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Capitalism and the production of uneven bodies: women, motherhood and food distribution in Britain c.1850–1914

Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers

Published online on

Abstract

This article argues that processes of social reproduction are central to our understanding of body formation under capitalism. Articulated through a feminist historical materialist framework founded on a social ontology that recognises the material foundation of social life as constituted of both productive and reproductive activities, this paper develops the concept of uneven body as a more holistic approach integrating into corporeal geography a social reproduction lens. I explore the social and historical analytical capacity of the concept through a study of food distribution in Britain c.1850–1914 in order to reveal how certain bodies absorbed, mediated and embodied capital contradictions between production and social reproduction.