From export processing to erogenous zones: International discourses on women's work in Thailand

Millenium

Volumn 27, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 983-993

  Pearson, Ruth ^a   Theobald, Sally ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0005348786     PISSN: 03058298     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/03058298980270040301     Document Type: Article

References (51)

1. Kathleen Barry, The Prostitution of Sexuality (New York, NY: New York University Press, 1995), pp. 122-123.
2. Anne Sisson Runyan, 'The Places of Women in Trading Places: Gendered Global/Regional Regimes and Inter-National Feminist Resistance' in Elimore Kofman and Gillian Youngs (eds.), Globalization: Theory and Practice (London: Pinter, 1996), p. 246.
3. Ibid., p. 247.
4. Jan Jindy Pettman, 'An International Political Economy of Sex?' in Kofman and Young (eds.), op. cit., in note 2, p. 193.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid., pp. 194-202.
8. Ruth Pearson, 'Nimble Fingers: Re-visited Reflections on Women and Third World Industrialisation in the late twentieth century' in Cecile Jackson and Ruth Pearson (eds.), Feminist Visions of Development, Gender Analysis, and Policy (London: Routledge, 1998).
9. Kofman and Youngs (eds.), op. cit., in note 2, p. 3.
10. Ibid.
11. Gillian Youngs, 'Dangers of Discourse: The Case of Globalisation' in Kofman and Youngs (eds.), op. cit., in note 2, p. 66.
12. Pearson, op. cit., in note 8.
13. Ruth Pearson, 'Latin American Women and the New International Division of Labour' Bulletin of Latin American Research (Vol. 5, No. 2, 1986).
14. Ruth Pearson, 'Gender relations, Capitalism and Third World Industrialisation in the Late Twentieth Century' in Leslie Sklair (ed.), Capitalism and Development (London: Routledge, 1994).
15. See, for example, Paul Cammack, David Pool and William Tordoff, Third World Politics: A Comparative Introduction (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1988 and 1993); Rebecca Grant and Kathleen Newland, Gender and International Relations (Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1991); and Georgina Waylen, Gender in Third World Politics (Buckingham: Open University Press, 1996).
16. See, for example, Paul Cammack, David Pool and William Tordoff, Third World Politics: A Comparative Introduction (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1988 and 1993); Rebecca Grant and Kathleen Newland, Gender and International Relations (Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1991); and Georgina Waylen, Gender in Third World Politics (Buckingham: Open University Press, 1996).
17. See, for example, Paul Cammack, David Pool and William Tordoff, Third World Politics: A Comparative Introduction (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1988 and 1993); Rebecca Grant and Kathleen Newland, Gender and International Relations (Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1991); and Georgina Waylen, Gender in Third World Politics (Buckingham: Open University Press, 1996).
18. Ruth Pearson and Cecile Jackson, 'Introduction: Interrogating Development: Feminism, Gender and Policy' in Jackson and Pearson (eds.), op. cit., in note 8.
19. These terms come from Eva Rathgeber 'WID, WAD, GAD: Trends in Research and Practice', Journal of Developing Areas (Vol. 24, No. 4, 1990), pp. 489-502.
20. Sec, for example, V. Spike Peterson and Anne Sisson Runyan, Global Gender Issues (Boulder, CO: Wcstview Press, 1993); Anne Sisson Runyan, 'The Places of Women in Trading Places: Gendered Global/Regional Regimes and Inter-National Feminist Resistance' in Kofman and Youngs (eds.), op. cit., in note 2; Marianne Marchand, 'Selling NAFTA: Gendered Metaphors and Silenced Gender Implications' in Kofman and Youngs (eds.), op. cit., in note 2.
21. Sec, for example, V. Spike Peterson and Anne Sisson Runyan, Global Gender Issues (Boulder, CO: Wcstview Press, 1993); Anne Sisson Runyan, 'The Places of Women in Trading Places: Gendered Global/Regional Regimes and Inter-National Feminist Resistance' in Kofman and Youngs (eds.), op. cit., in note 2; Marianne Marchand, 'Selling NAFTA: Gendered Metaphors and Silenced Gender Implications' in Kofman and Youngs (eds.), op. cit., in note 2.
22. Sec, for example, V. Spike Peterson and Anne Sisson Runyan, Global Gender Issues (Boulder, CO: Wcstview Press, 1993); Anne Sisson Runyan, 'The Places of Women in Trading Places: Gendered Global/Regional Regimes and Inter-National Feminist Resistance' in Kofman and Youngs (eds.), op. cit., in note 2; Marianne Marchand, 'Selling NAFTA: Gendered Metaphors and Silenced Gender Implications' in Kofman and Youngs (eds.), op. cit., in note 2.
23. The discussion on Thailand draws heavily on research carried out by Sally Theobald who is completing a doctoral thesis on the experience of women workers in the Northern Industrial estates in Thailand and joint discussions with women workers and their advocates in Lamphun during a research visit by both authors in 1997.
24. Saskia Sassen, cited in Runyan, op cit., in note 18, p. 249.
25. Barry, op cit., in note 1, p. 122. It is interesting that Barry offers no source for her numerical estimate.
26. Pettman, op cit., in note 4.
27. Peter Bell, 'Thailand's Economic Miracle: Built on the Backs of Women' in Virada Somswasdi and Sally Theobald (eds.), Women, Gender Relations and Development in Thai Society (Chiangmai: Ming Muang Naravat, 1997), p. 64.
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid., p.69.
30. See Sally Theobald, 'employment and environmental hazard: women workers and strategies of resistance in northern Thailand' Gender and Development (Vol. 4, No. 3, 1996); Sally Theobald, 'Walking on a Tightrope: Women Workers' Perceptions and Reactions to Industrial Environmental Hazard in Northern Thailand' in Somswasdi and Theobald (eds.), op. cit., in note 23; Sally Theobald, Occupational Hazards in the Electronics Industry: Gendered Repercussions', Gender, Technology and Development (Vol. 2, No.1, 1998); and Sally Theobald, 'Gendering Occupational Health in the Electronics Industry: Lessons from Thailand', unpublished manuscript, School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia. Presented at the workshop on 'Gender: A Crucial Perspective in Health and Medicine' at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, September 1998.
31. See Sally Theobald, 'employment and environmental hazard: women workers and strategies of resistance in northern Thailand' Gender and Development (Vol. 4, No. 3, 1996); Sally Theobald, 'Walking on a Tightrope: Women Workers' Perceptions and Reactions to Industrial Environmental Hazard in Northern Thailand' in Somswasdi and Theobald (eds.), op. cit., in note 23; Sally Theobald, Occupational Hazards in the Electronics Industry: Gendered Repercussions', Gender, Technology and Development (Vol. 2, No.1, 1998); and Sally Theobald, 'Gendering Occupational Health in the Electronics Industry: Lessons from Thailand', unpublished manuscript, School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia. Presented at the workshop on 'Gender: A Crucial Perspective in Health and Medicine' at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, September 1998.
32. See Sally Theobald, 'employment and environmental hazard: women workers and strategies of resistance in northern Thailand' Gender and Development (Vol. 4, No. 3, 1996); Sally Theobald, 'Walking on a Tightrope: Women Workers' Perceptions and Reactions to Industrial Environmental Hazard in Northern Thailand' in Somswasdi and Theobald (eds.), op. cit., in note 23; Sally Theobald, Occupational Hazards in the Electronics Industry: Gendered Repercussions', Gender, Technology and Development (Vol. 2, No.1, 1998); and Sally Theobald, 'Gendering Occupational Health in the Electronics Industry: Lessons from Thailand', unpublished manuscript, School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia. Presented at the workshop on 'Gender: A Crucial Perspective in Health and Medicine' at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, September 1998.
33. See Sally Theobald, 'employment and environmental hazard: women workers and strategies of resistance in northern Thailand' Gender and Development (Vol. 4, No. 3, 1996); Sally Theobald, 'Walking on a Tightrope: Women Workers' Perceptions and Reactions to Industrial Environmental Hazard in Northern Thailand' in Somswasdi and Theobald (eds.), op. cit., in note 23; Sally Theobald, Occupational Hazards in the Electronics Industry: Gendered Repercussions', Gender, Technology and Development (Vol. 2, No.1, 1998); and Sally Theobald, 'Gendering Occupational Health in the Electronics Industry: Lessons from Thailand', unpublished manuscript, School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia. Presented at the workshop on 'Gender: A Crucial Perspective in Health and Medicine' at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, September 1998.
34. The Bangkok Post in 1994 reported that between 11 and 23 people died from work related causes in the NRIE up to 1994. See, for example, Sally Theobald, 'Gendering Occupational Health in the Electronics Industry: Lessons from Thailand', op. cit., in note 26.
35. Ibid.
36. Bell, op. cit., in note 23.
37. Bussrawan Teerawichitchainan, 'Sexism in Cybersp@ce', Bangkok Post (11 July 1997, Outlook Section), p. 1.
38. Theobald, 'Gendering Occupational Health in the Electronics Industry: Lessons from Thailand', op. cit., in note 26.
39. For example see Kevin Yelvington's work on Trinidad or Westwood's on the UK. Kevin Yelvington, 'Flirting in the Factory', The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (Vol.2, No.2, 1996), pp. 313-333, and Sally Westwood, All Day Every Day: Factory and Family in the Making of Women's Lives (London: Pluto Press, 1984).
40. For example see Kevin Yelvington's work on Trinidad or Westwood's on the UK. Kevin Yelvington, 'Flirting in the Factory', The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (Vol.2, No.2, 1996), pp. 313-333, and Sally Westwood, All Day Every Day: Factory and Family in the Making of Women's Lives (London: Pluto Press, 1984).
41. See, for example, Leslie Salzinger on Mexican maquiladora workers or Linda McDowell on city finance workers in London. Leslie Salzinger, 'From High Heels to Swathed Bodies: Gendered Meanings under Production in Mexico's Export-Processing Industry', Feminist Studies (Vol. 23, No. 3, 1997), pp. 549-575. Linda McDowell, Capital Culture: Gender at Work in the City (Oxford: Blackwells, 1997).
42. See, for example, Leslie Salzinger on Mexican maquiladora workers or Linda McDowell on city finance workers in London. Leslie Salzinger, 'From High Heels to Swathed Bodies: Gendered Meanings under Production in Mexico's Export-Processing Industry', Feminist Studies (Vol. 23, No. 3, 1997), pp. 549-575. Linda McDowell, Capital Culture: Gender at Work in the City (Oxford: Blackwells, 1997).
43. See, for example, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, 'Women Workers and Capitalist Scripts: Ideologies of Domination, Common Interests and the Politics of Solidarity' in Jacqui M. Alexandra and Chandra Talpade Mohanty (eds.), Feminist Genealogies. Colonial Legacies and Democratic Futures (London: Routledge, 1997); Runyan, op. cit., in note 18; and Marchand, op. cit., in note 18.
44. The Lamphun Women's Health Centre, set up by a coalition of human rights organisations and labour and women's groups as established in 1998 with the objective of providing a centre which would meet the expressed needs of women workers for reproductive and occupational health and information and for skill training and education, including English and Japanese language, computer skills and business training. The Netherlands Organisation for Development Cooperation (NOVIB) and the Friends of Women Foundation have approved funding. This Centre draws on experience in organising women's health and training centres in the UK rather than directly on labour union experience.
45. Young, in op. cit., in note II.
46. Bina Agarwal 'From Mexico to Beijing' Indian Express (6 October 1998), cited in Sally Baden and Anne Marie Goetz, 'Who Needs "Sex" When You Can have "Gender"' in Jackson and Pearson (eds.), op. cit., in note 8.
47. Bina Agarwal 'From Mexico to Beijing' Indian Express (6 October 1998), cited in Sally Baden and Anne Marie Goetz, 'Who Needs "Sex" When You Can have "Gender"' in Jackson and Pearson (eds.), op. cit., in note 8.
48. Elsewhere, for instance in Indonesia, it is acknowledged that women actively seek employment in such factories, in spite of the necessity in some cases of relocation and migration. Diane Wolf, Factory Daughters: Gender Household Dynamics and Rural Industrialization in Java (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1992).
49. Thai women and women's organisations are trying to challenge the sexualised stereotypes of Thai women on the internet by creating home pages which reflect the varied interests of women such as literature, arts and culture, performing arts, politics and the media. See, for example, Teerawichitchainan, op. cit., in note 30, and Sanitsuda Ekachai 'Sisters in Sexism' Bangkok Post (23 August 1997, Outlook Section), p. 1.
50. Maxine Molyneux, 'Analysing women's movements' in Cecile Jackson and Ruth Pearson (eds.) Feminist Visions of Development (London: Routledge, 1998).
51. Teerawichitchainan, op. cit., in note 30.