Globalisation and poverty: impacts on households of employment and restructuring in the textiles industry of South Africa

Abstract

This paper addresses an important but often neglected theme in debates on globalisation-the consequences for workers of engagement in global markets, particularly for those workers who are retrenched in the process. Using the South African textiles industry as a case study, the paper investigates the impact on workers' household livelihoods of industrial restructuring following trade liberalisation in the 1990s. Interviews with textile workers and retrenched textile workers were conducted in five locations in three provinces-the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal-in order to capture different local dynamics. Workers employed in textiles generally enjoy a relatively stable formal sector wage, which, though less than the manufacturing average, is well above the national poverty line. However, the benefits were not evenly spread between the regions and job insecurity has been increasing. Workers retrenched from textile employment have faced extreme difficulties in a country with exceptionally high levels of open unemployment, and many families have fallen into deep poverty, which may now be transmitted intergenerationally. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Work locus of control and sense of coherence as antecedents of job insecurity

“…Which of these personality factors matter more?). The context of the study seems particularly relevant, as literature suggests job insecurity in South Africa is increasing (Bezuidenhout, Khunou, Mosoetsa, Sutherland, & Thoburn, 2007;Forrest, 2014;Kritzinger, Barrientos, & Rossouw, 2004), and contributing to the emigration of skills and talent (Kerr-Phillips, & Thomas, 2009).…”

Post-MFA Adjustment in the Philippine Garments Sector: Women's Cooperatives amid Manufacturing Decline

“…One of the key difficulties when performing research on displaced workers is locating them. Displaced workers may relocate to other areas or return home, leaving only immobile and impoverished workers behind (see also Bezuidenhout et al, 2007). Interviews with unions provided information on three separate initiatives of small groups of displaced women in different parts of Metro Manila who, without being linked to each other in any way, formed their own manufacturing cooperatives after their displacement from export companies.…”

“…Only during the past few decades has the allocation of production been structured in a way that the sector could not fully utilize the cheapest and most cost effective locations for production to the fullest extent. Examples of decline in the garments sector can be found in different historical time-settings and throughout the world (see, for example, Sunley, 1992;Bezuidenhout et al, 2007;Hassink, 2007;Rosario del Rosario and Pineda-Ofreneo, 2007). In some cases manufacturers were able to reinvent their role within the international value chain (see, for example, van Grunsven and Smakman, 2005).…”

“…Displaced workers in this context have no welfare state to fall back on and the chances of them finding alternative employment in the formal sector are often slim. Only a few studies have focused on the aftermath of manufacturing decline in developing countries and the impacts and alternatives for displaced workers (see, for example, Bezuidenhout et al, 2007). These displaced workers are often considered to have limited means for resisting global developments.…”

“…The garments sector traditionally employs female workers with limited education and few opportunities for formal employment outside labour intensive manufacturing. The decline of labour intensive manufacturing in the context of developing countries is a relatively new research subject (see, for example, Scott, 2005;Bezuidenhout et al, 2007). The impact is especially profound when a country fails to develop more advanced production profiles.…”