Summary

Gender and development theory and analysis is replete with implicit assumptions that women's entry into the world of paid work will positively affect their status both in the household and in the public sphere. Until recently the debate on global factories and export production has remained focused on women's individual experience of export employment- and the extent to which this represents a positive opportunity or gross exploitation. In spite of the extended discussion of rights and citizenship in the global economy, little attention has hitherto been paid to the implications for women's entitlements arising out of their pivotal role in export sectors. Whilst many assume that women's visible and crucial presence in key economic sectors will be reflected in the ways in which social policies are formulated, there has been up to now little empirical and analytical engagement with this question. This volume, bringing together detailed commissioned studies from six developing countries, aims to fill this gap.