Suchergebnisse

Japanese Working Class Lives: An Ethnographic Study of Factory Workers. James E. Roberson. New York: Routledge, 1998. 227 pp.

Feminist literature on globalization has examined the forces that motivate women to stay in factory jobs despite the horrendous pay. Bangladesh is currently the second largest readymade garment manufacturer after China. How does factory work empower women? This question became a central issue in current feminist theorizing, although this question is often absent from the discussion of global factory workers of Bangladesh. This paper expands the body of feminist knowledge by using in-depth interview data of women workers of a Bangladeshi factory. I highlight how women's income provides them relative autonomy from their family and community and empowers them.

HIV has been introduced as a causative agent for AIDS which is still considered as a major health problem for the country and a burden on the health care system. Raising awareness and knowledge plays a critical role in controlling HIV infection in all social groups. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the awareness and attitudes of factory workers regarding HIV/AIDS infection in Shiraz, Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 92 factory workers in Shiraz, selected via the random sampling technique. A standard researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data. Around 84% of participants were male and 65.2% had 30 years of age or more. The majority of responders considered shared syringe as the main transmission route in Iran. The awareness level of the general aspects of HIV infections and possible transmission modes were high. A large proportion of responders believed that patients should be supported by the governments and that they have the right to lead a normal life, meanwhile they were scared for their children having an infected classmate. It can be concluded that the public programs to increase awareness had a positive effect on factory workers' knowledge. However, some misconceptions toward HIV patients were identified that need to be corrected. In addition, further studies should be conducted in other cities to reach an accurate estimate of HIV/AIDS awareness among factory workers as a big part of our society.

This book studies workers in four factories in Bangalore - an industrial city of more than one and a half million people in South India - and seeks to answer questions about the situation and thinking of workers in modern capital intensive factories. It is based on case studies of Bangalore workers and their families, on statistical material from management files on workers and from other sources, and on interviews with managers and union officials. Among the principal questions considered are: who are the factory workers and what are their origins, career prospects and living conditions? Are they a privileged elite in a dual economy and what relations are there between them and people outside steady factory employment? How do the workers see their own situation, as individuals and as a class? And how do they think of a 'job' as part of a 'career' and a career as part of their lifetime, in relation to other things that matter to them?

PurposeBusinesses are under pressure to ensure social responsibility in their globalised supply chains. However, conventional factory audits are not providing adequate data about production workers' well-being. Industry attempts to measure working conditions have shown bias and inconsistency, and there is no consensus on what to measure, or how. Well-being can be intangible and difficult to capture without appropriate theoretical and methodological frameworks. This paper investigates factors influencing the well-being of a Chinese factory's workers, tests an innovative research method, and proposes interventions to improve well-being in factories.Design/methodology/approachThis is a longitudinal study using the diaries of production workers at a large assembly manufacturing site in China. Workers left daily digital voice diaries about their day, which were analysed to identify factors related to their well-being at work.FindingsThe picture is more complex than the concerned Western narrative suggests. Workers' personal and professional concerns extend beyond the criteria currently measured in audits, tending to be more relational and less about their physical state.Practical implicationsThe current approach of auditing management practices neglects workers' well-being. This study offers a more comprehensive view of well-being and tests a new method of investigation.Originality/valueThis is the first study to use diary methods in a Chinese factory. It addresses an issue supported by little empirical evidence. It is the first longitudinal study to hear from factory workers themselves about how they are and what impacts their well-being daily.

This article focuses on the lived experiences of rural factory women in West Java. The women discussed currently work and have lived all their lives in Banjaran, a rapidly industrialising district of rural Java. The article explores the working conditions factory women face, the role of foreign managers and Westernised production methods, and the impacts of these upon the status of factory women in their villages and homes. The argument in the paper is based on the premise that; while exploitation of factory women by foreign factory managers, the Indonesian state and military, and the nature of global capitalism, is plainly evident; working women are not necessarily victims. Research suggests that, for a slim majority of the 323 women studied, factory work did not mean reduced status. Factory women in Banjaran had to fight, however, against the tide of extreme exploitation by management and the complicity and corruption of the Suharto regime.

Japanese Working Class Lives is an ethnographic study of the lives of Japanese workers in small firms and examines their experiences of working life, leisure and education. This case study of the Shintani Metals Company illustrates the ways in which employees' lives extend beyond their work. Roberson demonstrates that the Japanese working class is more diverse than Western stereotypes of be-suited salary-men would suggest