The Political Participation of Women Factory Workers in Mexico

Emory University, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

This Doctoral Dissertation Research Support investigation examines how women workers' participation in civic and political life differs from that of their male counterparts. A related issue is the connection between workforce participation and participation in public life and whether these are the same for women and men workers. In this proposal, it is hypothesized that womens' means to and types of political mobilization differ from that of men, and that women engaged with NGOs are more likely than other women workers to find the resources, rationales and opportunities to mobilize politically. In order to investigate these concerns, a random sample of female and male factory workers in Tijuana and Puebla, Mexico will be surveyed. A smaller category of women workers, NGO leaders and factory managers will be interviewed. Given the continued growth of foreign direct investment in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa and the Middle East in similar assembly and manufacturing operations, the Mexican experience may well be an indicator of future developments in other regions around the globe. This project seeks to further understanding of the levels and types of political participation engaged in by women and men in the manufacturing economy of developing nations. It is designed to illuminate the means by which such workers become politically mobilized, the role that NGOs (religious and secular) may play in furthering democratic participation, and the contribution of such political activity to democratization.