Kyoko Kusakabe

Thailand's hidden workforce : Burmese migrant women factory workers

* 1. Thailands hidden workforce: Burmese women factory workers * 2. Thailands industrialisation and labour migration policies * 3. Burmese women migrant workers in Thailands export industries * 4. Migrant women in Thailands factories: working conditions, struggles and experiences * 5. Burmese migrant women and families in Thailand: reproduction, children and care * 6. After the crisis: new struggles and possibilities * 7. Burmese migrant workers between two worlds * Appendices * Notes * References

Sex segregation in construction organizations in Bangladesh and Thailand

Why do more women in Bangladesh study civil engineering than in Thailand, but fewer Bangladeshi women take employment in construction companies? The primary data for answering this question were drawn from questionnaire surveys with 204 professional engineers, in‐depth interviews with 80 professional women engineers, and informal discussions with employers/representatives in construction organizations in Bangladesh and Thailand. The findings underline the importance of organizational policy, practices and culture in creating a women‐friendly workplace in both countries. The findings suggest that despite the reinforcement of societal gender expectations, organizations are able to create their own organizational culture and practices, which could help to utilize womens talent and improve their professional careers.

Women's Work and Market Hierarchies Along the Border of Lao PDR

Contrary to claims by some neo‐liberalists that international borders are becoming irrelevant, market liberalisation can actually enhance the effect that borders have on the lives of the people living along them. This study examines how the opening of border trade between Laos and Thailand has influenced gender divisions of labour, and definition of womens work along the border zone. Studies were undertaken in two border areas in Lao PDR—Sayaboury province and Kammoune province. In the former, cotton‐weaving activities were studied and in the latter, sticky rice box production. The production and trading of these commodities brought crucial cash income to the women studied and their households. How the women benefited from these activities in terms of income and status depends on how other members of the family perceived these activities. However, the formalisation of the border trade has changed womens ‘sense of space’ and their relations with men and other women.

Gendering Border Spaces: Impact of Open Border Policy Between Cambodia-Thailand on Small-scale Women Fish Traders

The study examined how the commodity chain of freshwater fresh fish trade between Thailand and Cambodia developed and became sex segregated, and how women small-scale traders are positioned in the chain. The open border policy increased trade and demand for fish, and made it more difficult for small-scale traders to secure fish. Lack of state control led to rent-seeking, which further closed opportunities for resourceless small-scale traders. Women small-scale border traders tried to counter the marginalization through establishing social networks, but with limited success. Field interviews with 86 traders at the border areas of Thailand and Cambodia were conducted to explore these points.

Retrenched Men Workers in Bangladesh A Crisis of Masculinities

Abstract This study explores changing masculine identities and gender relations in households, taking the case of men workers retrenched by a state-owned newsprint paper mill in Bangladesh. It analyzes their post-retrenchment condition characterized by considerable income loss and its wider ramifications by comparing men in stable income-earning occupations and in unstable income-earning occupations. This study argues that although men at different levels define their masculine identity differently in response to their personal crises, they are all determined to maintain that identity. Two types of masculinities are identified: public masculinity—socializing with other men and acting smart in teashops, and household masculinity—their status as family providers. In a situation with limited resources, men give up the former and uphold the latter. The men’s retrenchment does not always provide empowerment opportunities for their women partners through their participation in gainful paid work.

Cross-border childcare strategies of Burmese migrant workers in Thailand

In discussing the challenges of cross-border childcare faced by migrant workers, most research focuses on ‘distance mothering’, assuming that children remain in the place of origin. In contrast, this article focuses on childcare at the place of destination in the context of migrant Burmese factory workers in Thailand. Since many of these workers are ‘undocumented’, they have few rights in their place of destination. This is especially problematic in the areas of reproductive health and childcare rights. Despite such obstacles, Burmese migrant workers strive to manage their childcare responsibilities by mobilizing whatever resources are available, as well as seeking to maximize the possibilities of citizenship and education rights for their children. According to our research, the specific strategies deployed vary according to the particular location in Thailand in which migrants are working. This study analyzes three locations in Thailand – one in the central Thailand, and the other two at the borderlands between Burma and Thailand. Through a feminist analysis of the ‘care diamond’, the study demonstrates how Burmese women migrant workers utilize the different migrant labor governance systems and porous international border as resources and opportunities to develop complex and changing strategies to juggle their childcare arrangements.

Gender, roads, and mobility in Asia

Prelims (Acknowledgements) 1. Introduction: Gender, roads, and mobility in Asia Kyoko Kusakabe PART ONE: Connecting Asia: Explosive growth in infrastructure 2. International road transport in GMS Madan B. Regmi and Shinya Hanaoka 3. Influence of transportation infrastructure development on freight traffic flow patterns in GMS Takafumi Iwata, Hironori Kato and Ryuichi Shibasaki 4. Rural-urban-global linkages, economic integration, and development H. Detlef Kammeier 5. The influence of highways on economic development of medium- and small-sized cities in China Shinya Hanaoka and Ba Tianxing PART TWO: Gendered impact of transport development 6. Gender, mobility, and road construction in GMS Kyoko Kusakabe 7. Gendered impacts of road infrastructure development along the Kunming-Bangkok highway Wang Yunxian and Zhao Qun 8. Effects of infrastructure development on trade and gender relations: A study at Lao Bao border, Vietnam Nguyen Thi Diem Hang, Nguyen Thi Phuong Hien, Trinh Thi Bich Thuy, Vu Thi Hoang Yen and Vo Thi Quynh Truc 9. Gender analysis of changes in livelihoods at the border: A case study of Houayxai, Lao PDR Saykham Thammanosouth, Viengnam Douangphachanh and Lamphoun Khounphakdy 10. Impact of cross-border road construction on the livelihoods of women and men in Kyaing Tong- Tachilek, Myanmar Win Myo Thu 11. Cross-border trading experiences before and after the construction of the second Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge Nittana Southiseng and John Walsh 12. Negotiating the trade route at the border: A case study of women small-scale cross-border traders in Myitkyina, Myanmar Khin Hnin Phyu 13. Gendered patterns of urban commuting with better connectivity in Jakarta megapolitan area Sri Hartinin Rachmod, Ardi Adji and Dendi Handiyatmo 14. Gendered mobility of working couples: A case of Soi Sukhumvit 22 Wijitbusaba Ann Marome PART THREE: Planning gendered interventions in road development 15. Role of transport infrastructure in changing gender relations in rural Sri Lanka Upali Pannilage 16. Participatory road construction and poverty reduction in Nepal Jun Hada 17. Road connectivity and its impact on womens poverty in Nepal Bandana Sharma 18. Construction of village roads by villagers: Creating jobs forwomen and men in Sunamganj, Bangladesh Sk. Md. Mohsin, Edward Mallorie and Michael A. Roy 19. Road improvement in Cambodia: Livelihood, education, health, and empowerment John Pilgrim and Ngin Chanrith 20. Mobility and accessibility to health services in rural Nepal Binjwala Shrestha 21. Conclusion: Studying gender relations in a mobile world Kyoko Kusakabe Back Matter (Index)

Mobile livelihoods among ethnic minorities in China: Insights from Yunnan

Ethnic minority populations in Yunnan have had diverse mobility patterns since the advent of globalized production and developmental programmes. The article presents insights into the various mobility patterns and their effects in Yunnan and contributes to an understanding of the present economic and social processes of mobilities and changes in China as a whole. The analysis is based on an empirical study conducted in the years 2010–2011 by the authors together with local researchers in Yunnan. The results revealed that the mobilities practised among members of the ethnic minority groups in Yunnan included not only outmigration but also cross-border cultivation of plantations, daily and circular mobility, inflows of labour and investors, and involuntary relocation. Although some mobilities may have been conducive to livelihoods and capabilities due to the income-earning and profit-making opportunities arising from the acquisition and appropriation of land and capital, they have also resulted in differentiation processes that confirm the counter-geographies of production, survival, and profit-making. The authors conclude that mobilities do not just concern physical location, but as a social process, mobilities have reconstituted relational references and networks in terms of ethnic and cultural identity, gender relations, labour division, and locality and community integration.

Gender-based Violence among Documented Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

The Rohingya, a Muslim minority group from the northern part of Rakhine State (formerly Arakan) in Myanmar, is among the most vulnerable of the world’s refugee communities. This study aims to shed light on gender-based violence among documented Rohingya refugees living in the Kutupalong camp located in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh. As refugees, they are not allowed to find employment in Bangladesh. At the same time, state support is minimal, and so they have to eke out a living from whatever work is available. The mobility of refugee men is highly restricted by violence and intimidation, which forces refugee women into the role of the family’s breadwinner. Despite this, the women’s status has not improved in either the family or the community. On the contrary, the women are exposed to increased violence from their families, the refugee community and outsiders. Though all refugees suffer violence, women face it both inside and outside the home. Their precarious political status as refugees and a lack of community support in the camps combine to increase their vulnerability.

Working through exceptional space: The case of women migrant workers in Mae Sot, Thailand

This article focuses on the borderland of Thailand with Myanmar and analyzes how Burmese women migrant workers are both victimized – Agamben’s homo sacer – by the exceptional space of the borderland, but also are able to actively utilize the opportunities afforded by the particular space of the border to juggle their responsibilities and life options. The article focuses on how women migrant workers arrange their healthcare, childcare and children’s education at the borderland of Mae Sot and in the centerland of Bangkok, and analyzes how they use the opportunities available at the border to manage these tasks. At the same time, the borderland leaves women with very weak protection against violence, cut off from their communities of origin, which offer both protection and control. Although borderlands can provide space for alternatives, this exceptional space compounded with a strict gender regime can pose serious restrictions on women’s agency.