Gender and Work in Transition: Globalization in Western, Middle and Eastern Europe (Schriftenreihe der internationalen Frauenuniversitt "Technik und Kultur" Book 2)

World wide economic, political and cultural changes transform labor markets, frames of divisions of work, labor organization and famly structures. This can be demonstrated in a specific way in Western, Middle and Eastern Europe, where globalization and forced technology development from the one side cross with transformations processes in forms of government from the other side. Our investigation within this context emphasizes the question, how the living conditions of working women in comarison with those of men are touched by these social overturns. The findings presented in this volume throw light on the ambiguities which political transformation and economic globalization effect on women ́s work. Women profit by the emergence of working places that are brought force by new market-activities. But at the same time many of them lose qualifies occupations by shifting from full-time to part-time jobs, from high paid sectors to low remunerated industries. In all countries we find gender-based income differences. The proportion of women in political organizations is everywhere lower than that of men. The growing time pressure in the employment system reinforces women ́s strain to combine household duties, child raising and paid work. Going beyond Europe we have to recognize the widening gap between industrialized regions and developing countries. The contributions collected in this volume were produced on the occasion of the International Women's University (ifu), which took place in Hanover in the summer of 2000. They belong to the preparation papers and lesson materials written for the project-area "Work. " This area was one of the six faculties, along with "Information," "Body," "Migration," "City," and "Water," which formed the program of the ifu. On a world wide horizon, each project-area chose re­ gional centers appropriate for its special topic. Tensions between global and - cal developments and their economic, socio-cultural and political effects on gen der relationships were thematized in almost all faculties. Special attention was paid to women's new opportunities as well as worsening life conditions in a chan ging world. The cosmopolitan orientation of the Ifu corresponds on a sci­ entific level to internationality and interdisciplinarity as requirements for each design of the curriculum. I will come back to what this means for our project­ area. It was our goal to explore the connections between globalization, work and gender. This was a difficult undertaking. As "globalization" is a process that oc­ curs in transnational contexts and under varying local constellations, its multiple modes of operation can only become visible by studying a certain number of countries. An approach based on contrasting methods, however, demands a weIl considered plan- how many and what kind of regions should be exemplarily compared. World wide economic, political and cultural changes transform labor markets, frames of divisions of work, labor organization and famly structures. This can be demonstrated in a specific way in Western, Middle and Eastern Europe, where globalization and forced technology development from the one side cross with transformations processes in forms of government from the other side. Our investigation within this context emphasizes the question, how the living conditions of working women in comarison with those of men are touched by these social overturns. The findings presented in this volume throw light on the ambiguities which political transformation and economic globalization effect on womeńs work. Women profit by the emergence of working places that are brought force by new market-activities. But at the same time many of them lose qualifies occupations by shifting from full-time to part-time jobs, from high paid sectors to low remunerated industries. In all countries we find gender-based income differences. The proportion of women in political organizations is everywhere lower than that of men. The growing time pressure in the employment system reinforces womeńs strain to combine household duties, child raising and paid work. Going beyond Europe we have to recognize the widening gap between industrialized regions and developing countries Front Matter....Pages 1-6 Introduction....Pages 7-22 Front Matter....Pages 23-23 Theorizing Gender Arrangements....Pages 25-48 Globalization and Gender: a European Perspective....Pages 49-82 Women’s Work and Economic Development....Pages 83-91 Feminist Theory of Democracy and the Dispute of Difference....Pages 93-112 Gendered Segregation of Work....Pages 113-130 Front Matter....Pages 131-131 New Family Patterns: Germany After Unification....Pages 133-141 East Germany: Changes in Temporal Structures in Women’s Work After the Unification....Pages 143-173 Economic Restructuring, Social Policies, and Women’s Work in Poland....Pages 175-216 The Gender-specific Division of Labor in Hungary Since the Regime Change....Pages 217-251 Women in the Labor Market in Russia....Pages 253-270 Front Matter....Pages 271-271 New Visions — Old Roles....Pages 273-290 Back Matter....Pages 291-291 Regina Becker-schmidt, Ed. The Contributions Collected In This Volume Were Produced On The Occasion Of The International Women's University (ifu) Which Took Place In Hanover In The Summer Of 2000--p. [7]. Includes Bibliographical References. Das englischsprachige Buch untersucht die Lebensverhaltnisse erwerbstatiger Frauen unter den Bedingungen oekonomischer, politscher und kultureller Transformation.