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SOSC 102 U Final Review 1 Outline • How gender issues in Asian societies are embedded in the macro economic development (globalization) • Theoretical approaches: the Global South Perspective • Empirical cases: what are the major gender issues in the Asian-Pacific region • --women workers in the four tigers • --women workers in mainland China • --women workers from Southeast Asia 2 Globalization Under Globalization, global economy is an increasingly interdependent system of production, distribution, exchange and consumption The Asian four tigers were incorporated into the global assembly line from the 1960s • The global assembly line: extremely fluid commodity chains, as production organization among the links of the chains is centrally coordinated 3 Example: global assembly line for athletic shoes Distribution North America, Europe, etc. Shoe Box (U. S.) Tanned Leather (S. Korea) Boxed Shoes (Indonesia) Tissue Paper (Indonesia) Shoes (Indonesia) Rainforest Trees (Indonesia) Polyurethane Air Sac (U. S.) Cowhide (U. S.) Philip McMichael (2000: XXXV) Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Foam (S. Korea) Synthetic Rubber (Taiwan) Petroleum (Saudi Arabia) Benzene (Taiwan) Coal (Taiwan) 4 Globalization • EPZs (Export Processing Zones): – Specialized industrial export estates with minimal customs controls; – Usually exempt from labor regulations and domestic taxes – Serve firms seeking lower wages and governments seeking capital investment – The cheap labor was mostly contributed by women from developing countries 5 High labor participation of women in the Asian-pacific after the 1960s Export-oriented industrialization Agrarian society 1960s-1980s: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore 1980s and after: Southeast Asia and mainland China Female-led Economic transitions 6 The debate • Liberalization thesis Women are subject to patriarchal control in agrarian societies Agrarian society • Exploitation thesis Export-oriented industrialization EPZs: attract investment of transnational corporations (TNCs) TNCs often provide higher wages and better employment opportunities than jobs in locally owned Economic transformation of a developing country firms or unpaid domestic work The TNCs set up factory in these places and recruit many women workers to save labor expenses 7 Development theories: conventional vs. gender perspectives • Conventional perspective: • Gender perspectives • Economic expansion • Industrial productivity • National income • Human development (basic human needs) • Sustainable development • Equal opportunities for men and women • Indicators: HDI, 8 GEM, GDI • Indicators: GNP and GDP HDI and Real GDP Per Capita in Six Asian States (1997) State Japan HDI rank HDI value GDP index GDP rank Real GDP per capital rank minus HDI rank 4 0.924 0.92 9 5 Singapore 22 0.888 0.94 4 -18 Hong Kong 24 0.880 0.92 8 -16 South Korea 30 0.852 0.82 33 3 Taiwan China 23 0.874 98 0.701 0.57 21 104 -2 6 9 Based on Chow Ngai-ling and Deanna M. Lyter, 2002: 27. Feminist discourses on development • Women in Development • Women and Development • Gender and Development Global South Feminist Perspectives 10 Women in Development Modernization (gender equality) Urbanization Industrialization Traditional society (maledominated) Why does gender inequality exist today? Modernization has not trickled down to benefit women 11 Women and Development Feudalist society Production for use Production for exchange Circa the 16th century Production for use Unpaid domestic work: reproduction Private domain Women’s place Production for exchange Capitalist society “Wage labor”—more and more people had to find paid jobs to support the household economy: production Those who control the public Public domain domain are powerful and resourceful—capitalists 12 Men’s place (mostly men) Gender and Development Production for use Unpaid domestic work: reproduction Private domain Women’s place Production for exchange Capitalist society “Wage labor”—more and more people had to find paid jobs to support the household economy: production Public domain Men’s place Both men and women contributed in the production in the labor market and the reproduction of the household e. g. in the 1960s and 70s, many Hong Kong women contributed to economic growth by making plastic flowers at home Emphasize women as agents of social change 13 Global South Feminist Perspective • “Global South perspectives: propose to revisit the Western and white liberal feminist discourses on non-western women issues • East Asia is a constituent part of the Global South 14 Agendas of global south feminist perspectives • 1. environmental concern: sustainable development • 2. social transformation: eliminate gender subordination and all forms of oppression • 3. equal opportunities for women on career achievement • 4. empowerment of women: incorporate women’s views on political, economic and military policies • (lecture note 9) 15 Gender and development of the four tigers • Labor process of Taiwanese women workers in TNCs • Relatively low female labor participation in South Korea • Economic restructuring and women labor participation in Hong Kong 16 Labor process of women workers in a TNC in Taiwan Higher-level positions: few women are in the rank. 1) a result of “homosocial reproduction”; 2) the “superwomen” label Labor process: the absolute classification between men’s “stronger” vs. women’s “weaker” body—this concept determines different job assignments for male and female workers Lower-level positions: filled by internal succession and promotion. The average educational level of male workers was slightly above high school graduate and that of female workers was around high school—women sacrificed their education to work to support family and/or allow their brothers to have more education Recruitment of entry-level jobs for high school graduates: tacit agreement for female workers—”marriage ban” 17 Relatively low female labor participation in South Korean manufactures • Concentration of industrial centers in South Korea in a few cities • South Korean women were not encouraged to move from countryside to industrial cities 18 Unemployed women in Hong Kong’s economic restructuring • Unemployment of women of middle-aged, married and unskilled—”hidden injuries” in Hong Kong’s economic restructuring • High unemployment rate of women between 50-64 years of age in Hong Kong – esp. compare with women of the same cohort in Taiwan and S’pore where governments tried to maintain the viability of the manufacturing industry • Why don’t they work in service sector? 19 Family strategy to economic restructuring From 1985-1996, Hong Kong’s labor force in the manufacturing sector decreased by two-thirds • A traditional household: husband-centric decision making process • The wife receive few support from the family to work in service sector • A flexible household: negotiations between the couple • The wife would have more chances to continued working in service sector 20 Gender and Development in China • Prereform China (1949-1978) • Reform China (from 1978) Teresa Teng [鄧麗君] (1953-1995) Obscure the gender differences between men and women— masculinization of women Feminine demeanors are emphasized again 21 Gender and development in China: state-owned firms • Pre-reform era • State-owned firms were regarded as favorite jobs, in terms of salaries, housing provision and job security – From 1958-60, the number of women in state-owned firms tripled • Reform era • Private enterprises appeal to workers who want to get higher pay Was gender equality achieved then? 22 Gender equality in prereform China ? • The proportion of women in state-owned firms was lower than in collective firms • In state-owned firms, women were in the disadvantageous position in job assignments, promotions, and housing provisions 23 State-owned firms in reform China • State-owned firms still favored male workers (recruitment, job assignments, promotion, and housing provision) • In factory-wide level, men’s wages were higher than women’s wages • In external labor market, male workers also had better opportunities to compete for jobs in better-paid private enterprises 24 State-owned firms in reform China • Were women workers in state-owned firms less productive? Skilled jobs: payment for per item produced is higher Entry-level jobs (low skills): payment for per item produced is lower More male workers Most female workers Sample of job hierarchy and disparity of wage settings in piece-rate system 25 Women workers and xiagang • More than 60% xiagang workers were women • Women workers were encouraged to retire at earlier age (45 years of age)—”internal retirement” • Alternative employment opportunities for xiagang/earlier retired women workers… 26 After xiagang…. a. Re-employment training Laid-off or earlier retired workers b. To run a self-employed business State-owned Enterprises Private Sectors c. Work in the EPZs? 27 Inter-provincial labor migration in China • Factories in China’s coastal EPZs recruit workers from hinterland provinces • Young, single women are preferred • Most of these women hold rural status in the household registration system. They have to return home once their working contracts expire • E. g. Chen Li and Wu Shengmei in “Giant Awake” 28 Inter-provincial marriage migration in China • Women from countryside in hinterland China Men in coastal rural districts • Many Taiwanese men also try to find their wives from hinterland China – Commercial match maker agent for cross-Straits marriages (Taiwan example) • Cross-border “polygyny” in South China: longterm committed relationship between Hong Kong men and the “second wives” from hinterland China 29 Destination of inter-provincial marriage migration Original provinces 30 Transnational immigrant labor 31 Two major kinds of foreign migrant workers • Foreign factory workers • Hire to conduct the “3 D jobs”: dirty, demeaning and dangerous • Be treated differently from local workers • “Contradictory class mobility” • Foreign domestic helpers • “Market substitutes” of home demands • Household chores— regarded as women’s work • Master-servant relationship between women of different ethnic backgrounds 32 Migration Cycle of a migrant women worker Impoverishment Decision to work overseas Fees levied by agents (may result in debts) Departure: leave sending country Arrive in host country Pre-departure: search for an employer Employment: work, get paid, pay the debts, remit money back home Enquiry: friends, family, acquaintances, job-placement agencies Medical checkup, training and orientation Repatriation: end of contract, get an extension, look for another contract, 33 or go home Foreign domestic helpers • Physical Labor • Emotional Labor • Private home becomes a contested domain…. “boundary work” Employers Workers 34