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Precariousness, Gender, Resistance and Consent in the Face of Global Production Network’s ‘Reforms’ of Pakistan’s Garment Manufacturing Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Muhammad Ayaz

    (Institute of Business Administration – Karachi, Pakistan)

  • Muhammad Junaid Ashraf

    (Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan)

  • Trevor Hopper

    (University of Sussex, UK)

Abstract

This case study of the restructuring of Pakistan’s garment manufacturing industry explores how attempts to increase capital’s control over the labour process intersect with local patriarchal structures and trigger workers’ reflexivity and agency causing unanticipated consequences. Using Archer’s notion of agency, the article examines the theoretical space where capitalism meets patriarchy, and both are reproduced. The focus on reflexivity, anchored between objective contexts and agents’ personal concerns, helps theorize capital–labour–gender relations in global supply chains and explains workers’ impactful resistance to protect a supposedly precarious work regime. Our findings challenge the notion that globalization reduces workers’ agency and their potential for impactful resistance.

Suggested Citation

  • Muhammad Ayaz & Muhammad Junaid Ashraf & Trevor Hopper, 2019. "Precariousness, Gender, Resistance and Consent in the Face of Global Production Network’s ‘Reforms’ of Pakistan’s Garment Manufacturing Industry," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 33(6), pages 895-912, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:33:y:2019:i:6:p:895-912
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017019870735
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alessandra Mezzadri, 2016. "Class, gender and the sweatshop: on the nexus between labour commodification and exploitation," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(10), pages 1877-1900, October.
    2. Donna Lee & Mark Hampton & Julia Jeyacheya, 2015. "The political economy of precarious work in the tourism industry in small island developing states," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 194-223, February.
    3. Annelies Goger, 2013. "From Disposable to Empowered: Rearticulating Labor in Sri Lankan Apparel Factories," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(11), pages 2628-2645, November.
    4. William Monteith & Lena Giesbert, 2017. "‘When the stomach is full we look for respect’: perceptions of ‘good work’ in the urban informal sectors of three developing countries," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(5), pages 816-833, October.
    5. Makino, Momoe, 2012. "What motivates female operators to enter the garment industry in Pakistan in the post-MFA period?," IDE Discussion Papers 374, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
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    Cited by:

    1. Vivek Soundararajan & Miriam M. Wilhelm & Andrew Crane, 2021. "Humanizing Research on Working Conditions in Supply Chains: Building a Path to Decent Work," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 57(2), pages 3-13, April.
    2. Maryam Aldossari & Sara Chaudhry & Ahu Tatli & Cathrine Seierstad, 2023. "Catch-22: Token Women Trying to Reconcile Impossible Contradictions between Organisational and Societal Expectations," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(1), pages 39-57, February.

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