The Feminization of Employment through Export-Led Strategies: Evidence from Viet Nam[Féminisation de l’emploi dans les stratégies axées sur l’exportation : l’exemple du Viet Nam]

The early successful experiences of the East Asian NICs confirmed the role of exports as an engine of growth. Surprisingly, most of the earlier studies omit one important empirical fact, namely that the feminization of work contributed significantly to their rapid industrialization. Feminist trade theories argue that export-oriented development strategies have so far been exploitative of cheap female labour in the South. As globalization gathers pace, an increasing number of women in Developing Countries (DCs) have been absorbed into labour-intensive, export-oriented manufacturing sectors. However, the structural changes that go hand in hand with export promotion, as well as the international environment the South faces today, have dramatically modified the inner drives behind the phenomenon. This paper reviews the salient mechanisms at work through a structuralist approach of gender. By examining women’s labour force participation rate in Viet Nam, we show how patterns of gender relations stemming from structural characteristics, as well as social and institutional practices, is related to export-oriented industrialization.