The Rise and Decline of Patriarchal Systems

An examination of history and persistence of patriarchal hierarchies to answer the defining question of feminist political economy: why is gender inequality so pervasive? Rapid technological change has improved living standards and increased the scope of individual choice for women; on the other hand, increased inequality and the weakening of families and communities have reconfigured gender inequalities, leaving caregivers particularly vulnerable. Folbre examines why care work is generally unrewarded in a market economy, the inheritance of assets, and the use of force and violence to appropriate both physical and human resources while exploring intersecting inequalities based on class, gender, age, race/ethnicity, and citizenship, and their implications for political coalitions and sets a new feminist agenda for the twenty-first century.