Hi everyone!
For my presentation, I'd like us to talk about the Gregg article, "The Normalisation of Flexible Female Labour in the Information Economy." The article discusses the concept of flexible labour, the assumptions behind this practice and the effect that it has on women in particular. Gregg suggests that while women are now given more choices and opportunities to travel or work from home, it would be wrong to conclude that flexible labour has only brought benefits and that it has been so for all women.
I will focus on two of Gregg's most significant points. The first is that women are geared towards flexible labour because of traditional (and restricted) understandings of gender. The second is that the representation of flexible labour in the media is inaccurate.
To get your views on the points that Gregg raises, I have prepared the following questions:
1. Has the emergence of flexible labour put more pressure on women by expecting them to be BOTH successful workers and homemakers? Do you think childrearing should be treated as a matter external to the economy?
2. What is your view on how flexible labour has been presented? Is flexible labour the IDEAL working arrangement?
Lastly, In my analysis of flexible labour, I also found that it recalls a number of binary oppositions such as masculine/feminine, work/leisure, etc. I'd like to know if you think flexible labour changes our perceptions of any of these dualisms.
Thank you and see you on Wednesday! :)
Hi Miguelle,
ReplyDeleteIn response to your second question, like Gregg, I disagree on some levels with the liberal party claim that flexible labour empowers women through the combining of work and motherhood into the domestic sphere.
I think that the question of whether or not flexible labour is the ideal working arrangement really depends upon the individual and the type of work being carried out. In my opinion, however, I do think that trying to work productively from home while juggling child-rearing duties and housework would be particularly difficult to manage due to a blurring of what constitutes work and leisure, and when one should stop one and start the other. Flexible labour would definitely not be the most ideal working arrangement for me as I get distracted too easily!
I think that with flexible labour, the work/leisure binary is becoming less distinguished as they gradually morph into one. In particular, personal computers have become tools for both work (ie study) and leisure (ie social networking and gaming), where we can hop from one to the other in a few seconds without leaving the chair. So it seems that technologies enabling flexible labour are causing the breakdown of binaries such as work/leisure into a fluid entity where they come to occupy the same space rather than the previous distinction between work being in the office/factory, and leisure being elsewhere.
Hi Miguelle,
ReplyDeleteAlthough flexible labour may be promoted as a positive concept, enabling more free time for workers, i believe it in fact does the opposite. As was conceded in the tute, flexible labour seems to break down the barrier between work and home; public and private, etc. which once kept ones working life separate from there home life. what's more, with advancements in mobile communication technologies such as iPhones and Blackberries, work time persists in infiltrating everyday life. Flexible labour heightens the expectation of the employee, placing a creating demand on their time as the abilities to communicate have increased and response-time has shortened.
Cheers,
Blake.
Hi Miguelle,
ReplyDeleteIn response to your first question, I somewhat agree that with the introduction of flexible labour, women do have more pressure to both perform well at work and at home. However, at the end of the day, I think that the decision still lies in the hands of the women.
I think that with flexible labour, women are now expected to be always on call even outside working hours. While companies, at least in Singapore, give them maternity leaves, there are many women who still work from home because they are actually able to do so. Another important issue to note is the fact that with such advance technology and everyone's on the go, as mentioned in tutorial, it is impossible to ever "stop" working. Individuals who split their work and personal life clearly may very well fall behind when the next morning comes.
Thus, it is important to note that while the decision ultimately lies in the hands of the women, society definitely place a large amount of pressure on them as well.
I, for one, will like to say that I do enjoy the flexible labour because of the fact that it allows me to be always on task or work whenever I feel like it. The idea of being on call, on some days, gives me a sense of urgency and challenge.
Cheers,
Wan Jun