Kant's Theory of Labour

Abstract

This Element examines Kant's innovative account of labour in his political philosophy and develops an intersectional analysis of Kant. By demonstrating that Kant's analysis of slavery, citizenship, and sex developed in inter-linked ways over several decades, culminating in his development of a 'trichotomy' of Right, the author shows that Kant's normative account of independence is configured through his theory of labour, and is continuous with his anthropological accounts of race and gender, providing a systemic justification for the dependency of women and non-whites embedded in his philosophy of right. By examining Kant's arguments about slavery as intertwined with his account of domestic labour, the author argues that his ultimate rejection of slavery may owe more to his changing conceptualization of labour than to his theory of race, and that his final arguments against slavery rehearse strategies for embedding intersectional patterns of domestic dependence in his account of the rightful state.

What is a black radical Kantianism without Du Bois? On method, principle, and abolition democracy

“…Kant includes a scheme of property and contract right, as well as the rather amorphous role of domestic right that affords a household the right to possess a caregiver's reproductive labor “akin to the right of a thing” (Kant, 1996a; MM 6: 358; Hasan, 2018, p. 926; Cf. Pascoe, 2022, pp. 19–21).…”

“…Even if one believes that Kant eventually condemns slavery, his mature political theory does not redress the plight of ex‐slaves nor propose to incorporate them on an equal civic footing into a polity. On the contrary, Kant entertains anti‐abolitionist sentiments that “freed ‘Negro slaves’ all became ‘tramps’” who would eventually die off (Lu‐Adler, 2022, p. 264; Pascoe, 2022, p. 27). Were one to simply disregard these vile comments, it is not clear that the ideal of public right offers much guidance for rethinking the concrete free and equal terms of political belonging.…”

“…1 1 I submit that Kant's concept of domestic right should either be significantly revised, if not altogether dropped. Jordan Pascoe convincingly demonstrates that Kant's treatment of domestic right rationalizes the “enclosed dependence” of reproductive laborers, who as wage laborers tend to be women of color (2022, p. 42). …”

“…31 31 Pascoe shows that Kant's original, chauvinist model of productive independence sanctified the realm of domestic right to exploit caregivers (Pascoe, 2022, p. 20–25). …”