Understanding Commodification of Care through Marx’s Value Theory: The Case of China’s Newborn Care Industry

• In Event: 50660 - Section on Marxist Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 4: The Politics of Class Struggle

Abstract

This article uses Marx’s value theory to critically examine the commodification of care in China’s newborn care sector, focusing on its manifestations across the spheres of circulation, production, and reproduction. Based on data obtained from 52 interviews and 11 months of fieldwork conducted in China’s maternal and newborn care sector, this study clarifies how, for the realization of surplus value in the circulation sphere, companies transform such care from a Chinese traditional practice, known as “sitting through the month,” into a highly marketable commodity. By branding care as a scientific, efficient, and standardized service, companies establish a new care ideology that caters to capitalist demands for surplus value. This branding process, combined with the drive for labor efficiency and reduced costs, reconfigures care practices in the production sphere along three critical dimensions: temporality, knowledge, and skills. This study contributes to the growing literature on care commodification by showing how capital’s self-expanding logic reshapes care work, moving beyond abstract discussions to explore how surplus value production operates across multiple domains. Furthermore, it provides a nuanced response to the long-standing question of whether care can be reconciled with paid labor, offering a deeper understanding of the tension between care’s relational ethics and market-driven imperatives. Through this lens, the study offers new insights into the ongoing transformation of care labor, particularly in rapidly commercializing sectors.

Authors

• Tongyu Wu, Zhejiang University

• Yilun Jian, Zhejiang University