Globalization

Recasting our Understanding of Gender and Work During Global Restructuring

Citation:

Pyle, Jean L., and Kathryn B. Ward. 2003. “Recasting Our Understanding of Gender and Work During Global Restructuring.” International Sociology 18 (3): 461–89.

Authors: Jean L. Pyle, Kathryn B. Ward

Abstract:

The authors propose a broad analytic framework for understanding the relationships between globalization, gender and work. They argue that the way researchers, government officials and development practitioners think about globalization's effects on the gendered division of labor is the basis upon which to develop effective strategies to reduce gender inequalities. The authors outline the major trends of the recent period of globalization and their effects on the gendered division of labor, including more macro-effects of trade, production and finance on women's roles. They investigate micro-impacts through four growing gendered production networks: export production, sex work, domestic service and microfinance income generation. They also examine the role of governments and find that, to satisfy demands of international institutions and address some citizens' needs, many governments have been pushed into fostering these types of work. The authors argue that these gendered global production networks have grown substantially as a result of globalization processes and that there are systemic linkages between the global expansion of production, trade and finance and the increase of women in these networks. This broader understanding of the forces that shape women's lives is necessary to develop strategies that counter globalization's adverse impacts.

Keywords: Bangladesh, Gender, globalization, microfinance, multinational corporation, sex work, work

Topics: Development, Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Globalization, Governance, Households, International Organizations, Livelihoods, Sexual Livelihoods, Political Economies

Year: 2003

The Gender Ideological Clash in Globalization: Women, Migration, and the Modernization Building Project of the Philippines

Citation:

Parreñas, Rhacel Salazar. 2007. “The Gender Ideological Clash in Globalization: Women, Migration, and the Modernization Building Project of the Philippines.” Social Thought & Research 28: 37–56.

Author: Rhacel Salazar Parreñas

Abstract:

My article interrogates the local impacts of global economic processes on the socio-cultural geography of the Philippines. I argue that the development of an export-oriented Filipino economy incorporates a gender ideological clash resulting from simultaneously encouraging and discouraging female domesticity. This clash emerges from the economic dependency of the Philippines on women's work outside the home on the one hand, and a longstanding gender ideology that continues to locate women's gender responsibilities inside the home on the other hand. The dependence of the Philippines on remittances from women's migrant domestic work magnifies this clash. My article looks closely at this gender ideological clash caused by working women's paradoxical positioning vis-à-vis the home, addresses why this clash occurs, describes its consequences for relations in the family, and, lastly, links it to a larger discussion of the status of women in globalization.

Topics: Development, Economies, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Globalization, Households, Livelihoods Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Philippines

Year: 2007

Women’s Status and Economic Globalization

Citation:

Gelleny, Ronald, and David L. Richards. 2007. “Women’s Status and Economic Globalization.” International Studies Quarterly 51 (4): 855-76.

Authors: Ronald Gelleny, David L. Richards

Abstract:

Previous research on gender-based economic inequality has emphasized occupational segregation as the leading explanatory factor for the gender wage gap. Yet the globalization of the U.S. economy has affected gender inequality in fundamental ways and potentially diminished the influence of occupational gender segregation. We examine whether occupational gender segregation continues to be the main determinant of gender earnings inequality and to what extent globalization processes have emerged as important determinants of inequality between women’s and men’s earnings. We study factors contributing to the gender earnings ratio as well as the median earnings of men and women for 271 U.S. metropolitan areas. The results indicate that occupational segregation is still the leading determinant of gender earnings inequality, that its effects are only slightly diminished by the presence of globalization, and that various aspects of the global economy independently influence the gender earnings gap.

Topics: Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Globalization Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2007

YEARNING FOR LIGHTNESS: Transnational Circuits in the Marketing and Consumption of Skin Lighteners

Citation:

Glenn, Evelyn Nakano. 2008. “Yearning for Lightness: Transnational Circuits in the Marketing and Consumption of Skin Lighteners.” Gender and Society 22 (3): 281–302.

Author: Evelyn Nakano Glenn

Abstract:

With the breakdown of traditional racial boundaries in many areas of the world, the widespread and growing consumption of skin-lightening products testifies to the increasing significance of colorism—social hierarchy based on gradations of skin tone within and between racial/ethnic groups. Light skin operates as a form of symbolic capital, one that is especially critical for women because of the connection between skin tone and attractiveness and desirability. Far from being an outmoded practice or legacy of past colonialism, the use of skin lighteners is growing fastest among young, urban, educated women in the global South. Although global in scope, the skin-lightening market is highly segmented by nation, culture, race, and class. This article examines the "yearning for lightness" and skin-lightening practices in various societies and communities and the role of transnational pharmaceutical and cosmetic corporations in fueling the desire for lighter skin through print, Internet, and television ads that link light skin with modernity, social mobility, and youth.

Keywords: colorism, beauty, skin bleaching, globalism, discrimination

Topics: Class, Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Ethnicity, Gender, Women, Globalization, Multi-National Corporations, Nationalism, Race

Year: 2008

Politics at Work: Transnational Advocacy Networks and the Global Garment Industry

Citation:

Garwood, Shae. 2005. “Politics at Work: Transnational Advocacy Networks and the Global Garment Industry.” Gender and Development 13 (3): 21–33.

Author: Shae Garwood

Abstract:

In the past two decades, hundreds of thousands of women and girls, from El Salvador to Lesotho, have earned their livelihoods by sewing clothes for the global garment industry. With the phasing out of the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA) at the end of 2004, many of these women face the prospect of unemployment. The use of transnational advocacy networks in two campaigns, the MFA Forum and Play Fair At The Olympics, may provide some lessons for gender and development advocates concerned about the fate of the millions of women working on the global assembly line.

Topics: Development, Economies, Gender, Women, Girls, Globalization, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, Southern Africa, Americas, Central America Countries: El Salvador, Lesotho

Year: 2005

Occupational Gender Segregation, Globalization, and Gender Earnings Inequality in U.S. Metropolitan Area

Citation:

Gauchat, Gordon, Maura Kelly, and Michael Wallace. 2012. "Occupational Gender Segregation, Globalization, and Gender Earning Inequality in U.S. Metropolitan Areas." Gender and Society 26 (5): 718–47.

Authors: Gordon Gauchat, Maura Kelly, Michael Wallace

Abstract:

Previous research on gender-based economic inequality has emphasized occupational segregation as the leading explanatory factor for the gender wage gap. Yet the globalization of the U.S. economy has affected gender inequality in fundamental ways and potentially diminished the influence of occupational gender segregation. We examine whether occupational gender segregation continues to be the main determinant of gender earnings inequality and to what extent globalization processes have emerged as important determinants of inequality between women’s and men’s earnings. We study factors contributing to the gender earnings ratio as well as the median earnings of men and women for 271 U.S. metropolitan areas. The results indicate that occupational segregation is still the leading determinant of gender earnings inequality, that its effects are only slightly diminished by the presence of globalization, and that various aspects of the global economy independently influence the gender earnings gap.

Keywords: class/stratification, comparative/historical, sexuality

Topics: Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Globalization, Sexuality Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2012

Gender, Class, and Work: The Complex Impacts of Globalization

Citation:

Brumley, Krista M. 2010. “Gender, Class, and Work: The Complex Impacts of Globalization.” Edited by M. T. Segal. Interactions and Intersections of Gendered Bodies at Work, at Home, And At Play 14: 95–119.

Author: Krista Brumley

Abstract:

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to the literature on work, gender, and globalization using an intersectional approach.

Methodology – The data for this chapter are derived from two years of qualitative fieldwork at a Mexican multinational corporation. I conducted in-depth, semistructured interviews with 86 employees at all levels of the organizational hierarchy as well as content analysis of the company magazine.

Findings – My findings suggest that globalization leads to similar benefits for women and men, with respect to autonomy and decision making in the workplace, but are framed distinctly depending on class. Globalization is gendered in that it offers an additional benefit of economic independence to women. Women at different levels of occupational prestige, however, experience the globalizing process in diverse ways. I conclude by suggesting that globalization results in a tension within the company in how to incorporate female workers in a more meaningful manner.

Originality/value of chapter – Research on globalization in the developing world primarily examines factory workers or women in certain occupations, such as domestic workers. This study focuses on an overlooked group of workers that includes female and male white-collar workers. It offers a comparative analysis of the gendered and class-based effects of globalization on workers of different ranks within the same company. Most globalization studies on Mexico center on the Maquila industry, whereas this study examines workers in a Mexican-owned international company.

Topics: Class, Economies, Gender, Globalization, International Organizations, Multi-National Corporations Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Mexico

Year: 2010

Gender and International Migration: Globalization, Development, and Governance

Citation:

Benería, Lourdes, Carmen Diana Deere, and Naila Kabeer. 2012. “Gender and International Migration: Globalization, Development, and Governance.” Feminist Economics 18 (2): 1–33.

Authors: Lourdes Beneria, Carmen Diana Deere, Naila Kabeer

Abstract:

This contribution examines the connections between gender and international migration around three themes: globalization, national economic development, and governance. First, it discusses the connections between globalization and the multiplicity of processes that have contributed to international migration and its feminization, arguing that gender awareness is crucial to understanding these processes. Gender analysis makes visible the increasing commodification of care work on a global scale and highlights how the organization of families is changing. Second, it analyzes the various avenues through which migration may contribute to or hinder economic development, highlighting why remittances, in particular by women, have featured very positively in the migration and development policy discourse. Third, it discusses how issues of citizenship affect the migrant population, showing how gender analysis highlights many challenges with regard to nation-based notions of citizenship, particularly in the receiving countries.

Keywords: Gender, international migration, globalization, development, governance

Topics: Citizenship, Development, Displacement & Migration, Migration, Economies, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gender Analysis, Globalization, Governance, Households

Year: 2012

New Plantations, New Workers: Gender and Production Politics in the Dominican Republic

Citation:

Raynolds, Laura T. 2001. “New Plantations, New Workers: Gender and Production Politics in the Dominican Republic.” Gender and Society 15 (1): 7–28.

Author: Laura T. Raynolds

Abstract:

This study analyzes the gendered nature of recent production and labor force restructuring in the Dominican Republic. Using a longitudinal case study of work relations on a large transnational corporate pineapple plantation, the author explores the production politics involved in the initial corporate attempt to create a wage labor force and the subsequent replacement of employees with contracted labor crews. She demonstrates how female, and then male, labor forces were negotiated in this process and how labor relations became embedded in local gendered institutions. The study reveals how workforces and spheres of work are constituted through struggles over gender, as well as ethnicity and class, in intersecting arenas linking the local community to the global economy. In this case, gender proves critical in shaping both worker identity and the shifting scope and form of resistance to plantation practices.

Topics: Class, Economies, Ethnicity, Gender, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Globalization, Livelihoods, Multi-National Corporations, Political Economies Regions: Americas, Caribbean countries Countries: Dominican Republic

Year: 2001

The Abject Bodies of the Maquiladora Female Workers on a Globalized Border

Citation:

Taylor, Guadalupe. 2010. “The Abject Bodies of the Maquiladora Female Workers on a Globalized Border.” Race, Gender & Class 17 (3/4): 349–63.

Author: Guadalupe Taylor

Abstract:

 The topic of the body has been analyzed from a variety of perspectives. Although biology does not define women, it cannot be denied that women's bodies play a major role in determining their lives. This paper will question the universalism of materialist feminist theories to explain the violence against the bodies of female maquiladora workers. First, I will present Simone de Beauvoir and Judith Butler's conceptualizations of the female body. Second, I will analyze if the Socialist feminist theory is broad enough to encompass the bodies of maquiladora workers in its analysis. Finally, I will advocate the need for conceiving a transcultural-transnational feminist approach that includes class, gender, culture, state, globalization, free-trade agreements, and phenotype of women who work in the maquiladora industry. It seems necessary to formulate an approach that considers a broad scope of issues that affect maquiladora workers who form part of the proletariat on the border between the United States and México. Since the Mexican government exempt of taxes to US companies that opened factories on the border, NAFTA has turned Mexico in an excellent source of profits for transnational companies based on the exploitation of Mexican workers, mainly female workers. The patriarchal state and capitalism have reinserted women in a space where they have lost citizenship and where their bodies have become abject objects for the benefit of globalized industrial production. I suggest that a transcultural-transnational feminist approach is needed to explain and to foster an agenda for improving the plight of the maquiladora workers. This approach is suitable for this population because it includes class, gender, culture, State, capitalism, free trade agreements, and the phenotypes of all women.

Keywords: abject, maquiladora workers, borders, body, ethnicity, social class, patriarchy, gender, race, oppression, capitalism, feminism, materialism, Marxism, feminist theory, indigenous, praxis, disapora, transcultural, transnational, western, mexico, mexican

Topics: Citizenship, Class, Economies, Feminisms, Gender, Femininity/ies, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Globalization, Indigenous, Livelihoods, Multi-National Corporations, Political Economies, Violence Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Mexico

Year: 2010

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