Navigating Gendered Space
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NAVIGATING GENDERED SPACE: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF LABOUR MARKETS IN PAKISTAN This dissertation is submitted to the University of Cambridge for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Misbah Khatana Girton College January 2019 Statement I declare this dissertation is my own, unaided and unpublished work and does not exceed 80,000 words excluding the bibliography. I further state that no part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or is being currently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University of similar institution. 2 Acknowledgements The completion of this thesis has been a long but fulfilling journey. The project would not have been possible without the wonderful people in my life. My deepest gratitude goes to my supervisor, Dr Mia Gray. There is a general consensus amongst the PhD students I know at the Department of Geography – Mia Gray is awesome! I feel not only privileged to have worked with her, but also lucky that she took my call years ago, spoke at length to an unknown person and accepted me as her student. This thesis would not have taken this shape without Mia’s insightful contributions, guidance, energy and encouragement to keep going. Thank you Mia! I thank all the participants of this study. The incredible homeworkers of Shadipura and Gulberg Town, and the factory workers at Nishat, Style, Comfort and Lahore Garment City. You are an inspiration. You invited me into your homes and workplaces, shared your experiences, your tears and laughter and trusted me with your stories. I am honoured. I thank the factory owners, executives, managers and floor managers, the officers at the Ministry of Textiles and the ILO, Pakistan and NGO representatives at HomeNet, who took time to share their thoughts with me. Their knowledge and analyses are inestimable. I am grateful for the factory managers’ trust in giving me access to their workforce and workplace. I am indebted to my friends in Pakistan, Sumbal Agha and Rizwan Malik for their constant friendship through the years. Their help introducing me to factories in Lahore was invaluable. Thank you. I thank the Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust for believing in and funding my PhD. I am grateful to the Department of Geography for supporting my research and travel. Furthermore I am thankful for all the academic 3 and moral support by the Department of Geography throughout my years at Cambridge. Finally, I thank my family. A special thanks goes to my husband Aamir who has been a constant source of support through this process. My mother, brother and sisters, Yaser, Uzma and especially Farah who listen to my ideas and who keep me grounded. To the best nieces and nephews in the world. But it is my two daughters, Zaineb and Marriam to whom I owe the most. Mature far beyond their years, Marriam and Zaineb’s encouragement, confidence and belief in their mom inspires me to press on and persevere. I am grateful to have all you all in my life. Thank you. Misbah Khatana University of Cambridge December 2018 4 CONTENTS Statement 2 Acknowledgements 3 Contents 5 Abstract 7 Prescript 8 Part One 9 Chapter I Introduction 9 1.1 Introduction 10 1.2 Globalization and the Influx of Women 15 1.3 Focus Community 17 1.4 Research Questions Outline of the Thesis 18 Chapter II Theoretical Framework 21 2.1 Introduction 21 2.2 Part I: Role of Institutions 22 2.3 The State 26 2.4 The Firm 29 2.5 Social Reproduction and the Home 31 2.6 Intersectionality and Class Distinctions 35 2.7 Part II: Labour Market Segmentation and Precarious Work 37 2.8 Labour Market Segmentation 40 2.9 Male and Female Occupational Characteristics 46 2.10 Local and Spatial Segmentation 48 2.11 Homework, Monopsony and Mobility 52 2.12 Part III: Space, Power and the Female Body 59 2.13 Foucault’s Concepts of Power and the Gaze 65 2.14 Social Exclusion and Inclusion 74 Chapter III Methodology 82 3.1 Introduction 82 3.2 Case Study Research 82 3.3 Unit of Analysis - The Garment Industry 85 3.4 Research Design 94 3.5 Access and Positionality 95 3.6 Qualitative Methods 102 3.7 Empirical Analysis and Writing Up 107 Part Two Section I Chapter IV Role of Institutions 111 5 4.1 Introduction 111 4.2 Section I: The State 113 4.3 Skill Development 127 4.4 Section II: The Firm 130 4.5 The Firm and Women 134 4.6 Section III: Social Reproduction and the Home 137 4.7 Discussion and Conclusion 142 Chapter V Labour Market Segmentation and Precarious Work in Pakistan’s Garment Industry 149 5.1 Introduction 149 5.2 Garment Industry Jobs 151 5.3 Restricted Mobility 158 5.4 Segmentation by Sex - Masculinization of Skill 162 5.5 Training and Skill Development 165 5.6 Homeworkers and Monopsony 173 5.7 Discussion and Conclusion 178 Section II Chapter VI Gendered Space in Pakistan 184 6.1 Introduction 184 6.2 Public and Private Space 186 6.3 Porous Feminine Spaces: The Home 186 6.4 Women’s Spatial Mobility 192 6.5 Gender Prohibitive Spaces: The Street 197 6.6 Gender Prohibitive Spaces: The Workplace 201 6.7 Women’s Mobility - Power Learned Through the Body 205 6.8 Relational Power and Identity, Internalized Beliefs 209 6.9 Resistance 216 6.10 Discussion 217 6.11 Inclusion, Exclusion and the Production of Gender Prohibitive Space 217 6.12 Mobility and Spaces 220 6.13 The Female Body, Movement and the Gaze 221 6.14 Restricted Economic Opportunities 223 6.15 Internalization 224 6.16 Conclusion 22 6 Chapter VII Conclusion 227 Bibliography 250 Appendices 276 Appendix 1 27 6 Appendix 2 278 Appendix 3 279 Appendix 4 281 6 Abstract Globalization has transformed labour markets around the world leading to an upsurge of women in the waged workforce and establishing them as the backbone of manufacturing industry. But globalizing forces are uneven and have disparate impacts. I explore why an influx of women workers is not found in some, more traditional, societies. I explore linkages between social, economic and political processes and fundamentals of inclusion and exclusion within spaces and places. Women's absence from industrial settings in Pakistan corresponds to an institutionally licensed general deficiency of women in the formal workforce. Pakistan’s labour market is deeply segmented and distinct tiers bifurcate the secondary segment. All skills, even those like stitching that globally are presumed “women’s work”, are given male attributes. Women are considered incapable of performing skills equal to men, raising barriers of entry even within the secondary segment. Homeworking women, who engage in industrial waged-work, operate in a monopsony. Capital exploits labour market monopsonies and deepens women’s precarious positions. Gender prohibitive forces of this society manifest in women’s scarcity in industrial settings. I explore forces and processes of inclusion and exclusion that construct gender prohibitive space. Examining the nature of inclusion and exclusion can reveal particular societal hierarchies in place, indicate which traditions and beliefs have institutional sanction and are held valuable, and which may be displaced over time. The gendering of spaces - in the home, streets, transportation, factories - is a vital feature constraining women's position in the workforce. I assess how different forces of discrimination including mind-body dualism manifested as public-private space interact and intersect to impact women’s navigation of spaces. I examine mobility as a pursued rather than assured “good” - an enabling factor that allows those that have mobility, economic and social advancement. 7 Prescript “I can not raise my head and look up. I start at 9 [am] and sit at a machine and work till 1 [pm]. That’s four hours at once. But when my neck really hurts because I have been bent over the sewing machine for so long, and I do look up, it could be that I look at a man - they’re all around - and what if, just by chance, I catch someone’s eye? What if he does something - winks at me or leers at me, or worse, talks to others about me looking at him? And they start saying “I like looking at men”? So I try not to move, or raise my head and look up.” September 2016, at Lahore, Pakistan Conversation with Nusrat, age 23, a female garment factory worker. 8 Part One Chapter I Introduction I. 1 Introduction “Nothing happens until something moves” Albert Einstein (circa, 1915) Albert Einstein was five years old when he first saw a compass. It was one of the two “wonders” that would deeply affect his early years. Einstein was mystified with invisible forces that could move a needle, and with it, help people navigate through space. Some of the greatest scientists of all time have studied the nature of movement in spaces. Galileo, (circa 1610) deduced that a body in motion will move until a force causes it to stop. Newton (1687) determined that momentum of a body corresponds to the magnitude of the force applied upon it. And Einstein simply believed a state of “nothingness” results without movement. The ability to navigate spaces depends on a body’s power to move. The quality of navigation depends also on the forces – visible or hidden – that act within that space and construct and shape its nature. The relationship between spaces, forces and mobility is thus intertwined and complex. In some spaces forces stimulate enormous movement. They catalyse navigation within and between place – continents, countries, cities, towns, villages.