Producers and reproducers: an analysis of the role of the women in the industrialization of socialist Hungary (1948-56)

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyse how the economic policies promoted by the Hungarian “communist” (or “state socialist”) state between 1948 and 1956 affected the living conditions of Hungarian women. Combining a critical reading of Marx’s concept of “primitive accumulation” with the contributions of Social Reproduction Theory (SRT) on productive / reproductive work, we seek to demonstrate how the incorporation of women into the sphere of wage labour not only led to the feminization of certain low-wage industrial sectors, but was also a key element through which the Hungarian state attempted to achieve the objectives of its capital accumulation drive. Strict limitations placed on women’s reproductive rights and the party-state’s conservative views of gender roles limited the possibilities for most women to “break free” from the workload associated with domestic work and motherhood. In this context, we argue that between 1948 and 1956, Hungarian women fulfilled a “triple function” as the immediate replacement for the labour force, in addition to being its direct producers and reproducers. This article hopes to contribute to the literature on the history of socialism in the 20th century in Eastern Europe, as well as academic debates on primitive accumulation and its relation to the oppression of women.