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Carswell Geoforum paper - 6thOct16 Accepted version pre proofs.pdf (474.6 kB)

Struggles over work take place at home: women’s decisions, choices and constraints in the Tiruppur textile industry, India

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posted on 2023-06-09, 04:05 authored by Grace CarswellGrace Carswell
Examining women’s choices around paid work in south India, this article shows the need to pay greater attention to the sphere of reproduction, and in particular the way that women endeavour to fit their productive work around their reproductive roles and responsibilities. Focussing on the region of the Tiruppur garment cluster in Tamil Nadu, India, it outlines the opportunities available to rural women, shedding light first on women’s decisions whether to work or not, and second, on how women choose between particular types of work available to them. The article demonstrates the primacy of the reproductive economy in shaping women's movements in and out of paid work, particularly the importance of stage in life course, household composition and patriarchal control to women’s decisions. Main findings of the article are that most women work, but their particular job choices reflect multiple social and reproductive constraints, while those who withdraw from work have been subjected to new expressions of patriarchy. The article advances understandings in feminist geographies of work by drawing on ethnographic insights to highlight the mutual embeddedness of the reproductive and productive economies.

Funding

ESRC-DFID; RES 167 25 0296

The materiality of citizenship and state-society interaction: A study of peoples engagement with official documents, cards and paperwork in India; G1688; BRITISH ACADEMY; SG151257

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Geoforum

ISSN

0016-7185

Publisher

Elsevier

Volume

77

Page range

134-145

Department affiliated with

  • Geography Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2016-11-17

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2018-10-27

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2016-11-17

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