å Monday, December 5th, 2016

In Saskia Sassen’s essay, “Strategic instantiations of Gendering,” she argues that the media and policy circles believe that the leading narrative of our current global economy is based on the factors that place and distance are no longer relevant and that the main key players are the highly educated professionals. Sassen argues that with the emphasis on this particular narrative the information outputs are missing other key factors. As the fact that global migration of maids, nannies, nurses, sex workers and contract brides play a major role in globalization. As the information outputs are neglecting to acknowledge that these low wageworkers have been in existence way before our current economic globalization and are now major players.

Globalization does create the demand for high-level professionals; which then require heavy demands on their lives with long work schedules. This in return generates the need to have the household task to be taken care by the “ serving classes,” which are mainly composed of immigrant and migrant women (5). With the demand of service workers, these low wageworker are incorporated into global markets and play a major part to its growth, but unfortunately they go unnoticed. They are not seen as viable members of globalization.

Globalization has created global growth but has placed many countries in great debt that in return has created a great deal of unemployment. As governments find new creative ways to shrink their debt to be able to compete with the global markets they have implemented exporting workers and permitting mail order brides, as ways to coping with their unemployment. Unfortunately the exportation then gets tied in with global sex trade as criminal organizations look for the means to cash in as they start trafficking in migrant workers. As the workers go over to other countries for employment they tend to send remittances to their families back home. Which then becomes a major source for their government.

As the world economy grows so does the demand for the low wageworkers. Consequently we can see how globalization helps to promote the exploitation of the migrant women who tend to suffer the most without any recognition or without the opportunity to grow. Sadly the mass media and policy makers don’t’ believe that they are not considered to be major contributors to globalization, as the serving class workers tend to hold jobs with limited growth opportunities and the ones that face the most exploitation.

In Sassens essay, she explains that the leading professionals are in demand. Also, the more professionals that are outworking are directly linked to the low-wage immigrant and women workers. High paid professionals acquire a lifestyle that directly creates a demand for the low-wage worker such as nannies, repairmen and sex work. These immigrant workers also send money back to their home countries to create opportunities there. Globalization particularly in urban cities create the large gap in income where high paid upper class keep immigrants and women employed. The low wage immigrant/women workers do not have opportunities for advancement or other career opportunities. If they are not able to further their careers, they will stay at the low wage level.

In the dynamics of globalization when it comes to locations in urban areas, Women are taking on more high paying professional roles. Gentrifications in the urban areas are the cause of professionals moving in and not having the time to do household female/wife duties. These duties include cleaning/childcare. This is what keeps the momentum for the demand of the service worker in these areas. Women whether they come to these areas intentionally or not, are taking on the roles of a wife/caretaker/homemaker.

Globalization of economies is related to the system of women in these domestic work roles. Sassen believes we should look and economic globalization differently in order to see this side of it. Low-wage Immigrant and women workers are at the center of these systematic types of work in these cities. Instead of focusing on the hypermobility etc. We need to see why the demand of these immigrant workers continues to increase. The government is depending on these women workers whether they are here on their own or if they have been trafficked. The traffickers make money from the women and the government depends on these women to fulfill the demands for the domestic service industry. The profit making industry continues to fuel this system that keeps low wageworkers in demand but we do not view globalization in this way.

Corporations are big contributors to keeping women in clerical low paying positions. Corporations also contribute to the demand of service workers such as janitors, restaurant staff etc. Even if these workers are part of this cooperation’s, they are hired as help and remain viewed as a service worker or isn’t viewed at all. They are invisible to the cooperate professionals.