Globalization, Factory Work, and the Feminization of Labor

Industrial Societies Production of goods through mass employment in business and commercial operation Bulk of goods produced are not for basic needs, but for nonessential goods Shift from subsistence strategies to wage labor, in which people are not self-sufficient but rely on markets for their needs Employment in agriculture declines (even so, farmers produce food for the market and not for themselves) Industrialization driven by textile mills

Spinners in a cotton mill in Alabama, 1910

Industrial Societies Vastly increased population growth Expanded consumption of resources (especially energy) International expansion of trade and goods production Occupational specialization

Industrial Societies Their economies are based on the principle that consumption and labor productivity must continually be expanded and that material standards of living must also go up over time Contrasts with other economies which put limits on consumption and thus lighter demands on their environments and labor productivity

Industrial Societies Have at least two social classes: A large labor force that produces goods and services: who have to sell their labor on the market A much smaller class that controls what is produced and how it is distributed In addition, there may be a managerial class that oversees the day-to-day operation of the workplace Abdul-Haq on the social life of “the three classes” p. 207

Globalization Globalization is about the interconnectedness of various areas of the world through the flow of capital, goods, ideas, religions, media representations, and people (migration). The flow is not one-way (e.g., from West to the rest of the world), but multidimensional.

Globalization is not new….

But, the pace of globalization has increased since WWII Some of the causes: Ease and cheapness of international communication technologies Ease and cheapness of transferring money Cheap transportation (airfare, the price of oil, container ships, the mechanization of docks) Free trade, particularly the reduction of import taxes and other duties (US in particular an advocate) Companies are in competition with each globally and want to reduce costs. One of their major costs is labor.

Factory work has moved to countries other than those where its products are bought…. (a pessimist might say it was the first to move) Electronics and textiles Workers are overwhelmingly young women workers who are recent urban migrants Question by Noelle Krevetski Bangladesh fire Use of subcontractors A very important issue to study: what is it like for the workers?

How does Globalization affect Workers’ Power in Labor Relations? Questions by Janice Ngo, Theodora Muluh, Lucy Grimm, Abhi Ajit, Tina Baer, Kelsey Schaffer

The state’s role in regulating workers’ rights and working conditions minimum wage safety standards (for buildings, machinery) workers’ social safety net (maternity and family leave, health insurance, unemployment compensation) unions and union organizing import duties and taxes on company profits often states see themselves as in competition with each another and thus reduce regulation and taxes on companies. Factory fire in Bangladesh

Are factory girls in Morocco empowered by their work? Yes:No:

Back to a big question: how and why do cultures change? Has globalization (the relocation of multinational factories to Morocco) generated cultural change? If so, how is it happening? If not, why not? This raises questions about whether changes in material conditions changes ideas (cultural materialism) or the other way around (interpretivist). Which is the case here?