Community and Economy: A Retraditionalization of Gender?

In recent social theory, there has been an emphasis on the emergence of non-market, non-cash nexus or what are sometimes referred to as ‘traditional’ forms of organization in the economic sphere. These are sometimes represented as vital to innovation and as constituting the cutting edge of socioeconomic change. In this article, my concern is to interrogate these new modes of organization. Its main argument is that such traditional forms may go hand in hand with a retraditionalization of gender in terms of employment. The innovation and creativity associated with such new economic formations is therefore called into question.