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Article
Publication date: 21 May 2018

Brigitte Aulenbacher, Fabienne Décieux and Birgit Riegraf

The starting point of the paper is the meteoric rise of care and care work upon the societal and sociological agenda. Referring to Polanyi, the authors argue that this is the…

834

Abstract

Purpose

The starting point of the paper is the meteoric rise of care and care work upon the societal and sociological agenda. Referring to Polanyi, the authors argue that this is the manifestation of a new phase of capitalist societalisation (Vergesellschaftung) of social reproduction in the form of an economic shift. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the societal organisation of care and care work and questions of inequality and justice.

Design/methodology/approach

The first part of the paper illustrates some facets of the economic shift in the field of care and care work. The second part reconstructs the societal organisation of care and care work in the private sector, state, third sector and private households from the mid-twentieth century in the context of questions of inequality and justice. The third part draws on the institutional logics perspective and French pragmatic sociology and the own case studies on home care agencies (HCA), residential care communities (RCC) and early child care (ECC) in Austria and Germany and shows how conflicting demands give rise to new questions of justice. The paper ends with a short conclusion.

Findings

The paper shows how the commodification and de-commodification of care and care work have changed over time and how the economic shift – illustrated in the case of HCA, RCC and ECC – is accompanied by conflicting demands and questions of justice.

Originality/value

A Polanyian perspective on the relation between market and society is combined with the neo-institutionalist and pragmatic idea that orientations rooted in the “logics” of the market, the state, the family and the profession influence how conflicting demands in elder and child care are dealt with and how questions of inequality and justice arise.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 37 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

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Article
Publication date: 21 May 2018

Gabriele Winker, Brigitte Aulenbacher and Birgit Riegraf

515

Abstract

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 37 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

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441

Abstract

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 37 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 21 May 2018

Brigitte Aulenbacher and Birgit Riegraf

742

Abstract

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 37 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 2002

Birgit blättel‐Mink

States that the participation of men and women in the German academic and scientific system is unequally distributed. Shows that the higher the status at the university, the lower…

537

Abstract

States that the participation of men and women in the German academic and scientific system is unequally distributed. Shows that the higher the status at the university, the lower the female proportion and that women also choose different subjects to men. Asks why more men choose science and engineering and what social cognitive characteristics do women show who opt for a “male” subject. Presents the theoretical background to the above before providing some insights using surveys carried out in Germany.

Details

Equal Opportunities International, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0261-0159

Keywords

Available. Content available

Abstract

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

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Article
Publication date: 9 August 2013

Alexandra Rau

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relationship between recent transformations of labour and corresponding predictions made to gender equity. It reflects in particular…

746

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relationship between recent transformations of labour and corresponding predictions made to gender equity. It reflects in particular the German discussion on the subjective turn in labour, termed as subjectivation of work, and the diagnosis of a feminization of gainful labour work given in this context, by focusing on the governing of the psyche.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is both a theoretical reflection as well as a presentation of empirical findings. It refers to Foucault's concept of governmentality, thereby considering “psychopolitics” as a new type of power, and taking it as an approach for qualitative empirical research. The empirical findings are based on narrative biographical interviews with female and male employees working in the ICT sector.

Findings

Due to an under‐elaborated conception of the subject (and its interrelation to power), the diagnosis of a subjectivation of work as a feminization of work is inadequate and misleading. Instead, the empirical analysis gives evidence to the argument that the feminization of work turns out as a (re)masculinization of life and existence.

Originality/value

By drawing on considerations within governmentality studies, the concept of “psychopolitics” offers a new and fruitful approach for research, implying also a dynamic concept of the subject. The empirical analysis provides new insights on the discussion on the issue of gender equity within the realm of gainful work.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 9 August 2013

Louisa Smith

Manual trades and information technology (IT) are male‐dominated occupations and as such cultivate unique forms of hegemonic masculinity. Women entering these occupations…

3622

Abstract

Purpose

Manual trades and information technology (IT) are male‐dominated occupations and as such cultivate unique forms of hegemonic masculinity. Women entering these occupations represent a kind of crisis to this gender order in the workplace, making the experiences of these women a useful way of studying how gender regimes are maintained and may be challenged at work. The aim of this paper is to examine how women found doing gender in the male dominated workplaces became a kind of work in itself.

Design/methodology/approach

A life history framework was used for this research, in which 15 women from manual trades and 15 women from IT occupations were interviewed. The in‐depth qualitative method allowed the participants the time and space to communicate the contradictions they experienced doing their gender and doing their gender at work.

Findings

The effort expended because the participants were women and because they were a minority was experienced both as an intense pressure and as significant to their success in their occupations. This indicates that gendered work outside of the formal duties of a job makes the work of those in a gender minority particularly strenuous. This understanding of gender at work as work is important to understanding how efforts to address gender equity in workplaces must work beyond quotas and policy and also address embodied gendered cultures.

Originality/value

While women working in male dominated cultures are often studied in terms of the challenges they face, from this research these challenges are framed as a kind of gendered work in itself. This work is often invisible, usually emotion work and mostly unrecognised. Highlighting the nature of this gendered labour and the pressures it places on women in male dominated work reframes what it means to work and the importance of these invisible forms of labour to maintaining successful production relations.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 9 August 2013

Shu‐Ju Ada Cheng

The purpose of this paper is to use the case of white immigrant women domestics’ experiences in migration to demonstrate that their work experiences are different due to their…

1044

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to use the case of white immigrant women domestics’ experiences in migration to demonstrate that their work experiences are different due to their whiteness. While their racial identity provides them with white privileges, they still face discrimination based on their occupational and immigrant statuses. The case study adds to existing literature on domestic service.

Design/methodology/approach

The case study is based on several years of ethnographic work. The author conducted in‐depth interviews with Polish immigrant women and white female employers. The author also held focus groups with Polish women.

Findings

White immigrant women from Poland do not automatically assume the white racial identity in the USA. Their whiteness is constructed and reinforced through their interactions with their white female employers. Their whiteness renders their experiences different from racial minority women and immigrant women of color. However, Polish domestics construct their positive work identity to counteract the negative images about them and domestic service as an occupation.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation the author sees is that the author could have conducted interviews with Mexican immigrant women to compare the differences in terms of their working conditions.

Practical implications

While Polish domestics seem to have better experiences than other groups of immigrant women, domestic workers are excluded from the labor law. They are thus without the protection of labor law. It is important for us to work for the right of immigrant workers to eradicate the inequality in society.

Social implications

This case shows that the transnational labor migration contributes to further inequality in society since it is usually the migrant workers who take up the low skilled or unskilled work that has few possibilities for promotion and has few benefits. The government needs to address the transnational migration process and the exploitation of migrant workers ensuing from the process.

Originality/value

Polish immigrant women are a unique group of women mainly because they are among the few white women who perform domestic service. Their experiences are different from racial minority women and immigrant women of color. Merging the whiteness approach and domestic service is an innovative approach.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 9 August 2013

Birte Siim

The aim of the article is to discuss the challenges from immigration to Nordic (gender) politics, theories and research. The research question is to what extent Nordic welfare and…

3073

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the article is to discuss the challenges from immigration to Nordic (gender) politics, theories and research. The research question is to what extent Nordic welfare and gender equality politics is based on exclusive solidarity biased towards the native majorities. A key issue is how Nordic gender theory and research has addressed multiple inequalities. The article briefly revisits the academic debates about gender equality, diversity and multiculturalism, which arguably represent two different paradigms: multicultural approaches have addressed the accommodation of minorities with diversity as the key concept, while feminist approaches have focused on gender (in)equality with gender as the key concept.

Design/methodology/approach

The intersectional approach suggests that increased migration and mobility present similar challenges for the two bodies of thought to address complex and multiple inequalities within and beyond the nation state. The main part explores “the multicultural dilemma” in greater detail focusing on the intersections between gender and etho‐national minorities in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Findings

Perceptions of diversity and gender equality/women's rights are contextual and dynamic as intersecting diversities and inequalities are embedded in national histories, institutions and policies. Scholars have demonstrated that the discourse about women's rights and gender equality has become an intrinsic part of Nordic identities and belongings. The article suggests that the new forms of inequalities among women can be interpreted as a Nordic gender equality paradox between the relative inclusion of the native majority women and the relative marginalization of women from diverse ethnic minorities in society.

Originality/value

The intersectionality approach to gender and ethnicity in Scandinavia is in this article combined with a transnational approach to gender, diversity and migration.

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