Dear Careernet Scholars,
At the 4th Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Conference 7-8 February, 2011 in Auckland, New Zealand
we are co-chairing the stream "Globalization, Women Workers and Feminization of Poverty".
This stream calls attention to gender perspective on globalization to explore effects of current structural adjustments and welfare state restructuring on women workers within personal and professional domains in developing as well as developed countries.
For more details on the stream see below or visit
http://www.edi-conference.org/stream%20files/2807_stream4.pdf We would like to encourage you to submit a paper to this stream, attend the EDI conference and visit Auckland.
Submission deadline is December 12th, 2010. Please submit your extended abstracts (2-3 pages) via the conference homepage http://www.edi-conference.org/index.php (contact enquiries@edi-conference.org for a password first and than log in for submission)
We are looking forward to your submissions
Noreen, Astrid and Astrid
Stream Title: Globalization, Women Workers and Feminization of Poverty
Stream outline:
Noreen Saher ,
Institute of Management and Organisational Behavior
Vienna University of Economics
Althanstrasse 51Vienna, Austria
Tel.: +43-1-31336-5027
Email: noreen.saher@wu.ac.at
Dr. Astrid Podsiadlowski
Institute for Integration and Social Efficacy (ISW)
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Grote Kruijsstraat 1
Groningen, the Netherlands
Tel.: +43-1-31336-5039
astrid.podsiadlowski@wu.ac.at
Dr. Astrid Reichel
Institute of Management and Organisational Behavior
Vienna University of Economics
Althanstrasse 51Vienna, Austria
Tel.: +43-1-31336-5027
Email:astrid.reichel@wu.ac.at
This stream calls attention to gender perspective on globalization to explore effects of current
structural adjustments and welfare state restructuring on women workers within personal and
professional domains in developing as well as developed countries. A key feature of economic
and cultural globalization is the spread of neoliberal forms of governance (Gill 1995; Mishra
1999), characterized by an international shift in the direction of increased marketization, a
redrawing of the public-private distinction, valorization of possessive individualism and shift in
state expenditure (Kingfisher 2002).
Various authors agree that it is women who "have borne the brunt of restructuring –
economically, socially, physically" (Sparr 1995: 18). While globalization has increased the
number of women at the workplace, the sexual division of labor has been further strengthen
rather than eliminated (Gurstein 2003). More jobs for women potentially help them to earn and
control income and to break away from the hold of patriarchal structure. However, work
available to women is badly paid that contribute to feminization of poverty. In addition women
face more social pressure as reactive movement like fundamentalism including gender role
become feisty in developing countries (Moghadam 1999). The process of female
proletarianization, which to some has called the marginalization of women (Mies 1986), has
taken place in the developing world (Moghadam 1999). This prodigy causes cultural
consequences and sometimes initiates gender conflict both at work place and beyond that. For
example in the Middle Eastern countries, it is witnessed that active participation of women in
economic activities is complemented by pressures on them to conform to veiling and spatial and
functional segregation. In South Asian countries women have to create adjustment between
economic growth and preserving honor of their family which is associated with women
segregation (Kabeer 1998).
While globalization leads to structural adjustment in developing countries we see a process of
welfare state restructuring in more developed countries (Sahlins 1972). In the west economic
globalization has introduced market-oriented neo-liberalism at the domestic level accompanied
by a reduction of welfare. The prevailing gender division of labor is particularly relevant in the
context welfare state restructuring and women's poverty. The public realm of paid work depends
on women's work in the private sphere (Jaggar 1983). Especially women must negotiate the gap
between public and private sphere and therewith contradictions between market and non-market
structures in a globalized world by engaging in part-time work, home work and casual labor.
Restructuring high lightens the tensions between market and non market domains because it
depends on unpaid domestic labor, the invisibility of labor and on the ability and willingness to
take on more and more work, whether it is paid or not. Unpaid domestic work for the most part is
done by women. While women's labor force participation has been rising for decades, the
increase in men's share of domestic work and childcare remains relatively unchanged on a
modest level (Blossfeld and Drobnic 2001; Gershuny 2000). When because of a spread of neoliberalism
the state disengages from welfare and individualization is stressed access to paid work
becomes a problem especially for poorer women. They tend to only get work that is marginal in
terms of pay, benefits, and status. Since they do not have the resources to pay third parties for
domestic work this is combined with additional pressure domestically (Floro 2003).
"Restructuring in western welfare states ... is thus a gendered phenomenon, with specifically
gendered impacts on poverty rates" (Kingfisher 2002: 9).
Although globalization describes worldwide developments and we see similarities in its effect
there is heterogeneity not only between developed and developing countries but also within these
groups. The nation state plays a pivotal role in the orchestration of globalization as well as in the
everyday lives of the poor. In this stream we are looking for contributions that deal with the
feminization of poverty in developing as well as developed countries.
We invite both, papers that highlight developments found across different contexts and
comparative studies that focus on differences between states. On a lower level of analysis
contributions that pay attention to how organizations in their gender related human resource
policies and practices are also welcomed. The stream is open to empirical as well as theoretical
contributions.
Suggested themes:
State reaction to globalization
Creation of national gender politics
Gender effects of structural adjustment or restructuring
Paradoxical socio-economic pressures on women
Organizational gender politics
Biases against women at the work place
Women and non-standard work arrangements
Power relation
Keywords: women workers, gender disparities, biases against women at work place,
globalization, structural adjustment, state restructuring, non-standard work arrangements
Reference:
Blossfeld, H.-P. and Drobnic, S. (2001). A Cross-National Comparative Approach to Couples' Careers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Floro M.S. (2003). Macroeconomic Policies, Globalization and Gender. in Pasero, U. (Ed.) Gender – From Costs to Benefits. Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag. 44-57
Gershuny, J. (2000). Changing Times: Work and Leisure in Postindustrial Society. Oxford:Oxford University Press.
Gill, S. (1995) Globalisation, Market Civilisation and Disciplinary Neoliberalism. Millenium 24: 399-423
Gurstein, Penny (2003) Good Jobs, bad jobs: E work and gender issues. Paper presented at real work in a virtual world; The human impact of organizational transformation in a digital global economy conference , Vienna, Austria, 12-13 May 2003.
Jaggar, A.M. (1983). Feminist Politics and Human Nature, Totowa, NJ.: Allenheld.
Kabeer, N. (1998) 'Money Can't Buy Me Love'?: Re-evaluating Gender, Credit and Empowerment in Rural Bangladesh', IDS Discussion Paper No. 363, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop/dp/Dp363.pdf
Kingfisher, C. (2002) Introduction: The Global Feminization of Poverty, in: Kingfisher, C. (Ed.) Western Welfare in Decline: Globalization and Women's Poverty. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 3-12
Mies, Maria 1986. Patriarchy and accumulation on a world scale. London:Zed Books
Mishra, R. (1999) Globalization and the Welfare State in Crisis. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
Moghadam V.M. (1999) Gender and Globalization: Female labor and women 's mobilization, Journal of World System Research, vol 2, 367-388.
Sahlins, M. (1972) Stone Age Economics. Aldine: Chicago
Sparr, P. (1995) From Nairobi to Beijing: Globalization, Women and poverty in the U.S.
Development, 1, 14-19.
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Astrid Reichel ivm Interdisciplinary Group of Management and Organisational Behaviour WU Vienna University of Economics and Business Althanstraße 51, A-1090 Wien, Austria E-mail: astrid.reichel@wu.ac.at http://www.wu.ac.at/ivm Tel: ++43-1-31336-4008, Fax: ++43-1-31336-724 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------