GEB
206 Global
Culture and Citizenship
Part V: Gender and Labor
1.
A history of
gender and industrial labor in western societies
1.1. In the early industrial revolution (from the late 18th
century to the early 19th century), most unskilled or semi-skilled
workers in factories were women and children. They are subject to the control
of the male skilled workers in manufacturing industry.
1.2. In the era of “mass production”, a lot of women left
factories and worked as housewives.
Men became the only breadwinner of many families.
1.3. Since the 1980s, feminization of labor force becomes a common
phenomenon in the US and Europe.
However, most women do not replace men’s position in manufacturing sector;
instead, many of them work in service sector.
1.4. The labor-intensive enterprises shifted their manufacturing
department to the Third World countries since the 1970s. De-industrialization
parallels to the rise of service sector and many blue collar workers lost
jobs.
1.5. The labor system and market become so
unstable that many full-time and permanent jobs are changed into part-time and
temporary jobs.
2.
Hong Kong
2.1. A lot of women
were recruited to work in factories since the late 1950s.
2.2. From 1960s to
1980s, Hong Kong experienced economic growth with flourishing manufacturing
industries, such as garment, plastic goods and electronic product.
2.3. Since the
1990s, Hong Kong has also been undergoing the process of de-industrialization
or industrial restructuring. More
and more manufacturing jobs are lost and blue collar workers become unemployed
or have to shift to other economic sectors, such as service industry.
2.4. The wage for
non-skilled workers is going down since the 1990s. High unemployment rate among the lower class is going up and
part-time or temporary work becomes a critical part of the local labor system.
2.5.
Unemployment problem for the lower class seem to be the result of economic
structural change rather than that of the financial crisis and economic
downturn.
2.6.
“Manhattanization”: Financial and other professional service sectors are
rapidly expanding while low-priced service industries employ a large number of “cheap
labor”.
2.7. This process, informalization of work system,
hits female workers much more seriously than men. According to a survey conducted in 1989 and 1995, 18.4 per
cent of male workers and 57.6 per cent of female ones were pushed out of
full-time employment.
2.8. Women have been recruited to and excluded from
the labor pool according to the market fluctuation and economic restructuring.
Q: Why does women’s
labor participation differ from men’s?
3.
Household
influence
3.1. Women’s labor
participation is highly mediated by household dynamics. For example, the working daughters of
Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s quitted school for working in factories
earlier than their brothers.
3.2. Gender
stereotype and differences are formed in family life. Women are taught to show much more care about others and act
gently.
3.3. Women’s family
role affects women’s opportunities for promotion, their participation in union
and expectation of wage or career development.
3.4. The perception
of women’s family role and gender stereotype strongly affect the demand side of
the labor market.
3.4. Unpaid
housework mostly performed by women is underestimated. For example, it is not
counted in national statistics.
4.
“Chain” of
caring labor in global context: Philippines maids
4.1. The middle
class families in the cities of developed regions (e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore,
Los Angeles, New York, London, and Rome.) prefer to hire women rather than men,
married rather than single women.
4.2. Most
Philippines maids are married and come from cities.
4.3. While they take
care of the middle class families’ children, they hire women from rural village
to take care of their children in Philippines.
4.4. The children of
the rural women are looked after by their female family members (usually
unpaid).
4.5. There is a
chain of caring labor connecting different places and people.
5.
Gender, subsistence
and capitalism
5.1. The gender
problem in labor illustrates the unseen aspect of economy.
5.2.
Feminization of labor is parallel to the emergence of the so-called “flexible”
labor system.
5.2. Capitalism is
sustained not merely by formal economy that can be seen in national or
international statistics, such as GDP, income level, productivity, etc.
5.3. Family is not
only a unit for consumption, but also a production unit. Hence, housework, such as cooking, cleaning,
taking care of children and aged, etc, is crucial to supporting formal economy.
5.4. Capitalism
(global or local) is not a way of resource allocation but involves social
relations that include gender relations within family.
An article about
“unpaid labor”
http://www.crp.cornell.edu/faculty/BeneriaILOpaper.html