Spatially Differentiated Conceptions of Gender in the Workplace

In: Studies in political economy: SPE ; a socialist review, Heft 43, S. 79-116

Abstract

Personal experiences as a maid in a franchise housekeeping services firm revealed distinct microspatial shifts in the possession & expression of specific conceptions of gender in the workplace. It was found that the women's responses & action were spatially differentiated, resulting in conflict & discord, as well as community & concord. Explored here are some ideological aspects of a spatial conceptualization -- workplace. After first laying an analytical foundation in classical Marxism, a feminist critique & analysis are presented by outlining implications of an articulation of gender & class relations in the workplace within the (re)production of a hegemonic gender ideology. It is argued that gender needs to be conceptualized as a set of concrete processes that are (re)connected through context. Concluding comments are offered on the usefulness of microspatial studies of gender in the workplace within the more widely cast social urban environment. AA