Kathi Weeks Explained

Region:	Western philosophy
Era:	21st-century philosophy
Kathi Weeks
Alma Mater:	University of Washington
Institutions:	Duke University
School Tradition:	Marxist feminism Anti-work Autonomism
Main Interests:	Feminist theoryPolitical theoryCritique of workPost-work societysubjectivitycapitalismtemporalityuniversal basic income
Known For:	The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics and Postwork Imaginaries (2011)

Kathi Weeks is an American scholar, Marxist feminist and anti-work theorist. She is best known for The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics and Postwork Imaginaries, published in 2011 by Duke University Press.^{[1] [2]}

Biography

She holds a PhD from the University of Washington, and is currently a professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at Duke University. There, she was from 2012 to 2015 the Director of Graduate Studies in Women, and in 2018 the Director of Graduate Studies in the Program In Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies.^[3]

In 1998 she published Constituting Feminist Subjects,^{[4] [5]} and in 2000 she co-edited with Michael Hardt the volume The Jameson Reader, on cultural theorist Fredric Jameson. She gained prominence with the publication in 2011 of The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics and Postwork Imaginaries.^[6] The book uses Marxist social reproduction theory, including Wages for Housework and autonomist literature, to question that work is necessarily a social good.^{[7] [8] [9] [10]} She argues in favor of a post-work society where people do not see their creativity or political agency bound by employment relations. This includes a defense of a universal basic income on Marxist feminist grounds.^{[11] [12] [13]}

Books

As author

• Constituting Feminist Subjects (Cornell University Press, 1998). Re-published in 2018 by Verso Books.
• The Problem with Work: Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics and Postwork Imaginaries (Duke University Press, 2011).

As editor

• The Jameson Reader (with Michael Hardt) (Blackwell, 2000).

Notes and References

1. News: The Beginning of the End of Meaningless Work. The New Republic. 2021-01-21. 2023-12-24. 0028-6583. Melissa. Gira Grant.
2. Ask a Political Scientist: A Conversation with Kathi Weeks about the Politics of Work and the Work of Political Theory. Cole. Alyson. Marasco. Robyn. 2021-10-01. Polity. 53. 4. 743–752. 2023-12-24. 0032-3497. 10.1086/716085.
3. Web site: Kathi Weeks Scholars@Duke profile. 2023-12-24. scholars.duke.edu.
4. Kathi Weeks, Constituting Feminist Subjects. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1998.. Mann. Patricia S.. 2001. Hypatia. 16. 2. 111–116. 2023-12-24. 0887-5367. 10.1017/S0887536700011806.
5. Constituting Feminist Subjects. By Kathi Weeks. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998. 196p. 13.95 paper.. Curtis. Kimberley. 2001. American Political Science Review. 95. 1. 207–208. 2023-12-24. 1537-5943. 10.1017/S0003055401302010.
6. Web site: Kathi Weeks. Political Science. 2023-12-24. 2022-12-09. politicalscience.stanford.edu.
7. Web site: The Problem with Work. Feminism, Marxism, Antiwork Politics, and Postwork Imaginaries. Duke University Press.
8. Book: Wingrove. Elizabeth. Disch. Lisa. Hawkesworth. Mary. The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory. 2015. Oxford University Press. 9780190249663. 454-472. Materialisms.
9. The problem with work: Feminism, Marxism, antiwork politics and postwork imaginaries. Grant. Judith. 2013-05-01. Contemporary Political Theory. 12. 2. e5–e7. 2023-12-24. 1476-9336. 10.1057/cpt.2012.6. free.
10. Web site: "Work is not the essence of what it means to be human". 2016. 2023-12-24. Guzmán Bastida. Álvaro. ctxt.es. Contexto y Acción.
11. Web site: A feminist case for Basic Income: An interview with Kathi Weeks. 2023-12-24. 2016-08-22. Critical Legal Thinking.
12. Web site: Kathi Weeks. Jackman Humanities Institute. 2023-12-24. www.humanities.utoronto.ca.
13. Web site: Social Reproduction, Neoliberal Crisis, and the Problem with Work: A Conversation with Kathi Weeks. 2023-12-24. Curcio. Anna. 2015-10-31. Viewpoint Magazine.