Who is the caregiver in Kant’s theory of labour? Examining social domination in classical german philosophy

Abstract

My paper addresses Kant’s account of domestic labour from the standpoint of social philosophy and takes issue with some inconsistencies in Kant’s theory of labour relations. First, I examine the case of the domestic household servant as a paradigm of the legal legitimation of social domination in Kant’s legal philosophy. Second, I explore the intersectionality of gender, race and class in the outsourcing of care tasks available to wealthy European women in Kant’s theory of labour. Third, I bring this theory into a critical dialogue with some contemporary challenges of a democratic and equal society. Finally, I draw some conclusions about concrete forms of intersectional domination and exploitation underpinning Kant’s republicanism, which should be viewed as inconsistent with the principles of a free, equal and self-sufficient civil commonwealth.