Lillian Cicerchia | University of Amsterdam (original) (raw)

Papers by Lillian Cicerchia

Rivista Italiana di Filosofia Politica, 2022

This paper offers a critique of Nancy Fraser's expanded conception of capitalism as an institutio... more This paper offers a critique of Nancy Fraser's expanded conception of capitalism as an institutional social order. Fraser builds a social-theoretical basis for thinking about "non-economic" struggles over social reproduction, the degradation of nature, and state power as central to a progressive, anti-capitalist political agenda. Rather than only challenging capital at the point of production, as the classical Marxist tradition was wont to do, Fraser wants anti-capitalism without economic reductionism. Fraser's is also a crisis theory of capitalism, which generates a theory of social change as well as a normative critique. The main question is methodological and can be summed up as, "Is less perhaps more?" On this basis, it argues that stability may be a better starting point than crisis, which raises more fundamental normative problems with the system than the ones that Fraser captures.

Social Theory and Practice

This article explores an under-examined theme, which is who or what is the working class and what... more This article explores an under-examined theme, which is who or what is the working class and what is wrong with the situation that members of this class share. It argues that class divisions impose a unique harm for a diverse and interdependent group within capitalist societies both in spite and because of differences among group members. Class matters not just because it creates economic groups in which some are rich and others are poor, but because competition creates conditions that militate against solidarity, toward cleavage and conflict. Class is a constraint on collective self-determination and, therefore, a source of domination.

Radical Philosophy Review

In this paper I argue that Nancy Fraser’s theory of social reproduction is misleading and that th... more In this paper I argue that Nancy Fraser’s theory of social reproduction is misleading and that the process of exploitation is more central to women’s oppression than Fraser’s theory suggests. I argue that Fraser’s theory of women’s oppression is continuous with her theory of capitalism and political agency. I critique Fraser’s theory of capitalism at a structural level to clarify some of the ambiguity in her position about the difference between production and reproduction. I then compare Fraser’s view with a structural view of class to make my critique and extend it to her theoretical distinction between status and class.

European Journal of Political Theory

Drafts by Lillian Cicerchia

Why Does Class Matter?

Forthcoming in Social Theory and Practice

Rivista Italiana di Filosofia Politica, 2022

This paper offers a critique of Nancy Fraser's expanded conception of capitalism as an institutio... more This paper offers a critique of Nancy Fraser's expanded conception of capitalism as an institutional social order. Fraser builds a social-theoretical basis for thinking about "non-economic" struggles over social reproduction, the degradation of nature, and state power as central to a progressive, anti-capitalist political agenda. Rather than only challenging capital at the point of production, as the classical Marxist tradition was wont to do, Fraser wants anti-capitalism without economic reductionism. Fraser's is also a crisis theory of capitalism, which generates a theory of social change as well as a normative critique. The main question is methodological and can be summed up as, "Is less perhaps more?" On this basis, it argues that stability may be a better starting point than crisis, which raises more fundamental normative problems with the system than the ones that Fraser captures.

Social Theory and Practice

This article explores an under-examined theme, which is who or what is the working class and what... more This article explores an under-examined theme, which is who or what is the working class and what is wrong with the situation that members of this class share. It argues that class divisions impose a unique harm for a diverse and interdependent group within capitalist societies both in spite and because of differences among group members. Class matters not just because it creates economic groups in which some are rich and others are poor, but because competition creates conditions that militate against solidarity, toward cleavage and conflict. Class is a constraint on collective self-determination and, therefore, a source of domination.

Radical Philosophy Review

In this paper I argue that Nancy Fraser’s theory of social reproduction is misleading and that th... more In this paper I argue that Nancy Fraser’s theory of social reproduction is misleading and that the process of exploitation is more central to women’s oppression than Fraser’s theory suggests. I argue that Fraser’s theory of women’s oppression is continuous with her theory of capitalism and political agency. I critique Fraser’s theory of capitalism at a structural level to clarify some of the ambiguity in her position about the difference between production and reproduction. I then compare Fraser’s view with a structural view of class to make my critique and extend it to her theoretical distinction between status and class.

European Journal of Political Theory

Why Does Class Matter?

Forthcoming in Social Theory and Practice