Gendering Class in Latin America: How Women Effect and Experience Change in the Class Structure

Date Published:

Sep 17, 2004

Abstract:

Female participation in the Latin American paid labor force is increasing dramatically. Building upon Fortes and Hoffman's (2003) model, we use occupational data to measure gendered changes in Latin America's class structure over the last two decades of economic restructuring and adjustment and to investigate the causes and consequences of these regional patterns. Our results suggest two important conclusions. First, economic adjustment and restructuring is increasing women's parity with men in terms of class position largely as a consequence of the deterioration of men's once-privileged location in the class structure. Second, recent economic adjustment and restructuring has altered power relations between social classes in Latin America in part because it has inspired both qualitative and quantitative changes in the gendered composition of Latin American labor. The number of women entering the workforce, and the labor conditions suffered particularly by women workers, has resulted in both the literal and figurative "emasculation" of the Formal Froletariat. These preliminary findings make clear the explanatory benefits of including gender in analyses of ehanges in the Latin American class structure.

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