ABSTRACT
The limited possiblity for economic dependence may, therefore, be an important factor in explaining the proletarianized behavior of South African women. Despite their heavy family involvement, South African women, like those in many other historical settings, have displayed a degree of working-class consciousness that is inconsistent with the idea of semi-proletarianization and suggests a number of problems with the concept. The relationship between household labor, wage labor and capitalism has received increasing scholarly attention as part of the feminist effort to clarify the nature of women's economic activity. A major study of working-class consciousness among Latin American women argues along the same lines that because of women's family roles and their sexual subordination at home, labor force participation alone may be insufficient to foster class consciousness. Women workers in South Africa also bear heavy reproductive responsibilities, not only for domestic labor, but also for family support.
