The Position of Female Homeworkers in a Global Supply Chain: How Do Capitalist Labor Market Practices Interplay with Gender Ideologies?

Abstract

With the expansion of global capitalism since the later part of the twentieth century, homeworking has become an integral component of the global production organization. Although it was expected that homeworking would decline with the industrialization, the situation is, in fact, exactly opposite to what was expected. The involvement of homeworkers is on the rise in global supply chains and the employment of workers under poor working conditions is driving down the labor conditions. These new production arrangements have fueled the debate about the working conditions and associated responsibilities in global supply chains on a much broader scale. This paper aims at contributing to these discussions by focusing on female homeworkers in a garment supply chain of Pakistan. A qualitative study was designed to explore the intricacies of female home-based work in global supply chains and to develop theoretical insights relevant to the institution of homeworking. This study shows that women’s involvement in homework within the private sphere of the household is shaped by the interplay of gender ideologies and capitalist labor market practices, spreading responsibilities in the case of homeworkers. Therefore, existing notions of economic responsibility in laissez-faire economics are not adequate to deal with the issues of homeworking in global supply chains.