Globalization and Home-Based Workers

• Published in: Feminist economics Vol. 6; no. 3; pp. 123 - 142
• Main Authors: Carr, Marilyn, Chen, Martha Alter, Tate, Jane
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Taylor & Francis 01.11.2000; Taylor and Francis Journals; Routledge Journals
• Series: Feminist Economics
• Subjects: Agricultural products; Associations; Community; Cottage Industries; Employment Opportunities; Entrepreneurs; Global Value-CHAINS; Globalization; Home-BASED Workers; Homeworkers; Informal Sector; Informal Sector Economy; Labor Relations; Labor Standards; Labour relations; Manufacturing; Market Transactions; Networks; Power distribution; Women; Working Women
• ISSN: 1354-5701; 1466-4372
• DOI: 10.1080/135457000750020164

Globalization presents threats to and opportunities for women working in the informal sector. The paper, which draws on the work of Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) Global Markets Program and of HomeNet, focuses on women home-based workers and analyzes, within the framework of global value-chains, the impact of globalization on labor relations and other market transactions. The chains reviewed are: manufactured goods (fashion garments); agricultural products (nontraditional exports); and nontimber forest products (shea butter). The paper shows how this form of analysis helps to identify the uneven distribution of power and returns within the chains - between rich and poor and between women and men. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of the work of the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), HomeNet, and StreetNet in organizing home-based workers, both locally and internationally, as well as that of WIEGO in supporting them.