The power to choose : Bangladeshi women and labour market decisions in London and Dhaka

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Bibliographic Information

The power to choose : Bangladeshi women and labour market decisions in London and Dhaka

Naila Kabeer

Verso, 2000

  • : cloth
  • : paper

Available at  / 21 libraries

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Note

Bibliography: p. [433]-450

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: paper ISBN 9781859842065

Description

In this path-breaking study, social economist Naila Kabeer examines the lives of Bangladeshi garment workers in Bangladesh and Britain to shed light on the question of what constitutes "fair" competition in international trade. She argues that if the unhealthy coalition of multinationals and labor movements is truly seeking to improve the working conditions for women and children in the "Third World," as well as those of western workers, their efforts should be directed away from an attempt to impose labor standards and towards a support for the organization of labor rights. Any attempt to devise acceptable labor standards at an international level which takes no account of the forces of inclusion and exclusion with local labor movements is, she further argues, likely to represent the interests of the powerful at the expense of those of the weak.
Volume

: cloth ISBN 9781859848043

Description

In this path breaking study, social economist Naila Kabeer examines the lives of Bangladeshi garment workers to shed light on the question of what constitutes "fair" competition in international trade. While Bangladesh is generally considered a poor, conservative Muslim country, with a long tradition of female seclusion, women here have entered factories to take their place as a prominent, first generation, industrial labor force. On the other hand, in Britain's modern and secular society with its long tradition of female industrial employment, Bangladeshi women are largely concentrated in home-based piece work for the garment industry. This book draws on testimonies of both groups concerning their experiences at work and the impact these have on their lives generally to explain such paradoxes. Kabeer argues that any attempt to devise acceptable labor standards at the international level which takes no account of the forces of inclusion and exclusion within local labor markets is likely to represent the interests of powerful losers in international trade at the expense of weak winners.

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