and Gender: A History of Economic Ideas (Oxford, 2009).