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July 20, 2003
Review: They also resist
THE world is waiting for the ‘big idea’ — a ‘set of ideas’ that can help people understand what really is happening around them. The traditional formations are dying or have already died. But there is no clear explanation as to why? For example, take the trade unions. Is there a shade of doubt that workers as a force — under the banners of trade unionism — have lost their strength? But only a decade ago, the might of the collective bargaining agents (CBAs) was a force to reckon with in the industrialized and the developing world. This holds true for many other social formations that took definite shape at the beginning of the last century.
It is impossible to argue with reality. The present ambiguity must surely be the outcome of our excessive dependence on generalizations for too long a period of time. Now the intelligentsia of the world is at pains to put the jigsaw pieces in place so as to make sense of what is happening in societies all over the world today. Books such as Between Conformity and Resistance by Petra Dannecker make some soul-searching contribution to the on-going debate on this issue. They illustrate how generalized theories have ignored the new trends that are fast emerging in various countries.
A careful reading of the book under review drives home the fact that it is not correct to equate the labour movement with visible trade union activity. The demise of trade unionism does not necessarily mean the end of the labourers’ resistance to exploitation. There could be inactivity on the surface as workers might opt not to assume predesignated roles allotted to them by trade unions in their capacity as workers. But in spite of their alienation from mainstream unionism, industrial workers are still offering active resistance to exploitation. The book points to the fact that if on the one hand there is dynamic interplay of global and local structures of control, on the other, these processes open up new opportunities to react to new modes of control in a relatively short period.
It does not seem correct, therefore, to assume that workers are becoming increasingly passive. It is only that they are not reacting in the traditional fashion. As the globalization process is becoming increasingly complex, so is the reaction of the multitude. It no longer follows a linear and pre-determined path.
The book is based on research on the new modes of industrial production, notably in the export-oriented manufacturing sector in Bangladesh, where there is increased participation of women in the workforce. It deals with specifics but points to some interesting trends. The indepth study that the writer conducted with the help of her field assistant during her stay in Bangladesh for over a year gives the reader an insight into aspects that are not often found in print in such minute details.
The writer focuses on Bangladeshi women workers. They have a clear view of their roles as workers under the new world order. The individual and collective actions of Bangladeshi women workers are rooted in their own peculiar cultural, political and economic setting. The book narrates several interesting accounts of randomly chosen female workers in the garment factories.
Most of the women toiling in the garment industry are first generation rural immigrants. Their migration had a certain pattern about them and the recruitment took place under planned strategies. As they developed their skills and adapted to the working conditions, the workers had to cope with the strategies concerning promotions and turnovers. These issues are discussed in the book with reference to the approaches adopted to the labour market behaviour.
But Dannecker has not limited her study to the factory floor. Through interviews with the workers, the writer has been able to discover the emerging patterns of living arrangements and new domestic relations. She has shown strategies adopted by those women to resist exploitation through collective action and how they manoeuvre their ways under the new environment.
In the subcontinental setting, independent of how the women perceive their job, the work itself is regarded as a form of resistance. The society looks down upon female workers and their resistance often begins at home. In most cases, they try to adjust. Thus, Dannecker concludes, “They do not question male domination, either at home or in the factory. Through their ‘proper’ behaviour they try to show that different areas they are forced to or willingly act in are complementary and are not threatening to social order.” Nevertheless, the extension of identification patterns created through formal sector employment leads to occasional acts of “defiance” in different fields of power relations, at home as well as in factories.
The writer has shown the institutional response to the social change. There are new household forms taking shape. There are possibilities for women to live in hostels or share rooms leading to new forms of living arrangements.
In the concluding chapter Dannecker observes, “The women struggle and their forms of resistance should not be judged in purely instrumental terms but should be judged in terms of the way the struggle itself develops women’s capacities for autonomy not only as regards their working lives but also the other life realities.”
The book is written in a simple style and is interspersed with the real life stories of women who were interviewed. This methodology not only gives the book authenticity. It also makes it interesting reading. The detailed bibliography at the end of the book could be of help to students and scholars engaged in research on related subjects.
Between Conformity and Resistance: Women Garment Workers in Bangladesh
By Petra Dannecker
The University Press, Dhaka. For info log on to
www.uplbooks.com
Email: upl@bangla.net
Available at Oxford University Press, Plot # 38, Sector 15, Korangi Industrial Area, Karachi
Tel: 111-693-673.
Email: ouppak@theoffice.net Website:
www.oup.com.pk
ISBN 484-05-1599-3
293pp. Tk480
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