Reproduction’s economic function operates molecularly within families as units

Evidence

The economic function of reproduction. This is not only a general fact which concerns the whole of society in its totality, because society demands a certain proportion between age-groups for purposes of production and of supporting the section of the population that for normal reasons (age, illness, etc.) is passive. It is also a “molecular” fact which operates within the smallest economic units, such as the family. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1098

Categorization

• DEFINE: Gramsci’s ‘molecular fact’ notion extends his structural analysis down to the family unit itself — core vocabulary for how his theory scales.