Women at the Threshold of Globalization

Abstract

The book provides a unique angle by highlighting inexplicit, relatively less well-known and non-technological perceptions of globalisation. The various dimensions of globalisation have been explored by examining the popular perceptions of globalisation that accelerated the transformation of capital across national boundaries since the 1980s. In this context, Pani and Singh make a sincere effort to examine the transformation of the women workers and offer a detailed understanding of the institutions and processes outside the workplace that these women encounter. The exploration is based on the field study methods; the life of women workers in Bangalore’s garment export industry is closely surveyed to reveal the multiple boundaries of dress, village and workplace as a part of their daily life. Negotiating these boundaries comprise an integral part of coping with globalisation for the women workers. This book attempts to address the question regarding the dynamics beyond the boundaries of the ‘command and control centre view’ of globalisation that influence the path adopted by this process. To go about this justifiably, the authors employed stratified cluster sampling method. By taking random samples from these stratified categories, 811 workers were interviewed at their respective workplaces through a structured questionnaire and open-ended discussions. Since the information collected went beyond the workers to their families and households as well, the authors indirectly acquired information about 5,466 individuals. This evidence was critically analysed to illustrate a worker in Bangalore home and the multiple identities of a woman she cultivates. The authors go beyond standard data analysis and paint a vivid picture of the women’s workers’ lives by actually putting themselves in the position of the people being studied