Precarious Work and the Gendered Individualisation of Risk in the South African Manufacturing Sector, 2002–2017
Against the backdrop of workplace restructuring globally, post-apartheid South Africa is experiencing consistently high levels of unemployment, the deterioration of employment security and limited improvements in earnings. This article investigates the changing nature of labour-intensive production...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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McMaster University Library Press
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Global Labour Journal |
| Online Access: | https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/5098 |
| _version_ | 1797815106476703744 |
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| author | Siviwe Mhlana |
| author_facet | Siviwe Mhlana |
| author_sort | Siviwe Mhlana |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Against the backdrop of workplace restructuring globally, post-apartheid South Africa is experiencing consistently high levels of unemployment, the deterioration of employment security and limited improvements in earnings. This article investigates the changing nature of labour-intensive production in the South African labour market and the gendered individualisation of risk associated with precarious or non-standard forms of employment. The article expands on the critical theoretical narrative about the challenges of labour under neo-liberalism by applying a gendered political economy analysis to the experiences of precariousness among workers in the South African manufacturing sector. By focusing on the interconnections between gender and political economy, this article delinks questions about the crisis of labour from a narrow focus on skills and refocuses our understanding in terms of the structural determinants of vulnerabilities in the labour market. The article argues that the gender composition of informal and precarious work in the post-apartheid labour market has significant implications for addressing the persistent racialised and gendered inequalities in the South African economy.
KEYWORDS: labour market restructuring; informal employment; precarious work; gender
JEL CLASSIFICATION: J21; J30; J71; J80
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:17:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-77f1fa9dfcc54e698466944ebe811332 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1918-6711 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:17:46Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | McMaster University Library Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Labour Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-77f1fa9dfcc54e698466944ebe8113322023-05-31T13:00:05ZengMcMaster University Library PressGlobal Labour Journal1918-67112023-05-01142Precarious Work and the Gendered Individualisation of Risk in the South African Manufacturing Sector, 2002–2017Siviwe Mhlana0University of the WitwatersrandAgainst the backdrop of workplace restructuring globally, post-apartheid South Africa is experiencing consistently high levels of unemployment, the deterioration of employment security and limited improvements in earnings. This article investigates the changing nature of labour-intensive production in the South African labour market and the gendered individualisation of risk associated with precarious or non-standard forms of employment. The article expands on the critical theoretical narrative about the challenges of labour under neo-liberalism by applying a gendered political economy analysis to the experiences of precariousness among workers in the South African manufacturing sector. By focusing on the interconnections between gender and political economy, this article delinks questions about the crisis of labour from a narrow focus on skills and refocuses our understanding in terms of the structural determinants of vulnerabilities in the labour market. The article argues that the gender composition of informal and precarious work in the post-apartheid labour market has significant implications for addressing the persistent racialised and gendered inequalities in the South African economy. KEYWORDS: labour market restructuring; informal employment; precarious work; gender JEL CLASSIFICATION: J21; J30; J71; J80 https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/5098 |
| spellingShingle | Siviwe Mhlana Precarious Work and the Gendered Individualisation of Risk in the South African Manufacturing Sector, 2002–2017 Global Labour Journal |
| title | Precarious Work and the Gendered Individualisation of Risk in the South African Manufacturing Sector, 2002–2017 |
| title_full | Precarious Work and the Gendered Individualisation of Risk in the South African Manufacturing Sector, 2002–2017 |
| title_fullStr | Precarious Work and the Gendered Individualisation of Risk in the South African Manufacturing Sector, 2002–2017 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Precarious Work and the Gendered Individualisation of Risk in the South African Manufacturing Sector, 2002–2017 |
| title_short | Precarious Work and the Gendered Individualisation of Risk in the South African Manufacturing Sector, 2002–2017 |
| title_sort | precarious work and the gendered individualisation of risk in the south african manufacturing sector 2002 2017 |
| url | https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/5098 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT siviwemhlana precariousworkandthegenderedindividualisationofriskinthesouthafricanmanufacturingsector20022017 |