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Globalization and Gender: Women’s Labor in the Global Economy

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Abstract

Much has been written on the subject of gender and globalization. The emphasis in this chapter is on women’s employment and on the global processes that have been affecting it. The rapid formation of a female labor force across the globe during the past decades has, to a great extent, been tied in particular to the growth of the service sector and of low-cost manufacturing, even though these have not been the only sectors behind the feminization of the labor force. The links between gender and globalization should not be seen as responding only to structural and economic forces; although these have, of course, been at the root of this feminization, they have also been shaped by the interaction between these forces and the different ways through which gender constructions have been used and reconstituted during the past decades. The feminist movement, in its quest for gender equality, has contributed to this trend on the supply side by emphasizing the need for women to search for greater financial autonomy, bargaining power, and control over their lives. But other tendencies have been at work, both on the supply and the demand side.

Keywords

  • Labor Market
  • Labor Force
  • Wage Inequality
  • Woman Worker
  • Informal Activity

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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© 2010 Berch Berberoglu

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Beneria, L. (2010). Globalization and Gender: Women’s Labor in the Global Economy. In: Berberoglu, B. (eds) Globalization in the 21st Century. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230106390_8

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