Precarious Work and the Gendered Individualisation of Risk in the South African Manufacturing Sector, 2002–2017
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21829586 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Siviwe Mhlana (0000-0003-3800-7753, University of the Witwatersrand, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication date | 2023-05-31 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Global Labour Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1918-6711 • E-ISSN: 1918-6711 |
| Publisher | McMaster University Library (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.15173/glj.v14i2.5098 |
| OpenAlex | W4379538151 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 14 |
Against the backdrop of workplace restructuring globally, post-apartheid South Africa is experiencing consistently high levels of unemployment, the deterioration of employment security and limited improvements in earnings. This article investigates the changing nature of labour-intensive production in the South African labour market and the gendered individualisation of risk associated with precarious or non-standard forms of employment. The article expands on the critical theoretical narrative about the challenges of labour under neo-liberalism by applying a gendered political economy analysis to the experiences of precariousness among workers in the South African manufacturing sector. By focusing on the interconnections between gender and political economy, this article delinks questions about the crisis of labour from a narrow focus on skills and refocuses our understanding in terms of the structural determinants of vulnerabilities in the labour market. The article argues that the gender composition of informal and precarious work in the post-apartheid labour market has significant implications for addressing the persistent racialised and gendered inequalities in the South African economy. KEYWORDS: labour market restructuring; informal employment; precarious work; gender JEL CLASSIFICATION: J21; J30; J71; J80
Earnings · Economic growth · Economic restructuring · Economics · Economy · Informal sector · Job security · Labour economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Precarious work · Precarity · Restructuring · Sociology · Unemployment · Employment and Welfare Studies · Gender Studies · Labor Movements and Unions
Gender and (International) Political Economy
Probing Precarious Work
Comparison of Convenience Sampling and Purposive Sampling
A History of Feminist and Gender Economics
Informalization and decent work
Women informal workers demand child care
The invisible hands
Labour market restructuring in South Africa
Precarious Labor, South and North
A Precariat Charter
Precarious Work, Insecure Workers
Profiling South African gender inequality in informal self-employment
Toward a Class Compromise in South Africa's 'Double Transition
Informal Income Opportunities and Urban Employment in Ghana
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |