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Empowerment as a pre-requisite to managing and influencing health in the workplace: The sexual and reproductive health needs of factory women migrant workers in Malaysia

Author

Listed:
  • Lilian Miles

    (School of Organisations, Economy and Society, Westminster Business School, University of Westminster, UK)

  • Tim Freeman

    (Middlesex University Business School, UK)

  • Lai Wan Teng

    (Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia)

  • Suziana Mat Yasin

    (Department of Development Planning and Management, School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia)

  • Kelvin Ying

    (School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia)

Abstract

Malaysia is a major importer of migrant labour within the ASEAN region, and migration has adverse implications for the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of women migrant workers. Given the centrality of the workplace to the lives of such women, this article reports a qualitative analysis of interview data with women migrant workers ( N = 14) and wider stakeholders ( N = 10) and considers the extent to which they are able to effect change in workplace SRH policy and practice. Informed by Jo Rowlands’ typology of power and model of empowerment, the analysis considers the extent to which normative expectations of process and collective mobilisation upon which feminist empowerment models are predicated operate in such contexts, and discusses the implications of the findings for research to advance workplace democracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Lilian Miles & Tim Freeman & Lai Wan Teng & Suziana Mat Yasin & Kelvin Ying, 2022. "Empowerment as a pre-requisite to managing and influencing health in the workplace: The sexual and reproductive health needs of factory women migrant workers in Malaysia," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(4), pages 1676-1698, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:43:y:2022:i:4:p:1676-1698
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X211024725
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kate Grosser & Jeremy Moon, 2019. "CSR and Feminist Organization Studies: Towards an Integrated Theorization for the Analysis of Gender Issues," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 321-342, March.
    2. Gabriella Alberti & Davide Però, 2018. "Migrating Industrial Relations: Migrant Workers’ Initiative Within and Outside Trade Unions," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(4), pages 693-715, December.
    3. Alice Evans, 2017. "Patriarchal unions = weaker unions? Industrial relations in the Asian garment industry," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(7), pages 1619-1638, July.
    4. Andrea Cornwall & Jenny Edwards, 2010. "Introduction: Negotiating Empowerment," IDS Bulletin, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(2), pages 1-9, March.
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