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Enabling Subjectivities: Economic and Cultural Negotiations—A Gendered Reading of the Handloom Sector and the Special Economic Zone of Kerala

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  • Sonia George

    (Sonia George is Research Scholar at School of International Relations, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. Her research interest is in Gender and Informal Sector Labour. She is presently the coordinator of SEWA–Kerala. E-mail: soniageorgem@gmail.com)

Abstract

The process of globalisation has unleashed substantial changes in the employment sector. One of the common features of this process has been discussed through the concept of the ‘feminisation of labour’. In India, most scholars have questioned this thesis given the ongoing low work participation rates among women. In this article two sites of labour—one in the traditional sector and the other in the emerging new labour context—are compared to explain the gendered structures of the new labour paradigm. In the handloom sector, male workers are leaving while women continue to work, whereas the special economic zone emerges with young women-centred jobs. The article argues that at the micro level, especially in the context of Kerala’s male labour history, a variation on the feminisation thesis is relevant. The micro spaces of these women workers must be explored in order to understand labour and its nuances in contemporary Kerala, with possible lessons for other spaces as well.

Suggested Citation

  • Sonia George, 2013. "Enabling Subjectivities: Economic and Cultural Negotiations—A Gendered Reading of the Handloom Sector and the Special Economic Zone of Kerala," Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Centre for Women's Development Studies, vol. 20(2), pages 305-334, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:indgen:v:20:y:2013:i:2:p:305-334
    DOI: 10.1177/0971521513482221
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mridul Eapen & Praveena Kodoth, 2002. "Family structure, women's education and work: Re-examining the high status of women in Kerala," Centre for Development Studies, Trivendrum Working Papers 341, Centre for Development Studies, Trivendrum, India.
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