Mobile communication: From gender differences to value production theory

In this paper, I propose to explore the relationship between women and the mobile phone through the lens of political economy critique and the Marxian theory of value, as revisited by feminist scholars. In the first part, I offer metatheoretical reflections on strategies to revitalize the theoretical framework of mobile communication studies. I analyze the limitations of how mobile (and digital) studies have, so far, framed the issue of gender. I propose an initial paradigm shift in these studies by broadening the scope of gender and mobile communication research beyond the confines of traditional studies on gender differences, moving toward an exploration of the relationship between women and capital in mobile communication. I continue by proposing a second shift in mobile phone studies, illustrating how mobile communication is increasingly becoming human–machine communication and how the use of mobile phones is actually structured as reproductive labor. I then introduce the theory of value, a well-established sociological theory first proposed by Marx and later reelaborated by feminist scholars. I apply this theory to mobile communication, by expanding it further. Following this, I present a third paradigm shift, advocating a transition from studying the social consequences of mobile communication to investigating the deeper socioeconomic forces driving the adoption of mobile phones and digital technologies for women. The feminist reworking of the theory of value supports these paradigm shifts, enabling us to explore mobile communication within the domestic sphere in a novel way, particularly as it relates to housework and digital labor.