5 Assignment 12

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.

In Sassen  essay, “Strategic Instantiations of Gendering,” Saskia Sassen (2003:1)  she argues “today’s dominant account about economic globalization in media and policy, as well as in much economic analysis, emphasizes hypermobility, global communications, and the neutralization of place and distance.”  Sassen states that place does not matter and only people with education matter.  the new transitional worker is over looked and only the privilege is accounted for and stated that the global migration of maids, nannies,nurses,sex workers and contract brides(1). Sassen talks about the immigrant cultures where women take on jobs to make ends meet and take care of their family in other country. Sassan argue that the contribution and marginalization of immigrant women are factors that contribute to the growth of the global economy but goes unnoticed in today’s society.  Low wage workers are overlooked and are not credited but is the driving force behind the country’s capital. She spoke about how these women would be trafficked across country lines for jobs and the trouble they faced.

Sassen argues that global cities in the U.S. and across the world contributed to the process of creating these industries and not recognizing the growth in global capital. She spoke about the sex workers and how much money the government made off these workers. She states that 4 million people were trafficked in 1998 which made a profit of 7 billion dollars. Which is so sad to think that these poor women who have been exploited generated so much money for the government. She argues that the work force is made up mostly of women and most of the country’s revenue is made up of the money that these women work by any means then send home to their families in other country. It’s funny how this article states that women make up the majority of resident workers and they are mostly women of color. Which the last piece we read by Paul England stated that women earned less and work less because of motherhood. Sassen shed light on how women are important to the working class. She said that immigrant women are important actors in the new informal economics of cities of the global north. Women take more important roles in society like active and social roles. Women have been exploited throughout time and it can be seen that they have been playing and doing their part but have not been recognized.

In Sasika Sassen’s “Strategic Instantiations of Gendering”, the author argues about “information outputs” that are missing from today’s dominant global economy. She states that media and policies surrounding the global economy in respect to women suggest that the highly educated professional is the only driving factor of the global workforce. She continues to argue that the contribution and marginalization of immigrant women are key factors to the growth of the global economy but usually go unnoticed in today’s world. In other words, the recognition of hypermobility and capital gain in the world economy is credited to the high wage, highly educated worker, and does not consider the low wage, marginalized immigrant woman worker. The article argues that the overlooked immigrant woman worker is one of the major factors in the gains of the global market and should be recognized as a driving force.

Sassen continues to argue that the global economy’s growth was dependent on producing a labor force of low wage women workers which focused on “first world” women’s domestic roles. Some of these domestic roles included industries such as nannies, maids, nurses and prostitution. The author argues that global cities in the U.S. and across the world contributed to the process of creating these industries and not recognizing the growth in global capital because of them. As these specific roles were being created for capital, the demand for these industries were on high and became highly profitable. These methods are seen across the world but are often not recognized as part of the dominant factor of the global economy.

When we tend to look at how the creation of a labor force happens in our global markets, in my opinion, one thing is clear: the exploitation of specific groups is a constant factor on how to gain capital. I think of how the era of slavery in the U.S. used African Americans as the driving force to its economy and profited heavily on the work of slaves. In this article, we tend to see amazing similarities on how lowly paid women workers and immigrants are exploited in given service areas to help global economies get richer and bigger. The hardest part to understand is that women and immigrants in these industrialized complexes are contained in a system that does not given them an opportunity to grow and build wealth as the ones who exploit them. They are continuously marginalized, discriminated and exploited for the almighty dollar and not recognized as the major element of global economic growth. In order to begin a system to deal with this issue, we must begin to expose the conversation and demand opportunities of equity amongst all. We must look at global cities where these systematic practices and policies exploit women and immigrants, and construct definitive action and conversations to promote change.

Due Sunday, December 4th, by midnight. Word count: 400 words. Please make sure everything is in your own words. If you paraphrase, make sure to include the proper citation.

In her essay, “Strategic Instantiations of Gendering,” Saskia Sassen (2003:1) argues “[t]oday’s dominant account about economic globalization in media and policy, as well as in much economic analysis, emphasizes hybermobility, global communications, [and] the neutralization of place and distance.” Drawing on details from her work, explain what Sassen believes is missing from these account of our global economy that focus on “information outputs”?