Women's ILO : Transnational Networks, Global Labour Standards, and Gender Equity, 1919 to Present

What is the place of women in global labour policies? Women's ILO: Transnational Networks, Global Labour Standards, and Gender Equity, 1919 to Present gathers new research on a century of ILO engagement with women's work. It asks: what was the role of women's networks in shaping ILO policies and what were the gendered meanings of international labour law in a world of uneven and unequal development? Women's ILO explores issues like equal remuneration, home-based labour, and social welfare internationally and in places such as Argentina, Italy, and Ghana. It scrutinizes the impact of both power relations and global feminisms on the making of global labour policies in a world shaped by colonialism, the Cold War and post-colonial inequality. It further charts the disparate advancement of gender equity, highlighting the significant role of women experts and activists in the process. Contributors are: Paula Lucía Aguilar, Lucia Artner, Eloisa Betti, Chris Bonner, Eileen Boris, Akua O. Britwum, Dorothy Sue Cobble, Dorothea Hoehtker, Pat Horn, Sonya Michel, Silke Neunsinger, Renana Jhabvala, Marieke Louis, Yevette Richards, Mahua Sarkar, Kirsten Scheiwe, Françoise Thébaud, Susan Zimmermann “This is a must-read volume for scholars and students interested in women, labor and international/transnational history.” – Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, University of California, Irvine, USA “This fascinating collection of essays assesses the ILO's role in securing social justice for women workers around the world and asks how that role might change as the world of work is transformed in the next century.” — Celia Donert, University of Liverpool “This exciting collection provides a long-overdue state of the art on gender politics and the ILO. It will no doubt be the work of reference on the topic for years to come.” – Elisabeth Prügl, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva Women’s ILO: Transnational Networks, Global Labour Standards and Gender Equity, 1919 to Present 3 Copyright 4 Contents 5 Preface 7 Acknowledgements 9 Annotated List of Organizations and Abbreviations/Acronyms 10 Notes on Contributors 25 Introduction: A Century of Women’s ILO 31 Part 1: The Work of Transnational Networks 55 1 The Other ILO Founders: 1919 and Its Legacies 57 2 Difficult Inroads, Unexpected Results: The Correspondence Committee on Women’s Work in the 1930s 80 3 International Networking in the Interwar Years: Gertrud Hanna, Alice Salomon and Erna Magnus 105 4 Equality’s Cold War: The ILO and the UN Commission on the Status of Women, 1946–1970s 127 5 The Unobtainable Magic of Numbers: Equal Remuneration, the ILO and the International Trade Union Movement, 1950s–1980s 151 6 Transnational Links and Constraints: Women’s Work, the ILO and the ICFTU in Africa, 1950s–1980s 179 7 Informal Women Workers Open ILO Doors through Transnational Organizing, 1980s–2010s 206 8 Women’s Representation at the ILO: A Hundred Years of Marginalization 232 Part 2: Developing and Negotiating Global Labour Standards 255 9 Globalizing Gendered Labour Policy: International Labour Standards and the Global South, 1919–1947 257 10 Motherhood at the Heart of Labour Regulation: Argentina, 1907–1941 285 11 Unexpected Alliances: Italian Women’s Struggles for Equal Pay, 1940s–1960s 306 12 Organizing Rural Women in Ghana since the 1980s: Trade Union Efforts and ILO Standards 330 13 Mothers Working Abroad: Migrant Women Caregivers and the ILO, 1980s–2010s 348 14 When Maternity is Paid Work: Commercial Gestational Surrogacy at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century 370 Bibliography 395 Index 431 Women’s,ilo Machine generated contents note: pt. 1 The Work of Transnational Networks -- 1.The Other ILO Founders: 1919 and Its Legacies / Dorothy Sue Cobble -- 2.Difficult Inroads, Unexpected Results: The Correspondence Committee on Women's Work in the 1930s / Francoise Thebaud -- 3.International Networking in the Interwar Years: Gertrud Hanna, Alice Salomon and Erna Magnus / Lucia Artner -- 4.Equality's Cold War: The ILO and the UN Commission on the Status of Women, 1946-1970s / Eileen Boris -- 5.The Unobtainable Magic of Numbers: Equal Remuneration, the ILO and the International Trade Union Movement, 1950s-1980s / Silke Neunsinger -- 6.Transnational Links and Constraints: Women's Work, the ILO and the ICFTU in Africa, 1950s-1980s / Yevette Richards -- 7.Informal Women Workers Open ILO Doors through Transnational Organizing, 1980s-2010s / Renana Jhabvala -- 8.Women's Representation at the ILO: A Hundred Years of Marginalization / Marieke Louis Note continued: pt. 2 Developing and Negotiating Global Labour Standards -- 9.Globalizing Gendered Labour Policy: International Labour Standards and the Global South, 1919-1947 / Susan Zimmermann -- 10.Motherhood at the Heart of Labour Regulation: Argentina, 1907-1941 / Paula Lucia Aguilar -- 11.Unexpected Alliances: Italian Women's Struggles for Equal Pay, 1940s-1960s / Eloisa Betti -- 12.Organizing Rural Women in Ghana since the 1980s: Trade Union Efforts and ILO Standards / Akua O. Britwum -- 13.Mothers Working Abroad: Migrant Women Caregivers and the ILO, 1980s-2010s / Sonya Michel -- 14.When Maternity is Paid Work: Commercial Gestational Surrogacy at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century / Mahua Sarkar. What is the place of women in global labour policies? 'Women?s ILO: Transnational Networks, Global Labour Standards, and Gender Equity, 1919 to Present' gathers new research on a century of ILO engagement with women?s work. It asks: what was the role of women?s networks in shaping ILO policies and what were the gendered meanings of international labour law in a world of uneven and unequal development? Intersectional, transnational, and interdisciplinary, Women?s ILO explores gendered dynamics on issues like equal remuneration, home-based labour, and social welfare and practices in places like Argentina, Italy, Ghana, and internationally, expanding the boundaries of feminism, charting the disparate advancement of gender equity, and highlighting the significant role of women experts and activists in these processes Women's ILO examines a century-long history of women and their networks involved in and with the ILO, the gendered meaning of labour standards, and the challenges of achieving gender equity through international labour law, transnational campaigns, and local labour policies.-- Provided by Publisher