Doctoral Dissertation Research: Construction of Identity in Home-Based Workers

SES-1332621海斯特艾森斯坦纳塔西娅博里纽约市立大学研究生院大学中心这个博士论文项目将研究妇女的变化动态？妇女因参与非正规经济而发挥的社会作用，重点是在家工作者的经历。超过90%的印度劳动力在非正规经济中工作。几乎所有这些都被社会政策所忽视，尽管这一部门存在着脆弱性。非正规工人更有可能生活在贫困中，更不可能组织起来，而且妇女所占比例更高。在家工作是印度最大的非农业非正规工作类别，绝大多数由妇女从事。研究将在印度阿赫梅达巴德的一个非正式工人工会-自营职业妇女协会进行。在这项研究中解决的主要研究问题是：妇女的权力，通过参加工会有影响她们在家庭和工作中的角色？本研究的具体目的是：（1）研究非正式工人工会如何满足女性在家工作者的需求;（2）研究女性如何满足家庭工作者的需求。参加工会可以增强他们的能动性和影响工作和家庭环境的能力。特别是，研究将揭示什么机制可能会改变家庭和工作环境从剥削的网站到授权的网站。重要的是，这项研究包括妇女的经验，超越其经济价值，解决他们如何谈判和建设自己的身份，妇女，工人和工会成员在家庭，市场和民间社会的社会机构。多方法的研究设计包括五种类型的数据收集：调查，深入访谈，家庭和工作环境的空间分析，政府和政策报告的二手数据分析，以及参与者观察。更广泛的影响家庭工作是一个部门，仍然特别隐藏的应用和学术研究，因为它的特点。通过解决妇女在社会机构中经历的多个不平等问题，这项研究将有助于建立关于妇女、工作和发展的社会学理论。此外，这项研究？的合作研究设计与SEWA，其行动主义和基层的方法，指出，将提供一个独特的贡献方案和战略，支持妇女在非正规部门。广泛的长期目标是，这项研究的结果将使各国政府、非政府组织和多边组织了解发展中国家非正规经济中妇女的具体需要。重要的是，它努力支持一种性别与发展模式，解决不平等社会关系的多个地点。

SES-1332621Hester EisensteinNatascia BoeriCUNY Graduate School University CenterThis doctoral dissertation project will examine the changing dynamics of women?s societal roles as a result of their participation in the informal economy, focusing on the experiences of home-based workers. Over 90 percent of the Indian workforce is in the informal economy. Almost all are overlooked by social policies, despite the vulnerabilities associated with this sector. Informal workers are more likely to be living in poverty, less likely to be organized, and are disproportionately women. Home-based work is the largest subgroup of non-agricultural informal work in India, and is overwhelmingly taken up by women. Research will be conducted at Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), a labor union for informal workers in Ahmedabad, India. The main research question addressed in this study is: can women's empowerment through participation in a labor union have consequences on their roles at home and work? The specific aims of this study are (1) to examine how a labor union for informal workers addresses women home-based workers' needs; and (2) to investigate how women?s participation in the union enhances their agency and ability to affect their work and home environment. In particular, the research will uncover what mechanisms might transform the home and work setting from a site of exploitation to a site of empowerment. Importantly, this research includes women's experiences beyond their economic value by addressing how they negotiate and construct their identities as women, workers, and union members across the social institutions of family, market and civil society. The multi-method research design includes five types of data collection: survey, in-depth interviews, spatial analysis of home and work setting, secondary data analysis of government and policy reports, and participant observation. Broader ImpactsHome-based work is a sector that remains especially hidden to both applied and scholarly research because of its characteristics. By addressing the multiple sites of inequality women experience across social institutions, this research will contribute to sociological theory on women, work, and development. In addition, this study?s collaborative research design with SEWA, noted for its activism and grass roots approach, will provide a unique contribution to programs and strategies that support women in the informal sector. The broad term goal is that findings of this research will inform governments, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral organizations of the specific needs of women in the informal economy in developing countries. Importantly, it strives to support a gender and development model that addresses the multiple locations of unequal social relations.