The economics of human development, the new (old) ‘witches’, and the government of social reproduction

This paper argues that the Economics of Human Development, advanced by Chicago School economist James J. Heckman and presented as a strategy for social investment in disadvantaged children, can be interpreted as an instrument for the government of social reproduction. The paper asserts that the Economics of Human Development is mostly concerned with the reproduction of a quality workforce. It further contends that its underlying argument is that disadvantage is the result of inadequate parenting, especially from mothers, who have raised a generation of workers unfit to meet the demands of the market and imposing costs on society. It is also argued that the resulting social policy proposal is intended to conform children’s and mother’s behaviour to the needs of the capitalist accumulation system.