Reproductive Work, Territorial Commons and Political Precarity in Peripheral Extractive Sites in Ecuador and Bolivia

This article examines the labour and political dimensions of non-salaried women workers in the extractive peripheries of Bolivia and Ecuador, to show how the appropriation of racialised and gendered work is a foundational aspect of the extractive logic of capital. We consider extraction in its broadest sense as the dispossession not only of resources but also of informal and reproductive work, and examine the ways in which the territorialised commons produced by, and necessary for, the interdependent activities to sustain life also form the basis of political identification and organisation. Territories as the making of places are fundamental for the constitution of marginalised collective identities. In peripheral sites where extractive logics have been socio-culturally and institutionally established, the literal and figurative common grounds for women’s social reproduction are reduced, individualising livelihoods and increasing physical, economic and subjective vulnerability. As such, the extraction of resources and of territorialised networks intersects with the historical appropriation of reproductive work to configure both material and political precarity. KEYWORDS: informal work; reproductive labour; extractivism; territory; commons

Exploring the masculinization of innovation practice within a municipality

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to generate an empirically informed theoretical framework which can be used to analyze the relationship between gender and innovation in the context of a municipality. The authors present and analyze three illustrative tales from a feminist perspective. The authors thus offer a more balanced approach to the conceptualization of gendered ascriptions with respect to the possible outcomes of innovation work in a public context.Design/methodology/approachAn ethnographic account which employed “shadowing” as a method of observation.FindingsThe article presents a debate on how the social construction of gender and innovation can be placed in the context of a municipal reality. Our analysis reveals how the complexities of a gendered work life within a municipality can create paradoxes. A constructionism approach was used in the identification of hidden and unspoken paradoxes that exist in public spheres.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors used empirical tales from a very specific context, namely a Swedish municipality. The central implication of this study is the recognition of innovation as being masculine-gendered within the feminine context. This implication thereby deepens our understanding of gender paradoxes in the public sector.Practical implicationsThis study provides insights to practitioners who intend to work with innovation in a public organization.Social implicationsThe social implications of this study is that when a male-gendered concept like innovation is implemented in a female-gendered context, like a municipality, it is of importance to contextualize the concept.Originality/valueThe empirical value of examples of a gendered work landscape at a Swedish municipality.

Gendered Work and Barriers in Employment Increase Unjust Work–Life Imbalance for Women: The Need for Structural Responses

As COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately and negatively impacted women, structural responses are needed to prevent and address work–life imbalance issues experienced by women every day. Gendered work and barriers in gaining employment have reduced women’s participation in paid work/employment. Most of those who are employed, experience unfair work–life imbalance as they end up working for paid job and as well as in their homes. The consequences of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns have further worsened their work–life imbalance. Most of those who have lost paid jobs have been experiencing significant financial and psychological stress and are doing more work than usual in their homes. To address these issues appropriate structural responses are warranted.

Labours of Love: Gender, Work and Devotion in Medieval Chartres

The medieval cathedral of Notre-Dame of Chartres is famous for the depictions of artisans in its thirteenth-century stained-glass windows. Using gender as a lens through which to view these images makes clear that the work they depict is overwhelmingly undertaken by men. In contrast, women’s work, in the form of preparing textile fibres, is depicted in a series of stone carvings on the exterior northern portal of the cathedral. Here physical labour is juxtaposed with acts of reading and prayerful contemplation. Miracle tales from Chartres emphasise connections between gendered work and devotion to the Virgin Mary. This article considers these visual and literary depictions of labour at Chartres in the contexts of historical gendering of work, medieval ideas of divine cosmic order, and the role of work as religious devotional practice within a prevailing emotional regime.

Epilogue

The epilogue catalogues what has changed at the feast and at the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel since the completion of the research. It demonstrates how ethnography probes the ephemeral. Moreover, it explores how the church is entering a new era of publicity and financial stability but examines the way people feel uncomfortable about issues of money and a seemingly new spirit of acquisitiveness, their critiques highlighting the ways there are “appropriate” and “inappropriate” ways to make money at the feast. It presents the outcomes of the devotional labor and work of the men featured in the book, confirming the assertion that gendered work, devotion, and status are inseparable at OLMC. It concludes by arguing that the feast and parish offer young men the promise of a route to manhood. The feast promises meaningful labor and the possibility of being a self-made man, albeit a church-made version.