Global and international perspectives of women's work II Technologies of Production (cont.)

Global and international perspectives of women's work

II

Technologies of Production(cont.)

Technologies of Production• Women Encounter Technology: Changing Patterns of

Employment in the Third World. Ed. Swasti Mitter & Sheila Rowbotham (1995)

• case studies: Latin America, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia

• modernist view of technology and modernization process• technology transfer / technological modernization• assumption: women not excluded but empowered by

technology (critique of postmodernism and ecofeminism)

Women Encounter Technology (Mitter & Rowbotham)

• examines effects of information technology on women’s employment and the nature of women’s work in the Third World

• adaptation process and how it affects women’s empowerment

• role of family, ideology, state policies and trade unions

• how groups of women interpret technology for empowerment

• issues: health hazards, training (changing requirements in skills: arguments about de-skilling), double demands of new technology occupations and household work, shifting position of woman in the labor force and at home, organizing activities, beyond gender politics


Framework• Ch. 1: Beyond the politics of difference • Ch. 2: Information technology and working women’s

demands• Ch. 3: Feminist approaches to technology

Case studies • Ch. 4: Conflicting demands of new technology and

household work Argentina / Brazil


Case studies (cont.)• Ch. 6: Information technology and women’s

employment in manufacturing in Eastern Europe Slovenia

• Ch. 8: Computerization and women’s employment in India’s banking sector India

• Ch. 9: Information technology, gender and employment Malaysia


Ch. 1: Beyond the politics of difference • the women of the Third World are not a unified group

and therefore postmodern approaches that look for specifically feminine vision of technology and science are oversimplifying

• need to look at diversity and experiences of different societies and of different women in society

• need to focus on how technology benefits women by allowing more social power (in families and societies) and control over their fertility (women’s autonomy and choice, employment opportunities, new areas of work)


Ch. 1: Beyond the politics of difference • understanding experience of women not in contradiction to

those of men, but in terms of how they are specifically included in (excluded from) the market and institutions

• production of semiconductors or telecommunications equipment, service-related software programming and data entry two industries shaping the international division of labor; foreign investment as major technology transfer)

• exclusion of older women and those previously involved in manufacturing but more skilled and younger (women) workforce gaining prominence


Ch. 1: Beyond the politics of difference • multi-dimensionality in the identity of a woman worker is

the focal point of new organizations lobbying around issues of:

• health hazards (especially related to reproductive health)

• flexible contract

• intensification of workloads

• discrimination in training and education

• women’s sharing of experiences and organizing especially beyond national boundaries


Ch. 1: Beyond the politics of difference • postmodern feminists have not taken up the cause because

of ideological reasons (limited because they are women of the First World while women of the Third World are still not more than an ethnographic subject, the ‘Other’)

• ecofeminism (Vandana Shiva) is a form of idealism (argues for rejection of western technologies and the western ideology as colonizing; community-based economy in opposition to global capitalism; subsistence perspective that demands not efficiency but realization of human life)


Ch. 2: Information technology and working women’s demands• pay attention to women’s own voices to understand how

their aspirations and fears are expressed in relation to information technology and industrialization process

• women are gaining freedom from tradition and social oppression through employment in modern sector

• they value the social mobility but need to be able to have access to relevant training and education to compete in the labor market (skilled workers and management jobs), need to have rights protected in the small scale sector, health hazards

Women Encounter Technology (Rowbotham)

Ch. 3: Feminist approaches to technology• shortened version of article reproduced in the textbook• example of postmodern feminist critique of modernist

science and the male perspective (looking for a feminine perspective)

• examination of female contribution to science and technology (those of aristocratic and privileged background) before the scientific discourse was professionalized and institutionalized (in the 18th and the 19th century)

Women Encounter Technology (Rowbotham)

Ch. 3: Feminist approaches to technology• alternative histories of science contribute to

understanding how science acted as a regime of knowledge subordinating other systems of knowledge (e.g. alchemy, non-Western science, daily life: practice and experience)

• need to write histories of science and technological innovation that acknowledge these boundary knowledge systems

Women Encounter Technology Brazil / Argentina

Ch. 4: Conflicting demands of new technology and household work

• case study on introduction of IT in the textile industry • perceptions of men and women about gender roles and

family: effect on power relations in the household; dependence on traditional / extended family network in enabling women to gain social power and control)

• two different societies / different self-perceptions of gender affect women workers

Women Encounter Technology Slovenia

Ch. 6: Information technology and women’s employment in manufacturing in Eastern Europe

• post-communist transition restructuring (1991+)• industries with highest percentage of women workers:

lowest educational structure, wage level (manufacture of electrical machinery, chemicals, textile, leather and fur manufacture, food products, tobacco)

• restructuring affected all industries but lowest level of bankruptcies in typically ‘female’ industries (conclusion: women are prepared to accept lower wages just to keep their jobs)

Women Encounter TechnologySlovenia


• majority of those made redundant during introduction of IT during restructuring were women (in production routine jobs were eliminated, support activities but good social protection of workers)

• women continue to be needed in the workforce which is now recruiting only highly educated workforce (women have equal chance)

• IT in export-oriented sectors introduced at higher rate (quality) but potentially negative impact of modernization

Women Encounter Technology Slovenia


• potentially negative impact on women if technological modernization is not matched by assessment of negative consequences for the workers (and policies to counter these effects)

• need to organize (current pressure groups do not have a coherent and popular program: elitist or aligned with political parties; low participation of women in politics)

Women Encounter Technology India

Ch. 8: Computerization and women’s employment in India’s banking sector

• examination of data for 11 Indian and foreign-controlled banks

• Indian banking system inert in introducing the computers on a large scale because of fear that this would result in retrenchment and unemployment: ‘technology agreements’ and ‘computerization agreements’ (since 1970s) were negotiated by the unions; for workers, the level of computerization presents a dilemma (opposing requirements of work, and social justice)



• positives / negatives related to computerization• prospects of job losses and declining employment levels (danger of

displacement of workers particularly women by voice recognition, optical character recognition and artificial intelligence technology)

• increase in workloads (repetitive operations increased such as number of transactions)

• pressure for flexibility (companies develop core / marginal workforce and job security is lessened)

• changes in job contents (skills of mechanical nature and concentration needed less but replaced by mechanical nature with less mental effort; customer service computerization demands increase of skills for searching, extracting and assimilating relevant information; formal skills in higher demand)



• positives / negatives related to computerization• increase in insecurity in the workplace and loss of union power (more

prominent for employees in foreign banks)

• increase in ‘non-bargainable’ staff (that do not have right to unionize) in comparison to the ‘bargainable’ staff (casualization process)

• changes in grading and pay (positions are redefined, potential to be graded higher)

• changes in information and control / changes in the autonomy of employees (company has more control over employees, less control over how to do work)

• changes in health and safety conditions (VDU: video blues, eye problems, veins, ulcers, nausea, headaches, miscarriages, etc.)



• women employees recruited in the banking sector and on the increase but concentrated at the clerical level (not officers)

• women recruited because perceived as more ‘diligent and meticulously complete their work, are time-conscious, do not evade responsibilities, perform all types of jobs well, less involved with union activities and less often involved in frauds and corruption’



• problems for women in the workforce: • burden of the dual role

• sexual harassment in the workplace

• refusal of men to accept women as colleagues or seniors

• need to work twice as well as men to gain recognition

• lack of solidarity among women

• activism via trade unions and other forms of organizing (retraining, interaction and sharing of experiences with women in other countries)

Women Encounter Technology Malaysia

Ch. 9: Information technology, gender and employment • shift from agricultural to industrial economy and emphasis

on IT as a government-favored industry in Malaysia• education trends show that women are equally represented

in technology & science higher education levels• high / low-skilled jobs changing trends:

• demand for high-skilled jobs create openings for women with high-skills to enter the market

• demand for low-skilled jobs (data processing operators, typists and telephonists) decreased and women workers are affected primarily


Ch. 9: Information technology, gender and employment • case study of telecommunications industry in Malaysia

(introduction of IT in office work at TELMAL) • which jobs (and people) were affected, employee

perceptions regarding productivity, freedom of movement and decision making

• positive effect in refashioning jobs of some workers, more flexibility and more independence to shape and design the operations at the middle (systems analysis, programmers) and clerical levels (bookkeepers) but jobs at lower level eliminated (typists)


Ch. 9: Information technology, gender and employment • TELMAL union makes gender issues priority especially

around health and safety but women employees are still viewed primarily as homemakers; not enough action to represent women at the lower level of jobs; women are unlikely to organize and they are poorly represented in union leadership positions

• non-union initiatives have been taken by women’s groups to represent women’s issues (education and training program regarding social and health impact of computers, etc.)

Documents

Global and international perspectives of women's work II Technologies of Production (cont.)