Juki girls, good girls : gender and cultural politics in Sri Lanka's global garment industry / Caitrin Lynch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lynch, Caitrin, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women clothing workers--Sri Lanka--Case studies.

Women clothing workers.

Sexual division of labor--Sri Lanka--Case studies.

Sexual division of labor.

Sex role in the work environment--Sri Lanka--Case studies.

Sex role in the work environment.

Sex role--Sri Lanka--Case studies.

Sex role.

Globalization--Social aspects--Sri Lanka--Case studies.

Globalization.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (296 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, New York ; London, [England] : ILR Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

When a government program brought garment factories to rural Sri Lanka, women workers found themselves caught between the pressures of a globalizing economy and societal expectations that villages are sanctuaries of tradition. These women learned quickly to resist the characterization of "Juki girls"-female garment workers already established in the urban sector-as vulgar and deracinated, instead asserting that they were "good girls" who could embody the nation's highest ideals of femininity. Caitrin Lynch shows how contemporary Sri Lankan women navigate a complex web of political, cultural, and socioeconomic forces. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research conducted inside export-oriented garment factories and a close examination of national policies intended to ease the way for globalization, Lynch details precisely how gender, nationalism, and globalization influence everyday life in Sri Lanka. This book includes autobiographical essays by garment workers about their efforts to attain the benefits of being seen as "good" while simultaneously expanding the definition of what sort of behavior constitutes appropriate conduct. These village garment workers struggled to reconcile the role thrust upon them as symbols of national progress with the negative public perception of factory workers. Lynch provides the context needed to appreciate the paradoxes that globalization creates while painting a sympathetic portrait of the individuals whose life stories appear in this book.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Rohini: Young Women and Garment Life

1. Globalization, Gender, and Labor

Chinta

2. Localizing Production

Mala: The Truth about Women Workers at Garment Factories

3. The Politics of White Women's Underwear

Geeta

4. Juki Girls, Good Girls, and the Village Context

Sita

5. The Good Girls of Sri Lankan Modernity

Geeta: Untitled

6. Paternalism and Factory Conflicts

Conclusion

Glossary and Abbreviations

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781501704994

1501704990

9781501705007

1501705008

OCLC:

953661090