This article presents the concept of “political work” to account for the active and daily role of many poor women in the accountability of the state. Political work appears as a specific form of unpaid, invisibilized, and feminized work, considered an extension of female domestic work. Yet political work plays a major role in the social reproduction of families, of the state and of capitalism and in the social inequalities underlying capitalism. This paper focuses on India, while extending its findings to other contexts in conclusion, suggesting that India is not an exception.
JEL Codes: B54, 018, P00, Z1