movie review

145.218

Development & Inequality

Lesson WEEK 8 (Parts I and II)

Nicole Ashley School of People, Environment & Planning

Cadey Korson

School of People, Environment & Planning

2019

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Acknowledgement

This course was originally written and taught by Regina Scheyvens, and much of the material in the modules is from her research. Since 2012 the course has been updated and revised by Sharon McLennan.

THIS MATERIAL IS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT AND HAS BEEN COPIED BY AND SOLELY FOR THE EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES OF THE UNIVERSITY UNDER LICENCE. YOU MAY NOT SELL, ALTER OR FURTHER REPRODUCE OR DISTRIBUTE ANY PART OF THIS COURSE PACK/MATERIAL TO ANY OTHER PERSON. WHERE PROVIDED TO YOU IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT, YOU MAY ONLY PRINT FROM IT FOR YOUR OWN PRIVATE STUDY AND RESEARCH. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE TERMS OF THIS WARNING MAY EXPOSE YOU TO LEGAL ACTION FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND/OR DISCIPLINARY ACTION BY THE UNIVERSITY.

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Contents

Figures ........................................................................................................................ 2 Readings ...................................................................................................................... 3

Week 9: Gender and Development ...................................................................................... 4 Learning Outcomes / Objectives ................................................................................. 4 Introduction to the Gender module ............................................................................. 4 The sex / gender distinction ........................................................................................ 5 Readings & Activities ................................................................................................. 8

Warm Up Exercise ........................................................................................................... 8 Global sex ratio ................................................................................................................ 8 Gender and inequality .................................................................................................... 10 Reading 18: Gender-Related Development. ................................................................... 11 Gender as a development issue ...................................................................................... 13 Reading 19: Gender and Development .......................................................................... 14 Reading 20: Rethinking gender and empowerment ....................................................... 16 Why does the empowerment approach make some people nervous? ............................ 17 Optional Activity (Video) .............................................................................................. 18 Summary ................................................................................................................... 18 References ................................................................................................................. 18

Week 10: Sexuality and Development ............................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Learning Outcomes / Objectives ............................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Sexuality, gender and development .......................... Error! Bookmark not defined. LGBT, trans* and other non-binary identities .......... Error! Bookmark not defined. Readings / Activities ................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

Warm Up Exercise ......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Reading 21: The trans revolution ................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Third genders and inequality in the global south ........... Error! Bookmark not defined. Gender and sexuality as a development concern............ Error! Bookmark not defined. Reading 22: Sexuality and Development ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Summary ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. References ................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

Week 11: Women and Work .............................................................................................. 20 Learning Outcomes / Objectives ............................................................................... 20 What Is The International Division Of Labour? ....................................................... 20

What does the use of third world women’s labour have to do with NZ? ....................... 27 Warm Up Exercise .................................................................................................... 28

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Readings / Activities ................................................................................................. 32 Comparison exercise ...................................................................................................... 35 The New International Division Of Labour And Associated Problems For Women: ..................................................................................................................... 35 Summary ................................................................................................................... 38 References ................................................................................................................. 39

Figures Figure 1 Gender empowerment map ................................................................................................................... 6

Figure 2 Global Sex Ratio, 2000-2008 ................................................................................................................... 9

Figure 3 GII process ............................................................................................................................................. 10

Figure 4: GII map ................................................................................................................................................. 11

Figure 5: Poverty and Sexuality diagram ............................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Figure 6: Employment in global clothing industries, 2005 .................................................................................. 21

Figure 7: Leading clothing exporters 2000 and 2007 .......................................................................................... 22

Figure 8: Hourly labour costs in the clothing industries, 2008 ........................................................................... 22

Figure 9: Global production of passenger cars ................................................................................................... 23

Figure 10: Changes in the relative importance of automobile producing countries .......................................... 23

Figure 11: Export processing Zones in Developing Countries ............................................................................. 25

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Readings WEEK 8 (Part I) Rubenstein, J. M. (2016). Gender-Related Development. Contemporary Human Geography (3rd ed. pp. 218-219). USA: Pearson Education. Momsen, J. (2010). Introduction: Gender is a development issue. In Gender and Development. Routledge, London: 1-19.

Parpart, J. (2014). Rethinking gender and empowerment. In V. Desai and R. B. Potter (eds.) The Companion to Development Studies. Routledge, New York: 407-410. WEEK 8 (Part II) Gwyne, R. N. (2002). Export Processing and Free Trade Zones. In V. Desai and R. B. Potter (eds.) The Companion to Development Studies Arnold, London, 201-206. Mills, M. B. (2003). Gender and Inequality in the Global Labour Force. Annual Review of Anthropology, 32: 41-62.

Chamberlain, S. (1996). ‘The female face of the proletariat’. New Internationalist. July: 28- 30.

Optional Reading: Ghosh, J. (2011). Financial crises and the impact on women: a historical note. In Visvanathan, N. (ed.) The Women, Gender and Development Reader. Zed Books, Halifax

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Gender and Development

Learning Outcomes / Objectives At The End Of This Topic You Will • realise how development has impacted negatively on many women in the past.

• understand how different approaches to gender and development impact on women’s

and men’s lives.

• be able to demonstrate why the empowerment of women should be a crucial aspect of

development programmes.

The third module in this course looks at gender as a development issue. Cast your mind back to the introduction to this course, when I cited Friedmann’s (1992) ideas on empowerment. He argued quite forcefully that development should be about enhancing the capacity of marginalised or disempowered peoples to participate in and benefit from society’s bounty. We have already looked at people disadvantaged because of their ethnicity and at class inequality. For the next three topics we will look at people disadvantaged because of their gender.

Introduction to the Gender module

The third module in this course looks at gender as a development issue. Inequalities of gender are associated with the differential status accorded to men and women, opportunities open to men and women, and the power and influence men and women exert. In the photo on the left, which was taken when Regina was in Tanzania in 2007 working with an NGO on their gender programme, a male elder stood up

to speak out against a traditional practice of female genital cutting - evidence that men can work for the empowerment of women and girls too!

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This is a great module with which to finish off the course, because we can all relate to gender issues! Think about how gender relations have changed dramatically in NZ from the previous generation - compare opportunities available to girls and women today with those of perhaps your mother or grandmother. More women are now in paid work, but some still face 'glass ceilings' in the workplace or struggle with managing a double day (paid work plus unpaid work in the home). While NZ men of today are doing far more around the house and with childcare than the previous generation, the latest Census still shows that women bear a heavier burden of unpaid work. Men are disadvantaged in various ways as well, however. For example, if any of you has been a 'stay at home Dad' you will realise there are far fewer support services available for you than for 'stay at home Mums'. Similarly, our culture is not particularly supportive of men choosing professions involving secretarial work or early childhood education. Think about how gender impacts on your life - and remember, gender differences aren't the problem, it's only gender inequality that's an issue! In this module you'll look first at 'Gender Sensitive Development' (showing why development workers need to be sensitive to gender issues), then at 'Development and Sexuality' (an major but under-recognised source of inequality worldwide), and lastly at 'Women and Work' (including a specific discussion of the issue of women working in global factories - is globalisation empowering or disempowering for these women?). As the worldmapper map (Figure 1) on the next page indicates, gender inequality is particularly a problem of 'developing' nations, however there are some anomalies here (can you spot them?) and, as the optional activity later shows, it is still a contentious issue in the 'west'.

The sex / gender distinction Rather than focusing our attention on the biological differences between men and women, a gendered perspective focuses on the on ‘…socially acquired notions of masculinity and femininity by which women and men are identified’ (Momsen, 2010:2) and the cultural or social characteristics associated with being male or female (Greiner, 2014: 399). As Goetz (1997: 6) notes:

"Gender" refers to the socially constructed and institutionalised forms of identity which are attached to biological sex differences, and "gendering" is the process producing these forms, through the granting or withholding of significant social, political and economic resources and values (Goetz, 1992: 6).

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Figure 1 Gender empowerment map

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Thus most of the differences we observe between women and men have little to do with sex (biology); rather, they are based on gender, the social construction of sexual differences. In this way the traits which are seen as being desirable in men and women may vary from society to society. For example, girls may be brought up to be complacent and demure, while boys in the same society are expected to be assertive and independent. These traits are associated with gender roles, the social expectations, responsibilities and rights that are associated with masculinity and femininity (Greiner, 2014:184). These roles can vary significantly across different societies. For example, in India, men do much of the sewing and many women work on construction sites. This is different from the situation in many western countries. In nearly all cases where women are designated a particular task, however, it receives less of a reward (in terms of income and status) than men would receive. For example, while in New Zealand many occupational stereotypes are being broken down with, in the cases of medicine and veterinary studies, equal numbers of men and women in training, childcare is still predominantly seen as a women’s job. For this they receive either low wages or no pay. While we have seen a shift towards greater involvement of men in unpaid childcare, this has not yet become an acceptable ‘norm,’ and stay-at-home Dads may feel less supported by society than stay-at-home Mums. Instead of looking at women alone as if they existed in a vacuum, a gendered approach to development recognizes that men, women and gender-variant people1 are all constrained by the way society constructs ‘men’ and ‘women’, and that all genders need to work to transform their societies (Cornwall 2000).

1 Gender variance or gender non-conformity is a term used to describe behaviours and interests that fit outside of what we consider ‘normal’ for a child or adult’s assigned biological sex (Gender diversity, 2016).

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Readings & Activities Warm Up Exercise

Global sex ratio Study the map on the following page (Figure 2).

For genetic and other reasons that no two authors can agree on at this stage, it appears that women generally live longer than men. Thus in countries where the sex ratio shows that there are significantly more males than females (areas shaded black on this map), it is generally agreed that there must be cultural conditions which disadvantage women. Name 5 countries on the map where this is the case2. • __________________________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________________________

• __________________________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________________________

I have listed one reason for this below; see if you can think of others:

• abortion of female foetuses (preference for boys). • __________________________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________________________

• __________________________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________________________

2 This may challenge your geographical knowledge as the country names are not marked on the map! Use Google maps or an atlas to identify the names of countries you aren’t sure about.

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Figure 2 Global Sex Ratio, 2000-2008

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2 01

0: 2

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Gender and inequality While great strides have been made in understanding gender and gender roles, women, girls and gender variant people continue to face considerable disadvantages in health, education, employment and political representation, and gender-based inequality remains a major barrier to human development and to the development of capabilities and freedom. Some of these inequalities will be explored in the next three weekly topics, but first it is worth having a look at one method of measuring gender-based inequality, the Gender Inequality Index (GII). This index was introduced in the 2010 UN Human Development Report and is built on the same framework as the HDI. It measures gender inequalities using three important aspects of human development:

• reproductive health, measured by

o maternal mortality ratio

o adolescent birth rates

• empowerment, measured by

o proportion of parliamentary seats occupied by females

o proportion of adult females and males aged 25 years and older with at least

some secondary education

• economic status, measured using

o labour force participation rate of female and male populations aged 15 years

and older..

The process of determining the GII is shown in Figure 3 below.

Figure 3 GII process

Source: UNDP (2015)

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The GII uses the same 0 to 1 measurement scale as the Gini, with 0 being 0% inequality, (complete equality between women and men) and 1 being 100% inequality (complete inequality between women and men)3. Reading 18: Gender-Related Development.

Required reading Rubenstein, J. M. (2016). Gender-Related Development. Contemporary Human Geography (3rd ed. pp. 218-219). USA: Pearson Education.

Study the map below (Figure 4, from Reading 18) and compare with the HDI map in Reading 1 (Greiner, 2014: 272). What do you notice about the link between gender, inequality and human development?

Figure 4: GII map

Source: Rubenstein (2016: 218)

3 This, as Rubenstein (2016, p.218) notes, is the opposite interpretation to the HDI wherein 0 is completely undeveloped and 1 is very highly developed.

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Reproductive Health One of the indicators for reproductive health is the maternal mortality ratio (the number of women who die giving birth per 100000 births. Do you know of any woman who has died during pregnancy or childbirth in NZ? Fortunately for us, this is a relatively rare occurrence, but in a number of countries this is an all too common occurrence. Consider what could be done to improve this situation.

Did you consider grassroots initiatives (e.g. training for traditional birth attendants) as well as international strategies (e.g. debt relief, so governments have more money for health)?

Empowerment Empowerment is notoriously difficult to measure. The GII does this by measuring the proportion of parliamentary seats occupied by females, and the proportion of adult females with at least some secondary education.

Consider what implications a relatively low rate of female literacy (and numeracy) has for women’s life options in these countries. I have listed two implications of this below; see if you can think of others:

• women lack the skills to deal with officials and fill in forms (therefore they miss out on bank

loans and may sign documents which they do not understand).

• women cannot write prices on cards to advertise their fruit and vegetables at the market and they do not know the correct change to give customers

• __________________________________________________________________

• __________________________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________________________

• __________________________________________________________________

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Using map 9.5.4 on page 219 of the Rubenstein reading, name 3 countries with very poor representation of women in parliament: • __________________________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________________________

• __________________________________________________________________

Now name 3 Third World countries that do better than Western Countries on this score (and think about why this might be) • __________________________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________________________ • __________________________________________________________________

Gender as a development issue As your comparison between the GII and HDI maps should have highlighted, there is a link between gender inequalities and human development. Gender has therefore become a key focus for development agencies. However this was something that many early development practitioners were not aware of, or interested in. When debates first arose about the need to consider gender issues when devising development projects, many development agencies, donors and so forth argued that their projects did not discriminate against women, rather, they were ‘gender-neutral’. The problem with so-called gender-neutral projects is that they make assumptions about women which are often incorrect (see the box below), and thus the effects they have on women are unintentionally negative. Take the example of a development agency which provides employment for men on a cocoa plantation several hours journey from home. They feel this will benefit the community because when the men return home once a month, they will be able to afford to pay their children’s school fees, buy medicines, etc. They also assume that women, who, after all, are not economically active, will be able to carry on with their own work in addition to taking up work which arises in their husband’s absence. In practice, however, it is quite likely that a number of the men who go to work on the plantation will find themselves a new ‘wife’ in a nearby village. Others may return home, but may prefer to spend their wages on consumables such as beer and a transistor radio. Meanwhile, women’s workload has doubled: they have to break in new land for crops as well as planting, weeding around and

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harvesting the crops, and they have to make repairs to their homes and collect heavy firewood, work which the men previously did.

Common assumptions which have been made about third world women in the past: 1. That all women live in families (many young women, in particular, leave home in

search of work, e.g., as domestics, in the city).

2. That all families have male bread-winners (around one in five households in the Third

World is headed by a woman).

3. That women do not contribute to their families through their own paid employment

(some researchers have estimated that twice as many families would live in poverty if it

were not for women’s economic contributions).

4. That the unpaid work of women in families is not related to the reward structure of the

occupational order (the relevance of domestic work to the labour force is often only

recognised in male-headed households without an adult female which are forced to buy

domestic servants or do without; also, the undervaluing of subsistence agriculture often

leads to women’s gardens being pushed further away from the village, undermining the

nutritional status of the family and increasing women’s burden).

5. That there is an equal distribution of resources within families (luxuries for males may

in fact take precedence over necessities for women and children).

Source: Broom, D.H. (1987). Another Tribe: Gender and Inequality. In C. Jennett and R.G. Stewart (eds). Three Worlds of Inequality.

Reading 19: Gender and Development

Required reading Reading 19: Momsen, J. (2010). Gender and Development. Routledge, London: 1-19.

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Momsen explains how gender is a social construction. For example, the roles of men and women vary from one society to another. Give 2 examples either from this article or your own experiences of how men’s and women’s accepted roles may vary (e.g. in India, Regina was surprised to find so many men operating sewing machines, while women made up a large proportion of the labourers on building sites).

1. _______________________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________________________

You may also think of how gender roles have changed from the time of your parent’s generation. This shows us that culture is not static, it is constantly evolving. This is a positive thing, as it means that the political, economic and social status of women, as you have explored in the Rubenstein reading, can be improved!

Momsen shows how approaches to women’s development have changed considerably since the 1970s. Describe the following 3 approaches:

WID: _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

GAD:

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

The Empowerment Approach: _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

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Has economic development always led to improvements in the life of women?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Reading 20: Rethinking gender and empowerment

Required reading Parpart, J. (2014). Rethinking gender and empowerment. In V. Desai and R. B. Potter (eds.) The Companion to Development Studies. Routledge, New York: 407-410.

What do the terms ‘power over’, ‘power to’ and ‘power within’ mean (p.408)? What about power with (p409)? How is this different?

Power over: _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Power to:

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

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Power within: _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Power with: _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Can empowerment be measured? What are some of the challenges to measuring empowerment (p.410)?

______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Why does the empowerment approach make some people nervous?

Empowerment entails a challenge to existing structures of society, which is bound to make governments and donors alike nervous. It is not simply a larger piece of the cake that is demanded but '...a fundamental transformation of society not only in the direction of non-oppressive and non-exploitative relationships between men and women; but also among classes, races and nations' (Lycklama à Nijeholt, 1991:155). This approach ‘...leads, inevitably, to a fundamental re-examination of social structures and institutions and, ultimately, to the loss of power of entrenched elites, which will effect some women as well as men.... [thus] it demands a degree of commitment to structural change and power shifts that is unlikely to be found either in national or in international agencies’ (Rathgeber, 1990:495).

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Optional Activity (Video)

Osama In what ways does this film portray the oppression of women and girls under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan? How can women and men work together to improve their lives in such a situation?

Summary Empowerment is a vital aspect of development for any group that has been disadvantaged and marginalised in society, whether because of their gender, ethnicity or class. The focus of development for women should not be to entrench stereotypical ideas about appropriate roles for women in society. It should be, instead, to improve gender relations and to enhance women’s control over their lives: for example, control over their fertility, by providing them with safe and effective reproductive strategies; control over resources they need for survival by securing legal tenure for them; and by providing them with opportunities to earn a fair income, which they control. There is increasing recognition through a Gender and Development (GAD) approach that women and men need to work together to achieve good change.

References Cornwall, A. & Rivas, A. (2015) From ‘gender equality and ‘women’s empowerment’ to global justice: reclaiming a transformative agenda for gender and development. Third World Quarterly 36(2): 396–415 Cornwall, A (2000) Missing men? Reflections on men, masculinities and gender in GAD. IDS Bulletin 31(2): 18-27. Gender diversity (2016). Retrieved from http://www.genderdiversity.org/resources/terminology/#

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Goetz, A.M. (1997). Getting Institutions Right for Women. Zed, London. Greiner, A.L. (2014) Sexuality and Gender. In Visualizing Human Geography. Wiley, Hoboken NJ. 184-188 Kabeer, N. (1992). From Fertility Reduction to Reproductive Choice: Gender Perspectives on Family Planning. Institute of Development Studies, Sussex. Lycklama a Nijeholt, G. (1992). Women and the Meaning of Development: Approaches and Consequences. Institute of Development Studies, Sussex. Molyneux, M. (1985). Mobilization without emancipation? Feminist Studies. 11 (2): 227- 254. Momsen, J. (2010) Gender and Development (2nd ed.) Routledge, London Moser, C. O. (1989). Gender Planning in the Third World: Meeting Practical and Strategic Gender Needs. World Development, 17 (1): 1799- 1825. Parpart, J. (2014) Rethinking gender and empowerment. In Desai, V. & Potter, R. (eds) The Companion to Development Studies (3rd Edition). Routledge, London. 407-411 Rai, S. (2011) Gender and development: theoretical perspectives. In Visvanathan, N. (ed.). The Women, Gender and Development Reader. Halifax: Zed Books Ltd. 28-37 Rathgeber, E.M. (1990). WID, WAD, GAD: Trends in Research and Practice. Journal of Developing Areas 24 (4): 489-502. Rowlands, J. (1997). Questioning Empowerment: Working with Women in Honduras. Oxfam, Oxford. Rubenstein, J. M. (2016). Gender-Related Development. Contemporary Human Geography (3rd ed. pp. 218-219). USA: Pearson Education. Scheyvens, R. (1995). A Quiet Revolution: Strategies for the Empowerment and Development of Rural Women in the Solomon Islands. PhD thesis, Massey University, New Zealand. UNDP (2015). Gender Inequality Index (GII). Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii

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Women and Work

Learning Outcomes / Objectives At The End Of This Topic You Will • understand how the new IDOL impacts on the lives of many Third World women

• know what an FTZ is and how employers justify women’s lower pay in these zones

• be able to see how MNCs exploit the cultural positioning of women in different

societies in order to get a cheap, disciplined labour force.

What Is The International Division Of Labour? The internationalisation of capital In the 1970s and 80s, businesses, faced with falling rates of profit and neo-liberal pressures, were forced to ‘automate, emigrate, or evaporate’; thus many went international (Thrift, 1989:20). Global factories and newly industrialising countries (NICs) became signs of growth and development. In 1998, however, the ‘Asian crisis’ demonstrated that the so- called economic miracle which brought growth to the economies of Thailand, Malaysia and other Asian countries, was somewhat flawed. The internationalisation of capital refers to the export of capitalist relations of production, through direct investment by multinational corporations (MNCs) which create subsidiaries abroad, organised along capitalist lines. Think back to the material covered in week 6 on Crisis! The internationalisation of capital and the new international division of labour is closely tied to neoliberal processes. The new international division of labour (IDOL) This is a new world spatial division of labour which emerged from: • The breakdown of traditional economic and social structures in many developing

countries, leading to a huge supply of cheap labour

• export-led strategies of Third World countries

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• overseas investment by MNCs (by 1985, 65 million workers were directly employed by

MNCs) in search of cheap labour

• the homogenisation of the production process which allowed tasks to be carried out by

unskilled workers who required little training

• a fragmented production process which allowed spatial separation of stages of

production

• transport and communications technology allowing production processes to be carried

out at many new sites around the world without prohibitive technical, organisational or

cost problems.

There were particular industries which suited this new international division of labour, for example, textiles and clothing, and automobiles (as illustrated by figures 6-10).

Figure 5: Employment in global clothing industries, 2005

Source: Dicken (2011) p. 304

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Figure 6: Leading clothing exporters 2000 and 2007

Source: Dicken (2011) p. 305

Figure 7: Hourly labour costs in the clothing industries, 2008

Source: Dicken (2011) pp. 309

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Figure 8: Global production of passenger cars

Source: Dicken (2011) pp. 334

Figure 9: Changes in the relative importance of automobile producing countries

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Source: Dicken (2011) pp. 335 Which countries became new sites of production under the new IDOL? The new IDOL typically involved managerial and high technology functions remaining in western countries while labour-intensive production processes went to Third World countries which had the following attributes:

• political stability

• governments which welcome foreign investment and are willing to provide tax

incentives and to establish vital services such as transport, energy and

communications facilities so that modern industries can function

• a low wage labour force (see Figure 8)

• lack of, or weak, trade unions

Setting up large factories in Third World countries was also attractive because, as well as avoiding large wage bills, it meant that MNCs could avoid extra expenditure to meet safety standards on funds such as the ACC in New Zealand, and high taxes. The power of MNCs which allows them to threaten to take their investment elsewhere also often prevents Third World governments from enforcing health and safety or labour laws (Garnsey and Paukert, 1987). Globalisation means that economic decisions which see more factory work going to low- wage Asian countries can directly affect our lives. Read the excerpts from newspaper articles overleaf concerning the loss of hundreds of jobs at Bendon factories in New Zealand, for example. Most of their employees were women. In New Zealand’s case, they may also say they are forced to locate overseas because of large reductions in tariffs. What are free trade zones (FTZs)? So keen were some countries to attract such foreign investment that they established FTZs. In addition to providing infrastructure (such as transportation and telecommunications) to make investment viable, the governments provide tax incentives and subsidised utilities for the investing companies (Arregui and Baez, 1991). For examples of where FTZs are located, see Figure 11.

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We need to consider, however, whether foreign direct investment is always beneficial to Third World countries.

Figure 10: Export processing Zones in Developing Countries

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Source: Dicken (2003) pp. 180

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The new IDOL is a gender and development concern as a disproportionate number of workers in FTZs and global factories for industries such as footwear, clothing production and micro-electronics are women. They are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, as will be shown in this week’s readings. What does the use of third world women’s labour have to do with NZ? In 1999, Bendon, the underwear label so proudly ‘New Zealand’, started closing its manufacturing plants here. The following excerpts from two newspaper articles reveal the reasons for Bendon’s decision to move manufacturing off-shore, while also showing the impact on local women who were employed in these factories.

Almost 350 Waikato Bendon factory workers are today struggling in accept they have lost their jobs. Bendon yesterday announced it was closing its Hamilton and Te Aroha factories after making women’s underwear in New Zealand for more than 50 years. It said it could not compete with overseas underwear makers. Bendon will now make its garments in Asia.

A total of 98 jobs will be lost in its Te Aroha factory next month, along with 13 at East Tamaki, near Auckland. A further 278 people – 245 at Te Rapa and 33 at East Tamaki – will lose their jobs from the end of March unless the Te Rapa plant can be sold as a going concern… Waitoa’s Bev McIntyre said many staff were distressed. ‘It was very, very sad in there. There were some upset women. People cried, mostly the old hands. Some of them have been there for 28 years’. National Distribution Union textile and clothing secretary Judy Attenberger said job prospects for the women were slim. ‘Ninety-nine per cent of them are women. A lot of them are in their 40s and 50s, who won’t get another job in this town’. (Scott, 1999:1).

Bendon’s move to shift business overseas has stirred up debate about government policy in the past 12 years.

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Since 1987, clothing tariffs, which work as a tax on imports to protect local manufacturers, have fallen from 65 per cent to 17.5 per cent. They are due to fall further to 15 per cent by the middle of next year… Julie Attenberger, textile and clothing secretary of the National Distribution Union, says Bendon has become extremely efficient but it can no longer compete with goods from overseas… Many of Bendon’s main export markets retained strong protection of their clothing industries, she says: ‘In light of this it must be acknowledged that it is lunacy for New Zealand to lead the world in the reduction of tariffs’. (Morrison, 1999:8).

Warm Up Exercise Now that you have learned a little about the new IDOL, consider how it may impact specifically on women’s lives. Read the quotes (on the next pages) from factory managers in Malaysia about women’s labour. Read also the short article ‘The Tragedy of Fast Fashion’. Now try to make a list of problems you anticipate women may face under the new IDOL:

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(Ong, 1987)

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Readings / Activities

Required reading Reading 22: Gwyne, R. N. (2002). Export Processing and Free Trade Zones. In V. Desai and R. B. Potter (eds.) The Companion to Development Studies Arnold, London, 201-206

What factors have led to the growth of EPZs (sometimes known as FTZs), which now exist in over 90 countries?

Explain what is meant by the ‘flying geese model’ of manufacturing (p.202).

Are all EPZs characterized by low-skilled, labour-intensive assembly plants which manufacture clothing, footwear and basic electronics?

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Required reading Reading 23: Mills, M. B. (2003). Gender and Inequality in the Global Labour Force. Annual Review of Anthropology, 32: 41-62.

Mills (2003: 42) states that “Around the globe, gender hierarchies are produced and maintained in relation to transnational circuits of labour mobilization and capital accumulation’. Provide examples to explain what she means.

What strategies may be used to devalue women’s labour?

What are the particular risks faced by women who engage in transnational service labour (e.g. working as nannies in foreign countries)?

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In what ways are women struggling to achieve better labour rights?

Required reading Reading 24: Chamberlain, S. (1996). ‘The female face of the proletariat’. New Internationalist. July: 28-30.

In what ways are the rights that maquilla managements violate gender-specific?

How do MNCs in Central America capitalise on cultural traits women in the these societies are said to hold?

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Comparison exercise

Compare the list of problems you anticipated women may face under the new IDOL (done as a warm up exercise) with the list below, highlighting any you missed out:

The New International Division Of Labour And Associated Problems For Women: • marked pay differentials between women and men.

• a sharp division of labour with men occupying most management and supervisory

roles.

• static’ jobs that have no promotion potential.

• poor working conditions.

• inflexible skills; cannot be applied to work outside of the global factory.

• lack of childcare facilities.

• unsuitable hours of work.

• lack of unionisation of industry.

• instability of work because of a ‘revolving door’ policy (with employment policies

allowing for a high turnover of staff,which may be seen as necessary when the work

is monotonous and mentally wasting and physically exhausting).

• sometimes forced sacking of pregnant women (or once women marry to avoid

having to pay maternity benefits).

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• health problems (e.g. women regularly using chemicals are more prone to menstrual

complaints, pregnancy problems and infertility while those using microscopes and

VDUs are more prone to eye complaints; mental health).

Features of female participation in the labour force which are advantageous to capital

Refer back to all the readings for this topic and try to provide examples of the following features of female participation in the labour force which are advantageous to capital: (Source: Gomez de Estrada and Reddock 1987; Standing 1992)

• Women’s relatively subordinated and repressed character within certain cultures:

EXAMPLE: • Women’s supposed adoption of ‘natural’ traits, including acceptance of work

discipline, experience with monotonous work, and docile nature:

EXAMPLE:

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• Women are dispensable:

EXAMPLE: • A preference for young, single women who may be more vulnerable than other

groups (because they lack family obligations this also means they are seen as more adaptable in terms of working hours, overtime and shift work):

EXAMPLE: • the lack of need to pay a ‘family wage’; also, they are seen as easy to lay off

because of a tradition of economic dependence on men which results in them seeing themselves as supplementary workers

EXAMPLE:

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Many ‘...young women...in Asia, have been socially and economically oppressed for so long that they have low “aspiration wages”...They are prepared to work for low wages for long work weeks, normally without agitating to join unions, and when their productivity declines after a few years of youthful diligence they are replaced by new cohorts’ (Standing, 1992:351).

Optional reading Ghosh, J. (2011). Financial crises and the impact on women: a historical note. In Visvanathan, N. (ed.) The Women, Gender and Development Reader. Zed Books, Halifax

This short reading brings together ideas covered in module 2, topic 1 (crisis) with the gender topics we have covered in this module. As we complete the course you have hopefully started to see how ethnic, class and gender inequalities intersect. This reading shows clearly the way in which the effects of the crisis have been disproportionately distributed among the population, with some groups – in this case women and girls in precarious work situations – particularly vulnerable to crises.

Summary New labour regimes have had dramatic impacts on Third World societies, which have been seen as providing a cheap labour pool. They have impacted in particular ways on women’s lives, as women’s labour, for a number of reasons, is seen as easier to exploit. Wages paid are often lower than what men would be paid and women are said to possess certain ‘cultural traits’, such as obedience and deference to authority, which are said to make them ideal employees: ‘… gender ideologies permit firms to portray work related skills (which would require greater renumeration) as ‘patience’ or ‘gentleness’ (which do not)’ (Collins 1993: 70). Those most vulnerable within a society and those most easily manipulated are those who are most likely to be exploited under the new international division of labour. Case studies showed how employers in industry manipulated the employment of women in specific ways to avoid paying them an equitable wage and to circumvent their gaining collective power.

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FTZs epitomise the notion of free trade under the new IDOL. But treatment of women workers also epitomises problems for labour, and for women’s labour in particular, under systems whereby profits become the main goal of production. While women’s roles as industrial workers have increased under the new international division of labour and many women appreciate the opportunity to earn a regular income, their rights and job security have weakened overall.

References Arregui, M. and Baez, C. (1991). Free trade zones and women workers. In T. Wallace and C. March (eds.). Changing Perceptions: Writings on Gender and Development. Oxfam, Oxford, 31-38. Collins, J. L. (1993). Gender, contracts and wage work: Agricultural restructuring in Brazil’s Sao Francisco valley. Development and Change 24: 53-82. Dicken (2011). Global Shift (6th edition). Sage, London. Garnsey, E. and Paukert, L. (1987). Industrial Change and Women’s Employment: Trends in the New International Division of Labour. International Institute for Labour Studies, Geneva, 1-10. Gomez de Estrada, O. and Reddock, R. (1987). New trends in the internationalisation of production: Implications for female workers. In R. Boyd, R. Cohen and P. Gutkind (eds). International Labour and the Third World. Avebury, Aldershot, 137-59. Greiner, A.L. (2014) Globalization. In Visualizing Human Geography. Wiley, Hoboken NJ.: 36-40 Harris, M. (1994). Development II: The Privatization of Everything? Progress in Human Geography 18 (3): 371-84. Lim, L. (2003). ‘Capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy. The dilemma of third-world women workers in multinational factories. In C. R. McCann and S. Kim (eds) Feminist Theory Reader: Local and global Perspectives. Routledge, London: 222-230.

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Momsen, J. and Townsend, J. (1987). Geography of Gender in the Third World. State University of New York Press, 79-81. Morrison, T. (1999). ‘Why Bendon is moving out’. The Dominion 22 October: 8. Ong, Aihwa (1987). Spirits of Resistance and Capitalist Discipline: Factory Women in Malaysia. State University of New York Press. Scott, I. (1999). ‘’350 jobs lost at Bendon’. Waikato Times 21 October: 1. Taylor, P. (1992). Understanding global inequalities. Geography 77 (1):10-21. Thrift, N. (1989). The geography of international economic disorder. In R.J. Johnston and P.J. Taylor (eds.) A World in Crisis: Geographical Perspectives. Blackwell, London, 16- 78. Standing, G (1992). Global feminization through flexible labor. In C. Wilber and K. Jameson (eds). The Political Economy of Development and Underdevelopment. McGraw- Hill, New York, 346-75. Talcott, M. (2004) Gendered webs of development and resistance: Women, children, and flowers in Bogotá. Signs. 29(2): 465-489