Women Workers in a Restructured Domestic Apparel Industry

In the context of theories of gender and skill, this article provides an analysis of the way new efforts to restructure domestic apparel production are affecting women production workers. The theoretical framework embodies the notion that skill has traditionally been defined by the work that men do. Women's socially and culturally devalued position has relegated them to labor-intensive, low-wage work, traditionally seen as unskilled. The emergence of new forms of international trade, changing U.S. policies, and transformations in America's financial and retail markets have contributed to new forms of labor intensity for women apparel operators. Evidence from a study of the men's tailored clothing industry and other firms producing comparable garments leads to the conclusion that efforts to restructure domestic apparel production through flexible manufacturing tend to create new forms of taylorist production in certain segments of the industry. Rather than improving the quality of work for women apparel operators, flexible manufacturing tends to intensify the labor of these workers and may have the potential to contribute to their experience of declining wages.