Elaine Draper

Women’s work and development in Latin America

The discussion explores the problem of womens employment patterns under capitalist development in Latin America, first by analyzing the way in which womens work has been conceptualized within modernization theory. It then goes on to examine the 2 types of work in which most Latin American women are engaged -- domestic service and informal work such as selling produce and taking in laundry -- to provide evidence for challenging modernization theory and for developing a more useful approach. Subsequently, the discussion considers womens domestic and informal work within the context of capitalist development, which provides some insight into the broader structures shaping womens employment. Finally, the discussion proposes some reconceptualizations of womens work and development. Modernization theorists analyze womens work in the cities within a variety of constructs, interpreting it as a backward manifestation of traditional society, a reflection of womens inadequate training for the modern sector, an indication of womens primary orientation to the family, or as a phenomenon that is too tangential to warrant examination. The primary assumption is that modernization improves womens status and the conditions of their lives as it brings greater productivity, more advanced technology, and more highly differentiated institutions. Assumptions concerning womens absorption into the modern sector and the equalization of work roles between men and women are not borne out by actual employment trends, which reveal the persistent concentration of women in domestic work, informal jobs, and the lower-paying service jobs. Despite their predominance, domestic service and informal jobs are infrequently included in employment statistics and are virtually ignored in studies of development, yet these 2 types of work are the primary forms of work for Latin American women. Even when modernization theorists recognize the proliferation of informal and domestic service jobs, they see it as part of a progressive development stage, with displaced rural laborers becoming incorporated into the modern sector by way of informal jobs. In most Latin American countries, rural women become a permanent part of the services and the informal labor market when they move to the cities. There is little sign of their transition to industrial employment. In general, capitalist development marginalizes Latin American women, who in several important ways lose status. The range of pursuits considered womens work should include their activities within the infromal labor sector. Informal work is still virtually unexplored, especially as it relates to wage work in underdeveloped countries. Informal labor is not registered in the census, nor is it included in the gross national product. Yet, it is a major component of womens work. Domestic service and infromal jobs should be seen in relation to other forms of labor and to total social production.

Genetic secrets: Social issues of medical screening in a genetic age

In the 1990s, as the multi-billion-dollar Human Genome Project makes more and more genetic information available, we would do well to look closely at the social context of power dynamics, control, and economic interests within which that information will be used. Let us consider four specific questions. How does social stratification by race, ethnicity, gender, and social class affect the use of genetic information in the workplace? In what ways are perspectives on genetic testing socially located? What can fetal exclusion policies teach us about how genetic information might be used to identify high-risk individuals? What social and political challenges are posed by new information about genetic abnormalities, and how might that information be distributed fairly?

Drug testing in the workplace: the allure of management technologies

Discusses US use of drug testing in the workplace, screening employees for smoking, AIDS, genetic traits and reproductive hazards. Attributes this to the costs employers face in insurance, litigation and compensation. Points out that the purpose of drug testing is to circumvent management responsibility for: accidents in the workplace, stress, bad management practices, and disregarding health and safety initiatives. Acknowledges that the tests are harmful and indefensible. Reports that 81 per cent of members of the American Management Association in 1996 conducted drug testing. Claims that screening is the alternative to monitoring – that is screening out individuals who are seen as high risk in some way – yet that misses the point – the focus should be on making hazardous working conditions safe. Indicates that companies may use drug testing as a means of deterring drug users from gravitating towards their organization. Mentions that workplace‐induced stress can lead to substance abuse and that, therefor...

Risky Business: Genetic Testing and Exclusionary Practices in the Hazardous Workplace.

Foreword Nicholas A. Ashford Preface Introduction 1. Genetic testing and exclusionary practices in the workplace: risk, power, and controversy 2. the rise of the genetic paradigm for occupational risk 3. Competing conceptions of safety: high-risk workers or high-risk work? 4. Sex, race, and genetic predisposition 5. Power and control in industrial medicine 6. Who bears the burden? The legal and economic context of occupational disease 7. The social construction of workplace hazards: Conclusions and policy implications Appendix Notes Glossary References Index.