Beyond the family: commune, care and communism in Family Abolition
Abstract
This critical review examines Family Abolition: Capitalism and the Communizing of Care by M. E. O’Brien through the lens of contemporary debates on Social Reproduction Theory, Marxist feminisms, and queer critique. O’Brien advocates for the abolition of the family not as the destruction of affective bonds, but as the overcoming of the privatized, coercive, and unequal structure of care under capitalism. The review explores the book’s contributions to discussions on social reproduction, drawing connections with authors such as Kathi Weeks, Sophie Lewis, and Lélia Gonzalez, while contextualizing its claims within the Brazilian reality. It argues that the family operates as a social containment technology and that its radical critique is essential to imagining communist futures.
Keywords: family; social reproduction; marxist feminism; care.
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