The aim of this article is to advance theoretically the debate on the interrelation
between robotization and the domestic sphere. I adopt a critical approach to the
political economy about the diffusion of machines in the domestic sphere (unexpected
and not predicted by the classical theories of capital) and the automation of everyday
life, including that of the human body. In the first part, I focus on why robotics has shifted
from the industrial sectors in the domestic sphere and on which features characterize
today this sector. Then, I describe the trends that robotics has put in motion in the
domestic sphere and Europeans’ attitudes toward it. In the final part, I analyze the
processes of automation that are taking place. I will conclude posing the problem of
what kind of society we want to build and live in by introducing the social robots and
which future perspectives emerge at social level.
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