Unheard Voices: Globalization Stories from Invisible Margins

Abstract

In mainstream neoliberal gender and development discourse, access to paid work is often proposed as a solution to address gender inequality and enhance the well-being of women. However, most of these discussions are embedded in Western liberal philosophical tradition that cherishes enlightened values and lay great emphases on individual actors, rational scientific perspectives and democratic processes. This essentialist perspective may limit our ability to understand the lifeworlds of women whose values have been shaped by non-liberal traditions. Measuring the well-being of these women through pre-existing analytical categories may produce disembodied voices without context. Therefore, it is important to investigate as to what extent these pre-existing analytical categories such as well-being, agency and empowerment resonate with the goals and living realities of women in global south. In this chapter, we explore the narrative life stories of homeworkers to understand meaning and relevance of invisible homework, performed within the confines of household, for well-being of these workers. We use Sen’s capability approach as an analytical lens in order to get closer to how female homeworkers experience or construct their own sense of well-being. The multidimensionality of well-being is a red thread that runs through the entire chapter.