What's it like to "work" in a neoliberal economy? How does gender play into contemporary forms of labor in different parts of the world? What are some characteristics of neoliberalism as an economic system and as everyday experience?
Neoliberalism can have harsh effect on local cultures that it comes to. It can dramatic change how people function and act in their culture. Exploitation of workers is a common practice in neoliberalism. In the article by Aihwa Ong people are seen to be exploited in the free market areas of Malaysia. She discusses how women are mal-treated by the employers and culture in Malaysia. They work with constant supervision of supervisors. This means that they are followed to the restrooms or the prayer rooms; they often watched intently and given no privacy in these personal matters. Menstruation is not taken in to account by the employers. Their mistreatment is continued by their shifts changing every two weeks making them miss meals and sleep. This is how Malay women “work” in a neoliberal economy. Gender plays a large role in neoliberalism in Malay culture. Women are considered to be weaker and more susceptible to spirit attacks when compared to men. These spirit attacks happen when women break social norms or taboos. With many foreign owned factories being built without the regard to local customers or beliefs. This results in factories being said to being possessed by demons and spirits that attack the women for breaking social norms and taboos such as: going on historical graveyards. Many factories will fire women that have three or more spirit attacks. With these spirit attacks it is greatly frowned upon by men that women should go work in factories. This makes men dominate this work force. These factors make every day work experiences make working in these ‘free trade zones’ difficult for women to succeed. Neoliberalism in this article shows the harshness that is put on women by their culture or employer. This economic system shows the stresses that are placed upon gender in different places of the world that are cultural, economic, and also imposed by foreign powers.
In Aihwa Ong's article "The Production of Possession: Spirits and the Multinational Corporation in Malaysia," she lays out the complex relationship between females and their vulnerability to 'spirit attacks' constructed by the spiritual beliefs of their villages. There are several dynamics to why a woman may have been possessed by these spirits and they can range from after giving birth to hitting middle age. Pivotal moments in a woman's life and moments where hormones are at an all time high, as well as an all time low. When western medicine was introduced, the validity of spirit attacks went down, but factory managers still recognized these attacks and treated the women through isolation, Valium and sending them home. As time went on, women factory workers across Malaysia were in "mass hysteria" deemed by the papers due to these spirit attacks. The stress of the attacks spread across to other female workers sending hundreds home. It was this clash of western factories work environments and spiritual beliefs that has caused such a huge friction and increase in outbursts of female workers. The blaring differences between what westerners may find clean, other cultures see the complete opposite. While one may think the social stratification of villages places this unknown pressure on the women, sometimes it's completely altering their spiritual perspective because the corporations never thought about the ramifications of ignoring cultural differences. Another factor comes from the harsh work environments these women are forced into and yet have no other choice. Daniel Hoffman's article "Violence, Just in Time: War and Work in Contemporary West Africa," expands on the idea of how violence takes hard work, but also how labor can be violence. This idea ties somewhat into Ong's work due to the limitation of available work and the conditions they are placed in. This looks at the side of young men working in the mines and the postwar and postmodern economy they are forced to be apart of. After colonization, many countries didn't have the resources or the economy to come back from past exploitation. War became their new economy, the Black Market and corporations their method of export and imports, and their own people their workforce.
Neoliberalism can have harsh effect on local cultures that it comes to. It can dramatic change how people function and act in their culture. Exploitation of workers is a common practice in neoliberalism. In the article by Aihwa Ong people are seen to be exploited in the free market areas of Malaysia. She discusses how women are mal-treated by the employers and culture in Malaysia. They work with constant supervision of supervisors. This means that they are followed to the restrooms or the prayer rooms; they often watched intently and given no privacy in these personal matters. Menstruation is not taken in to account by the employers. Their mistreatment is continued by their shifts changing every two weeks making them miss meals and sleep. This is how Malay women “work” in a neoliberal economy.
ReplyDeleteGender plays a large role in neoliberalism in Malay culture. Women are considered to be weaker and more susceptible to spirit attacks when compared to men. These spirit attacks happen when women break social norms or taboos. With many foreign owned factories being built without the regard to local customers or beliefs. This results in factories being said to being possessed by demons and spirits that attack the women for breaking social norms and taboos such as: going on historical graveyards. Many factories will fire women that have three or more spirit attacks. With these spirit attacks it is greatly frowned upon by men that women should go work in factories. This makes men dominate this work force.
These factors make every day work experiences make working in these ‘free trade zones’ difficult for women to succeed. Neoliberalism in this article shows the harshness that is put on women by their culture or employer. This economic system shows the stresses that are placed upon gender in different places of the world that are cultural, economic, and also imposed by foreign powers.
In Aihwa Ong's article "The Production of Possession: Spirits and the Multinational Corporation in Malaysia," she lays out the complex relationship between females and their vulnerability to 'spirit attacks' constructed by the spiritual beliefs of their villages. There are several dynamics to why a woman may have been possessed by these spirits and they can range from after giving birth to hitting middle age. Pivotal moments in a woman's life and moments where hormones are at an all time high, as well as an all time low. When western medicine was introduced, the validity of spirit attacks went down, but factory managers still recognized these attacks and treated the women through isolation, Valium and sending them home. As time went on, women factory workers across Malaysia were in "mass hysteria" deemed by the papers due to these spirit attacks. The stress of the attacks spread across to other female workers sending hundreds home. It was this clash of western factories work environments and spiritual beliefs that has caused such a huge friction and increase in outbursts of female workers. The blaring differences between what westerners may find clean, other cultures see the complete opposite. While one may think the social stratification of villages places this unknown pressure on the women, sometimes it's completely altering their spiritual perspective because the corporations never thought about the ramifications of ignoring cultural differences. Another factor comes from the harsh work environments these women are forced into and yet have no other choice.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Hoffman's article "Violence, Just in Time: War and Work in Contemporary West Africa," expands on the idea of how violence takes hard work, but also how labor can be violence. This idea ties somewhat into Ong's work due to the limitation of available work and the conditions they are placed in. This looks at the side of young men working in the mines and the postwar and postmodern economy they are forced to be apart of. After colonization, many countries didn't have the resources or the economy to come back from past exploitation. War became their new economy, the Black Market and corporations their method of export and imports, and their own people their workforce.