Introduction: Theorizing the Gendering of the Knowledge Economy: Comparative Approaches

Abstract

The knowledge economy is the future of the world of work. Its gendering is central to understanding the nature of its associated employment practices and its implications for the quality of working life. The development of knowledge economies is affected by cross-cutting global processes and national trajectories. A key issue is the conceptualization of the different forms that class and gender relations may take, in order to advance comparative analysis of these processes. The knowledge economy, gender and globalization are each key issues in contemporary social thought. In this book we challenge and revise key claims in the debates on the knowledge economy and the comparative analysis of varieties of capitalism, comparative analyses of gender relations in the context of globalization. The book is based on the work of the international network on Globalization, Gender and Work Transformation (GLOW).