Gender and Globalization: Female Labor and Womens Mobilization

By Valentine M. Moghadam
Globalization is a complex economic, political, cultural, and geographic process in which the
mobility of capital, organizations, ideas, discourses, and peoples has taken on an increasingly global
or transnational form.
Three (3) Dimensions of Globalization:
1. Economic Globalization pertains to deeper integration and more rapid interaction of
economies through production, trade, and financial transactions by banks and multinational
corporations, with an increased role for the World Bank and the International onetary !und,
as well as the World "rade #rganization.
$. Political Globalization refers in part to an increasing trend toward multilateralism, in which
the %nited &ations plays a key role, national non'go(ernmental organizations act as
watchdogs o(er go(ernments, and international &)#*s increase their acti(ities and influence.
+. Cultural Globalization refers to worldwide cultural standardization as in ,-oca
-olonization. and ,c/onaldization. but also to postcolonial culture, cultural pluralism, and
,hybridization..
Economic Globalization and Female Labor
Structural Adjustment Policies aim to balance budgets and increase competiti(eness through
trade and price liberalization. "hese includes0 (1 reduction of the public sector wage bill and growth
of the private sector, (! privatization of social services, (" encouragement of foreign investment, and
(# production of goods and services for export (tradables) through fexible labor processes.
Adverse effets of eonomi globalization:
1. With increased trade, the prices of imported goods often compete with the prices of domestic
products, forcing domestic capitalists to attempt to cut labor costs.
$. In the de(eloped countries, as plants relocate to sites elsewhere in search of cheaper costs of
labor and production, 1obs disappear and wages erode in the declining industrial sectors.
+. 2s the de(eloped countries shift from manufacturing to high'tech ser(ices, blue'collar
unemployment grows, along with the expansion of part'time and temporary 1obs.
3. /e(eloping countries ha(e seen a shift from internally oriented to externally oriented growth
strategies and the shrinkage of large public sectors and nationalized industries.
4. In most of the former socialist world, restructuring has led to loss of output, the creation of
unemployment, and increased po(erty.
5. In both of the de(eloping and de(eloped regions, the stable, organized, and mostly male labor
force has become increasingly ,flexible. and ,feminized..
Feminization o$ Labor in the current global en(ironment of open economies, new trade regimes,
and competiti(e export industries, global accumulation relies hea(ily on the work of women, both
waged and unwaged, in formal sectors and in the home, in manufacturing, and in public and pri(ate
ser(ices.
Proletarianization and Pro$essionalization: %ndustr& and Ser'ices
2s world markets ha(e expanded, a process of female proletarianization has taken place.
' In de(eloping countries, more and more women ha(e been drawn into the labor'
intensi(e and low'wage textile and garment industries, as well as into electronics and
pharmaceuticals, which produce both for the home market and for export.
"he process of the feminization of labor continued also in public ser(ices at a time when
public'sector wages, like industrial wages, ha(e been declining.
"he proletarianization and professionalization of women ha(e cultural repercussions and
sometimes entail gender conflicts.
2s world trade in ser(ices has increased and global firms engage in out'sourcing, the
in(ol(ement of women in (arious occupations and professions of the ser(ices sector has
grown.
' Women around the world ha(e made impressi(e inroads into professional ser(ices.
()e %n$ormal Sector* t)e %ncome Ga+* ,nem+lo&ment
2t the same that women ha(e been entering the formal labor force in record numbers in the
de(eloped countries, much of the increase in female labor force participation in de(eloping
countries has occurred in the informal sectors of the economy.
' %nregistered and small'scale urban enterprises, home'based work and self'
employment may fall into this category, and they include an array of commercial
and producti(e acti(ities.
"he social relations of gender account for the per(asi(e gap between men and women
workers, a gap that is detrimental to women but lucrati(e to employers.
' 6ome of the income difference in the incomes gap is certainly based on lower
education and intermittent employment among women workers. 7et gender bias
accounts for much of the difference in earnings.
' 8abor'market segmentation along gender lines perpetuates the income gap.
-onsidering the social relations of gender and the function of gender ideologies, it should
come as no surprise that despite women*s key role in the global economy, unemployment
rates of women are (ery high.
' In some cases, women experience 1ob loss as a result of technological ad(ances in
the workplace.
"he feminization of unemployment, therefore, is as much a characteristic of the global
economy as is the feminization of labor.
Structural Adjustment and Women
/a )ama 6antos recognized that the gender di(ision of labor and the differential positions of
women and men in the spheres of production and reproduction would mean that the new
policy shifts would lead to (ery different outcomes for women and men, although these gender
differences would differ further by social class and by economic sector.
6tructural ad1ustment policies and other forms of neoliberalism are said to be a ma1or factor
behind the 9feminization of po(erty9.
Why do economic crises and structural adjustment hurt women more than they do men !he reasons
have to do with both the social relations of gender and the nature of mar"et reforms.
a. -ustomary biases and intrahousehold ine:ualities lead to lower consumption by and fewer
benefits for women and girls among lower'income groups.
b. "he mobility of labor that is assumed by free'market economics and encouraged by structural
ad1ustment policies does not take into account the fact that women*s geographic and
occupational mobility is constrained by family and childrearing responsibilities.
c. "he legal and regulatory framework often does not treat women as autonomous citizens but
rather as dependents or minors.
d. 6tructural ad1ustment policies o(er'stretch women;s labor time by increasing women;s
producti(e acti(ities and reproducti(e burdens.
e. Because of women;s concentration in go(ernment 1obs in many de(eloping countries, and
because the pri(ate sector discriminates against women or is otherwise 9unfriendly9 to women
and unwilling to pro(ide support structures for working mothers, middle'class women may
suffer disproportionately from policies that aim to contract the public'sector wage bill by
slowing down public'sector hiring.
f. Industrial restructuring or pri(atization ad(ersely affect women, as women tend to be laid off
first because of gender bias, but also because women workers tend to be concentrated in the
lower rungs of the occupational ladder, in unskilled production 1obs, or in o(erstaffed
administrati(e and clerical positions.
g. "he po(erty'inducing aspect of structural ad1ustment hits women hard and is especially hard
on female'headed households with children.
h. 8abor'market discrimination and 1ob segregation result in women being concentrated in the
low'wage employment sectors, in the informal sector, and in the contingent of 9flexible labor9.
Womens -es+onses to Globalization
It should come as no surprise that the massi(e entry of women into the work force around the
world, whether as professionals or as proletarians, has coincided with the political mobilization of
women and the expansion of women*s organizations of all types.
T!o (") ty#es of !omen$s mobilization:
1. 2s workers <in unions=
$. 2s critics of neoliberalism in transnational feminist networks
(ransnational $eminist net.or/s ' are the organizational expression of the
transnational women*s mo(ement, or global feminism.
Global $eminism ' may be defined as the discourse and mo(ement of women
aimed at ad(ancing the status of women through greater access to resources, through
legal measures to effect gender e:uality, and through the self'empowerment of women
within national boundaries but through transnational forms of organizing and
mobilizing.
()eoretical and Political %m+lications
"he study of gender and globalization has implications for social'mo(ement theory, a theory
that thus far has been West'centered, gender'blind, and focused on national e(ents.
1. "ransnational feminist networks ha(e emerged in a multifaceted context of opportunities and
constraints0
<a= 2 growing population of educated, employed, mobile, and politically'aware women
around the world>
<b= Increasing opportunities afforded by %& conferences>
<c= ?conomic crisis and restructuring>
<d= continued discrimination, oppression, and gender ine:uality,
<e= ?conomic, political, and cultural globalization.
$. "ransnational feminist networks suggest that social mo(ements and social mo(ement
organizations may occupy a supra'national or global space.
#ne may continue to argue the need for nationally'oriented research and point out the
continued salience of nation'states and domestic organizations. But nation'states, national
economies, and cultural formations are increasingly affected by globalization, with the result that the
appropriate unit of analysis must combine global and local. 6pecifically, transnational feminism
suggests that social mo(ements may form, and organizations may mobilize, under a set of global
conditions, and not only in the context of national opportunities and constraints.