Capitalist penetration into handicrafts manufacture: an historical review of women's work for the market in Bangladesh
Hossain, H.
Invisible hands women in home based production: 165-174
1987
Document Number: 378640
This paper develops a historical framework for women's roles in the traditional rural manufacturing sector directed towards urban and export markets, including traditional handicrafts production. An historical review is provided of capitalist penetration into this sector. Women have always been heavily involved in production both for domestic use and the market, but their role was earlier invisible outside the home. Especially since independence (1971), however, their visibility has greatly increased as well-intentioned development programmes attempt to organize them into cooperatives for production and export marketing. The need for quality control has led to greater specialization and more rigid division of labour according to sex. The greatest danger, however, arises from the fact that the cooperatives are multi-class in character, with management tending to be in the hands of the elite. In the long run this is likely to lead to subordination of the interests of the producers to those of the importers, exporters and cooperative management.