Women Workers in Industrialising Asia: Costed, Not Valued (Studies in the Economies of East and South-East Asia)

Economic globalization, the adoption of export-oriented industrialism strategies and the global restructuring of manufacturing have resulted in the increased participation of women in the manufacturing sector in Asia. This collection, edited by Armajit Kaur, is an important comparative study that covers the major East, South and Southeast Asian countries. It explores the diversity of women's work in factory and small-batch production and home-based work. It also focuses on women's employment and health conditions in the context of internationally accepted core labor standards. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 List of Tables......Page 9 List of Figures......Page 12 List of Abbreviations......Page 13 Preface......Page 16 Acknowledgements......Page 17 Notes on Contributors......Page 18 Introduction......Page 20 Introduction......Page 24 Population and population growth......Page 25 Fertility......Page 30 Life expectancy......Page 32 Infant and maternal mortality......Page 34 Poverty and human development......Page 35 The concept of development and the HDI......Page 37 Education......Page 41 Labour force participation......Page 45 Some concluding remarks......Page 50 Introduction......Page 56 Economic globalisation, past and present: everything changes and nothing changes......Page 57 Trade liberalisation as development strategy and economic growth in Asia......Page 61 Conceptualising the new globalisation......Page 65 Changing contexts of women’s employment......Page 69 Production niches, labour-intensive manufactures and women workers......Page 73 Introduction......Page 78 The industrial revolution and women’s employment in historical perspective......Page 80 The factory system and changing contexts of women’s employment......Page 82 Impact of the factory system on the family economy......Page 89 Technological change and female wage employment......Page 91 Continuity and change: industrialisation and women workers......Page 92 Introduction......Page 96 Gender divisions and patterns of industrialisation: regional diversities......Page 98 Parting of ways: feminisation of labour in Southeast Asia in the 1970s......Page 101 ‘Outside departments of factories’: women and home-based work......Page 103 Changing the family: marriage and home management......Page 106 Concluding remarks......Page 113 Introduction......Page 118 Trade strategies for development......Page 120 Framing the global factory......Page 126 Women factory workers: cogs on the global assembly-line......Page 134 Introduction......Page 148 Trade liberalisation and cross-border production networks......Page 149 Working conditions of women workers under sub-contracting arrangements......Page 159 Some concluding remarks......Page 164 Introduction......Page 168 Meiji women – working ‘for the sake of the country’......Page 170 New women in the workplace during the interwar period......Page 174 War-time work ‘in the service of the state’......Page 179 Women workers and the economic miracle......Page 181 New opportunities versus old constraints......Page 183 Conclusion......Page 188 Introduction......Page 192 A framework for understanding health, women’s work and development......Page 196 A social and occupational epidemiological study......Page 198 Conclusion: health, production and reproduction......Page 208 Introduction......Page 214 The state, labour legislation and industrial relations......Page 215 Some concluding remarks......Page 233 Introduction......Page 237 The ILO and labour standards......Page 239 The core labour standards social clause......Page 246 Women workers and labour law in Asia......Page 247 Core labour standards and enforcement in Asia......Page 255 Index......Page 260 This collection contributes to key theoretical debates about women workers in Asia and breaks new ground by focusing on issues that have been little documented in other studies of the area. It provides new information and insights into labour systems associated with labour-intensive export manufactures and state -- labour relations in a comparative context. The contributors present a range of unique and varied perspectives from which they consider aspects of the increasing integration of Asian economies, exploring implications for their labour markets. The study focuses on women's increased participation in the paid workforce in the context of rapid social and economic development that is taking place in Asia. It approaches women's work from an institutional and structural as well as an economic perspective by concentrating on a wide range of countries at different stages of development and size. The book also provides cross-national data and information on labour rights and trade union organisation among women in Asia. This collection contributes to key theoretical debates about women workers in Asia and breaks new ground by focussing on issues that have been little documented in other studies in the area. It provides new information and insights into labour systems associated with labour intensive export manufactures and state-labour relations in a comparative context. The contributors present a range of unique and varied perspectives from which they consider aspects of the increasing integration of Asian economies, exploring implications for their labour markets. Any discussion of gender-related issues for industrialising Asia must be placed in the context of recent and current economic, social and demographic trends and changes. Edited By Amarjit Kaur. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.