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    Debates contemporáneos sobre la diaspora y las nuevas cartografías sociales

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    Debates contemporáneos sobre la diaspora y las nuevas cartografías sociales

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    24 views13 pages

    Cartographies of Diaspora

    Uploaded by

    Clau Siu
    Debates contemporáneos sobre la diaspora y las nuevas cartografías sociales

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
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    erecta acca merece were steep = Cartographies of Diaspora Contesting identities Avtar Brah ES ‘errno ae wvesneaiones ‘eeTupossieenoecs ‘xTRCrOLOG SOC BIBLIOTECA London and New York 00045335 © Ghaptoré ‘Race’ and ‘culture’ in the gendering of labour markets ‘Young South Asian Muslim women and the labour market Feminetertiques of gender-neutral approsches to the study of labour markets have demonstrated that geaderrentions do not simply arcuate with, but ae pact ofthe very fabs of labour markets as they have developed. That i, grader i a constitutive ‘semen inthe formation o labour markets Studies show that gender lnseribes definition of sil, consraction ofthe division between ful time end par-time work, the difretial between mea's and women’s wages, soregation of the labour market ito. mens jot and ‘women’ jobs, the mature and type of hierarchies sustained by cultures of the workplace, and the experience of paid work in the {oration of identities (:Beechey 198 for an overview) Much ess attention has been paid to ‘ac’ ethnicity, or acialsedlethnicied onsiretons of ‘altar dilference’ in the gendering of labour ‘markets (ut se Chapter 2; Westwood 1984; Brah 1987; Westwood and Bacho 1989; Phizackie 190; Walby 1990; Bhaeoani 1991), The point that modes of difeentation suck a race’, clas, grade, Salty, ethnicity, age or sbliy are atthe hear ofthe cone: tion, operations and cilferenia eet of labour markets ‘Bt how are such nk to he theorized? The task ismadecven more complex by a general tendency inthe erature to theorie the macro" tnd “micro” aspects of analjis us separate, elmost“indepeadeat™ level My own interest resides in tying to understand bow ‘cro’ and ‘mio inhere. The approsch suggested here ~ based upon the framework propos in the previous chapter ~ problematses this binary. This approach is offered as pat ofan effort to theorise more adequately the relationship of Aiza young Musim women to the Bris labour marke, but the framework wil havea wider applic- sbi. The chapter explores what the women themselves have 1 say ‘shout the place of paid work in thr Ives, but, folowing the “Tra gendemngotabour matte 120 icussion ofthe concept of ‘experience’ inthe last chapts, it bears repetition thst narratives are constructions snd not transparent suis to ‘reality’. Tat ig they are ireducibly marked by wider conomie, polite and cultural pocesoy, but they ucter dicey ‘Pllc’ or are transparently “efected by’ them. Tae self that narrates already a odabiy of stration of uch economic, poltial tnd cultural discourses and practices In the appreach am advocat- fing, strvtare,clture sod agency ae conceptualised as inextricably linked, matealyinsrbing formations ‘The anal is bated upoa both in-epch interviews within «tual young Muslin women of Pakistani origin nd group interviews ‘wth thm, Arguing gaint a general theory of gender hatcoulé the ‘beaplied to analysing penficinetanes of paid wor, the frmework ‘proposed highlights the importance of staying the articulations ~ between and across relations of gender, ces, ethnicity, racism, religion and so on ~ empirically nd historically as contingent telatonaips The young Muslin: women marae the contradictory ‘odes of such aration in thei aly ives ‘Discussions the subject of young South Asian Musi womea's employment tad tobe dominated by aconcar with statistics which point to lower ezonomie activity rates for this category of women Compared with ctber groups of Asian and non-Asin women ia ‘Bnitn. Studies which analyse thereaites behind the statistics areas yetlinitd. Way ae young Musi women underrepresented in he Inbour market? What i the nature and range of factors that Emit young Muslim woren’s fuller participation inthe labour macker? ‘What are the contiutes and dscontintis in the Bie histories of ‘those young women not engugein pid werk as compare with those ‘who rein employment? Wht are the marie and dillerences a the labour market experiences of diferent categories of Muslim ‘women, comparing, or example, marved women wth single women, (or womea recent arrived from Pakistan with thse who have bees ‘brought up in Bein? How are educational insttotions or gover=- rent alning schemes peeled sad expercnced by Muslin worien? Sach questions have rarely been adéresed by previous researc, but ‘ey Tom the cor of tidy (Br and Shaw 1992) om which the [nterviewsdiacased bere div! j FRAMING LABOUR MARKETS. Discourses sbout Musi womnee'spatpstion in thelabour market aesuffused wit ‘clturalis' explanations tis generally argued that ‘Muslim women ae prevented rom taking wp paid employment by ‘Mim men. The railioed themes i euch ceoourses ae ac ell documented (se Chapter Thee). Such explanstons fil 10 take account of avarety of aspects ~ discussed below that are central 20 ‘uderstanding the racafiation of gendered Idbour markets is contemporary Burope I donot believe that analyses of women's employment necessarily demand e general theory of gender tht ean subsequently be deployed in analysing the specifi instanceof paid work. Rather, T favour a form of analysis which can address bistorially and culturally spcic gendered processes without demar- cating ‘publi and ‘private’ as separate domains Social labocris thus aetstod us gendered in histrieall vaceble forms Such variation ‘Sembedded within histories of slavery, clonistion, imperalisn and the curently evolving global order that is underpinned by “G> Serene. Te the light of the previous chapter, I would reemphasse the importance of studying the articulation butween diferent forms of social difrentation, empirically and historical, ax contingeat ‘elatonshps tht are the effects of raltiple determinations Accord- “ingly a stay of goung Musi women sd the labour market Would eel io address how the labour ofthis category of women i + ssilly constructed and represented; + experienced and figured inthe landscapes of subject; + constitat by zad is consttative of labour markets and itis + framed within persoual narratives and collstive histories, ‘Thee is no sugestion here ofa binary divide between culture and ssrucure. A concep of culture thats evoked does not ‘reference’ «2 ead filly constituted and fred array of customs, values and trations Rather, culture is understood as a process; @ nexus of intersecting igiicaions; terrain on which soil momings are ‘produced, sppropsiate, disupted and contested. Cultural speci- Cities remain important bat they are construed as fluid modalities, 25 ‘motle boundaries onstruced within amulpiciy of ite structure and relations of poner. Structure and culture afe conned a& reatonal press The one snot priveped over the ote 9 hat ‘the foous sito how srtures economic, poi), Seotopce = ‘emery and change overtime in and through systems of sigiicton, bd how they in turn shape cultural meanings Thordertoundersand the relationship of young Mes wore Briain to the lubour market wing tis approach it would be necessary to deconstruct the concep of “Muslin woman’ asi has ‘oem consisted im Brith dzoours We would ned 1 consider what extent and in what ways these soci! representations construct "Musi woman’ as erased calepory that i, how stereotypes right sere to tansmate diverse groups of Muslin women Inco 2 subject postion asa racalised unit of abou Such deconstruction ‘would highlight discursive proceses whereby labour markets are Constiuted ax racily gendered. At the ste ts, analy of omens intervions would foreground their postionaity as el ‘arrated selves How thee slfarrations relat to ‘Musi woman" asa category of representation in British discourse would, ofcourse, De sbjest to empirsal variation. What light do womea’ perioral saratives tow on thé way in whick soch “representations are {implicated in thi socl dense? Do womne occupy opponitional (oF non-oppositionalsubjen postions within such discourses! Do {Beir ow perceptions of themselves reinforce or contest social meanings cbded in such discourses? ‘The point wish to srs is that itis crucial to make aditincton ‘between "Maslin woman’ asa discursive category of representation” cand Mustim wornsa as embodied, situated, historical subjects with varying and diverse personal or collective biogaphios end soc rentatons, “There are ae seven dimensions which would stem ciel to understanding the form, exant and pattems of Muslim women's artiption in Bish Iabour markets These are: 1 the bintories of colonialism and imperitism which shaped the pattems of post-World War If migrations into Westem Europe 2 the ting of migration; 3 thepost-rar restructuring ofthe national and global economies 4 changing structure ofthe regional and local labour markets; 5 sate policies, especially on immigration contol; 6 racism in the labour market, 7 segmentation of the labour mavket by gender, clas age and etaic ‘background. [elaborate this framework below by draing out itsimplications nd ‘by thinking it rough the study refered to above (Beah and Shaw L L L L L L L L 1982) In the at secon conse: how te seven dimensions ised above inte the terran on which young Misti wom’ reltion- ‘hip to the Isbour mark is shspod and negotiated. The second section address the social irugery though which Muskim women ate socaly constructed in Britain, end the impact this fd of representation has on how young Muslim womea are positioned in ‘socal relations. This followed by sa analysis of women's erative, "How would the proposed framework Inform a sady of young ‘Musi women and thelabour market, sochas the one we made! int. the emphasis on historical perspective draws attention to the colonial background that frames the formation of South Asan communities io Brita. The colonial encounter, as is now wel Knows, was a comple and contested arena of economic, politcal snd cultrelreltions marked by gendered forms of racism. As Mies (2986) points out, colonia epimes of sctmulation were centrally Snplcated in class mediatd changes in the organisation and srsc- ‘ref families and households in metropolitan societies as much =| they wer in the colonies. The emergence ofthe notion of a ‘fey wage’ in Western socio, Mics argu owes not a Tite to the

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