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September 1, 2002
REVIEWS: Women behind the job
The hidden assembly line: gender dynamic of subcontracted work in a global economy is a commendable book about the lives of women workers in the global economy by a team of international experts. Women’s work has been invisible, so has been statistical and descriptive information about their contribution to the economy. Considering the paucity of information, scarcity of resources and sometimes the lack of cooperation from the authorities, probing into this issue was not an easy task for this group of researchers.
This book examines the question of how the global economy has affected women workers in the subcontracted sector. Using the survey method the researchers have gathered statistical and other data in four countries: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, and the Philippines. In most cases, since women’s work has gone unacknowledged and unrecorded, no data existed before. The information which is summarized in tables was gathered through observation, interviews and a questionnaire.
Poverty has increased in Pakistan since the introduction of the structural adjustment programme. There are more women available in the labour market now than before. Circumstances have forced many women who had not worked for pay before to look for paid work. Most women prefer to work from home for less remuneration than those working in factories.
Women prefer working from home for more than one reason. Social constraints inhibit them from going out to take up employment. Being at home also gives them the flexibility to work for the subcontractor, look after the children and attend to all the household chores.
The earning power of women has not brought about any real change in their lives. “There might be cases of some increase in women’s autonomy, but in general, subcontracted work has contributed to women’s exploitation in Pakistan without providing any real empowerment.”
To keep cost down corporations have closed big factories. The work is now done in sweatshops or at home by women workers. They are paid on piece-rate basis and only if what they produce meets the quality control standards is the payment made. This way the cost is passed on to the workers who can least afford to bear it.
The restructuring of the economy and new developments in technology have made decentralization of work commercially more viable for big businesses. The devaluation of the local currency, closing of big factories and laying-off men have increased the supply of labour which has forced women to work for pittance.
Some women work to supplement the family income, others have become the sole wage earner in the family. In spite of their financial contribution to the family income, they have not been able to shake off the constraints of the patriarchal system. They still remain socially, psychologically and emotionally dependent on the system that exploits them. “The forces of transnational capitalism simultaneously maintain and subvert the existing social structures...”
Anyone who is familiar with free trade zones, sweatshops, outsourcing, subcontracting etc — the whole lexicon of the new economic order — will find more detailed information on the impact of the current pattern of production on the lives of women and the deplorable conditions they work in.
There are other books on the unjust international economic order such as No logo and When corporations rule the world which are provocative, inspiring and engaging to read.
The Hidden Assembly Line makes no attempt to popularize the academic. It is written in the usual colourless academic style. Expressions such as “increase in poverty ... has led to an increase in labour supply, especially of women who have never worked before” contradict the claim of feminists that women’s unpaid work inside the house should be recognized as work. It is, therefore, surprising that the writer is a woman with feminist credentials.
This in no way diminishes the usefulness of the information in the book. It also contains some valuable recommendations: the inclusion of workers in the informal sector in the trade union; the availability of microcredit for these workers; recognition of the relationship between the macroeconomic policies and its impact on the working conditions; corporations taking on their share of social responsibility; an intergovernmental body to oversee the rights of the workers against the business interest. Let’s hope policy makers follow up on these recommendations.
This slender book of 154 pages is a major contribution in its field and a good starting point for further research.
Reviewer’s email: rababnaqvi@hotmail.com
The hidden assembly line: gender dynamics of subcontracted work in global economy
Edited by Radhika Balakrishnan
Kumarian Press, 1294
Blue Hills Avenue, Bloomfield CT 06002, USA Tel: 800-289-2664
Fax: 860-243-2867
Website:
www.kpbooks.com
ISBN 1-56549-139-4
154pp. $21.95
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