Invisible Labor and Institutional Violence: A Feminist Materialist Analysis of Mothers of Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Southern Italy

The lenses of feminist materialism refine the historical materialist method beyond Marx’s blind spot, making visible the invisibility of reproductive labor—unpaid and systematically exploited for the benefit of the capitalist system. The domestic mode of production intersects with the capitalist mode of production, and the delineation of a General Theory of Exploitation (Christine Delphy, 2015) provides a framework for understanding how multiple material conditions of existence perpetuate exploitation regimes. This paper adopts a feminist materialist approach to analyze structural social relations of domination (Danièle Kergoat, 2017), focusing on the domestic mode of production (Christine Delphy, 1970). It examines the invisible labor performed by mothers of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, who act as unrecognized and unpaid co- therapists. Invisibility, gratuity, and immediacy define the emotional, educational, caregiving, and economic burdens these mothers bear (Isabelle Courcy and Catherine des Rivières-Pigeon, 2013). This study specifically focuses on Southern Italy, a region historically marked by dispossession and inadequate state welfare resources. The stark economic disparity—where the poverty rate in 2023 stood at 9.9% in Northern Italy compared to a 33.7% in the South—exacerbates these structural inequalities. The intersection of non-recognition and the lack of institutional support creates a hidden form of institutional violence. These dynamics exacerbate ongoing exploitation and bodily appropriation, manifesting as structural violence. Within the framework of a General Theory of Exploitation, this intersection of labor exploitation, territorial inequality, and disability demands transformative justice approaches to address systemic harm in favor of radical, intersectional responses to institutional violence.