Home-based work and new ways of organizing in the era of globalization

The voluntary precariat in the value chain: The hidden patterns of home-based garment production in Turkey

“…Home-based pieceworker women in garment production are expanding as a form of precarious work; they work in their homes and are seen as housewives who ‘voluntarily’ work for additional money in their spare time rather than as workers (Hattatoğlu and Tate, 2016: 97).…”

“…Women have been a part of the home-based production system, especially for producing use value, even before the factory production, and home-based work pre-dates the industrial revolution (Hattatoğlu and Tate, 2016: 96). However, since the production system has shifted from big factories to disparate small-scale workplaces again, and with the increasing importance of informal economic activities, the home became an important workplace.…”

“…In this context, women join the disadvantaged worker groups in the labour markets for various reasons and become the most preferential labour category due to their disposable nature. 5 They are also preferred by global and local employers because of their specific situation as a form of labour that is less likely to organize and resist against working conditions and long working hours because of their weak structural and associational power (Dedeoğlu, 2012; Ergun, 2004; Hattatoğlu and Tate, 2016).…”

“…The global production system not only creates a precarious employment situation but also generates the conditions of new forms of organizations for those not included in traditional trade unions (Hattatoğlu and Tate, 2016; Tartanoğlu, 2015). Even so, most of the home-based workers cannot express their voice or bargain for better conditions, and they have limited scope for negotiation due to unequal or exploitative value chain dynamics (Chen, 2014).…”

“…The ease with which production can be relocated and deindustrialization processes in advanced economies make workers in developing countries more vulnerable to exploitation (Thornley et al., 2010). This means that workers need to meet the production requirements of a segmented and unregulated global production system while work is in itself becoming more precarious at the same time (Hattatoğlu and Tate, 2016).…”