Global Dimensions of Gender and Carework

Why are women such prominent workers in the global marketplace? Why do so many perform jobs that involve carework? What political forces have made these women key participants in globalization? What are the consequences for the women themselves, for their families, and for societies and international relations in general? This book offers a provocative examination of globalization, examining the lives of the women at the center of these new global dynamics. Arguing that society is facing multiple crises of care, the authors develop a new framework for understanding the interplay of globalization, gender, and carework. In four original essays, they examine gender, race, and class inequality; migration, citizenship, and the politics of social control; the evolving meanings of motherhood; and new social definitions of carework and the personal transformation of careworkers. Excerpts from the classic works in the field as well as recent cutting-edge research studies support the examination of each of these growing global crises.

Mary K. Zimmerman is Professor of Sociology and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of Kansas. Jacquelyn S. Litt is Director of Women’s and Gender Studies and Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Christine E. Bose is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Women’s Studies Department at the University at Albany, State University of New York.