Feminization of Employment and Gender Inequality of Bangladesh Labor Market: The Case of Garment Industries

Abstract

The recent breakthrough in the feminization of employment that took place in the Ready-made Garment (RMG) industries of Bangladesh has been accompanied by vigorous debate among scholars, policymakers and stakeholders about its effect on women in terms of gender in/equality. Because although women’s labor force participation tends to increase with economic development, this relationship is often not straightforward or consistent with the elimination of gender discrimination. Based on an analysis of this debate on gender inequality of labor market, this paper explores how garment female workers view and experience gender inequality in their everyday lives in respect to family-market-state relations. Applying a range of qualitative method and revisiting dual-systems theory, the analysis draws on in-depth interviews with twelve female garment workers and on interviews with thirty female garment workers at three garment industries located in different areas of Dhaka city. Empirical findings demonstrate that the new feminization of employment in the ready-made garment industries has portrayed the coexistence and intersections of multiple gender disparities within male-dominated power structures both at family and workplace. It is also evident that capitalist interests along with patriarchal norms and values influence the use of women as a cheap, flexible and docile labor to earn the maximum profits at the minimum possible cost. Findings further reveal that the role of the state is also insufficient to ensure gender equality in the ready-made garment industries. The paper concludes that the increasing rate of feminization of employment in Bangladesh ready-made garment industries does not coincide with the elimination of gender disparities to any larger extent.

KEY WORDS: Gender Inequality; Bangladesh Labor Market; Ready-made Garment Industries; Feminization of Employment; Capitalism; Patriarchy; Female Labor