Re: Alleged low East Asian unemployment

[Doug Henwood <dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx>]

This pre-postmodern leftist must dissent from this overly sunny view of
the family. For many women, the family isn't a comfortable entity, and
working for the boss-dad isn't terribly pleasant either. In many ways,
wage labor can represent progress for women - a degree of self-sufficiency
unavailable in single-family enterprises. Maybe this is bourgeois/Western
of me, but so be it.

Doug

Doug Henwood [dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx]
Left Business Observer
212-874-4020 (voice)
212-874-3137 (fax)


On Tue, 8 Mar 1994, Anthony D'Costa wrote:

> But what about household employment (subcontracting networks) which I
> believe is quite rampant in East Asia (perhaps less so in Japan) and
> these do not enter the statistics for a variety of reasons.  Relying
> heavily on family labor is one such reason.  Therefore, while "sexism"
> may reduce the statistic, unaccounted housework (for the market)
> underestimates employment figures.  Thus, extending the liberal-western
> "individualistic" axiom that both men and women should work for wages
> misinterprets the really existing social organization in East Asia.  The
> "family" is the basic unit, hence "sexism" while common in non-western
> societies allows the family to cope better with capitalist
> crisis of unemployment and alienation.
>
> The liberal-left (especially of the post modern variety) and the die-hard
> western bourgeoisie ought to re-assess the East Asian social institutions
> that challenge the hegemony of western institutions.
>
> Anthony D'Costa
> U of Washington, Tacoma
>
> On Mon, 7 Mar 1994 FAC_BROSSER@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>
> > (If this repeats a previous message, I apologize.  I'm
> > having trouble sending messages out on this net, despite
> > Michael Perelman's assistance.)
> >      Sid Shniad reported an ILO study that suggests much
> > lower unemployment rates in East Asia than elsewhere, notably
> > Western Europe.  Although technically correct this is highly
> > misleading.  In the case of Japan it is due to entrenched sexism
> > that boots women out of the labor force when they get married,
> > although this may be changing.  In any case, the percent of
> > working age people not working in Japan is higher than it is
> > in most Western Europe.  The nonworkers just are not seeking
> > employment and thus are not in the official unemployment rates.
> >      I agree that there is a general crisis of unemployment.
> > Barkley Rosser
> > Department of Economics
> > James Madison University
> > Harrisonburg, Virginia
> > 22807 USA
> >