A Paradox of Women’s Employment and Empowerment in Flexible Capitalism

This paper discusses a paradoxical implication of employment for women’s empowerment in flexible capitalism. Export-oriented factories employ women from the poorer sections of a society and their earnings make substantial contribution to poverty reduction at a household level. However, an implication of wage work for women’s empowerment is contentious. Many socialist feminist critics highlight exploitative aspects of export-oriented industries. The micro-level studies point out women’s empowering experiences through employment in daily life. Employing a materialist feminist perspective and Bourdieu’s theory of practice, this paper examines the discussion on women’s employment and empowerment in the past fifty years and attempts to understand women’s multifaceted exercise of agency within patriarchal power relations and explain a paradox of exploitative employment and women’s empowering experiences. It argues that flexible employment has empowered many women in the world, yet, in a way to serve flexible capitalism and patriarchy.

Esnek Kapitalizm Koşullarında Kadının İstihdamı ve Güçlendirilmesi Paradoksu

Bu makale, kadının esnek kapitalizm koşullarında istihdamının, onun güçlendirilmesindeki paradoksal etkisini tartışmaktadır. İhracata yönelik fabrikalar, çalışanlarını toplumun daha yoksul kesimlerindeki kadınlardan seçerler ve bu kadınların gelirleri, hanedeki yoksulluğu azaltmakta önemli katkı sağlar. Bununla birlikte, kadının ücretli işte çalışmasının onun güçlenmesindeki etkisi tartışmalı bir konudur. Birçok sosyalist-feminist eleştirel düşünür, ihracata yönelik sanayilerin sömürücü yönlerini vurgulamaktadır. Mikro düzeydeki çalışmalar, kadınların istihdam vasıtasıyla günlük yaşamdaki güçlenme deneyimlerine dikkat çekmektedir. Materyalist feminist bakış açısını ve Bourdieu’nün pratik teorisini kullanan bu makale, kadınların istihdamı ve güçlendirilmesi konusunda son elli yıl içinde yapılmış tartışmaları incelemekte; kadınların ataerkil güç ilişkileri içindeki çok yönlü faillik deneyimlerini anlamaya çalışmakta ve sömürücü istihdam koşulları ve kadını güçlendirici deneyimleri arasındaki paradoksal ilişkiyi açıklamaktadır. Bu çalışmada savunulan, esnek çalışma koşullarının dünyadaki birçok kadını güçlendirirken aynı zamanda, bu güçlenmenin esnek kapitalizm ve ataerkilliğe hizmet ettiğidir.

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