The popularity of neoliberal economic policies is based, in part, on
the argument that the liberalization of markets promotes growth and
increases employment opportunities for women. Although the latest
research bears this out, it also presents a grim portrait of the state of
women’s employment. Approximately seventy percent of those living on
less than a dollar a day are women or girls.
In Veiled Employment, the editors seek to examine these stark disparities,
focusing on the evolving role of women’s employment in Iran. Based
on empirical field research in Iran, the contributors’ essays document the
accelerating trend in the size and diversity of women’s employment since
the 1990s and explore the impact of various governmental policies on
women. The volume analyzes such issues as the effect of global trade
on female employment, women’s contribution to the informal work sector,
and Iranian female migrant workers in the United States. Rejecting
the commonly held view that centers on Islam as the primary cause of
women’s status in the Muslim world, the authors emphasize the role of
the national and international political economies. Drawing on postcolonial
feminist theory, these scholars reveal the ways in which women
in Iran have resisted and challenged Islamism, revealing them as agents
of social transformation rather than as victims of religious fundamentalism.
View other books in the Contemporary Issues in the Middle East series
6 x 9, 360 pages, 63 tables, 16 figures, notes, references, index
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