Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper aims to investigate how family, labor market and the state policies diversely shape working class women's work experiences in Mexico City, Mexico and Istanbul, Turkey. While Mexico and Turkey show similarities in terms of their economic structures and economic policies since the 1980s, working class women have different working experiences. Working class women's diverse work experiences can be understood with a holistic approach taking into consideration the interconnections between multiple institutions. Social institutions such as the family, the work and the state are organized according to the unwritten and written rules of gender ideology. Working class women face different patriarchal practices embedded in these institutions of Mexico as well as Turkey. While labor market dynamics that working class women encounter are similar in Mexico and Turkey, divergences in the family structures and state policies are the main factors behind their women's different work experiences. While the importance of mahrem (privacy) and namus (honor), the strict private/public domain distinction, intensive flow of women's labor towards family members and the lack of women-friendly policies discourage women's labor force participation in Turkey, different definition of masculinity and family structure, intergenerational female support system, women's relatively higher mobility (rural-to-urban and in the urban areas) and certain policies in Mexico are more likely to encourage women to work in Mexico. Analysis and arguments of this paper are based on in-depth interviews I conducted with 40 working class women, both within and outside the labor force in Mexico City, Mexico and Istanbul, Turkey.