Gender And Sexuality as a Labor Control Regime in the Garment Industry/ Konfeksiyon Sektöründe Emek Kontrol Rejimi Olarak Toplumsal Cinsiyet ve Cinsellik

Abstract

This study examines how women workers experience despotic market conditions and local patriarchal structures within the context of garment production. It specifically discusses the dynamics that render women's labor temporary, obedient, and disciplined in the workplace. The study focuses on women garment workers in the Free Trade Zone in Mersin, Turkey, and is based on qualitative data derived from in-depth interviews with 19 women garment workers, three employers, one union delegate, and one employer representative. The findings reveal how patriarchal patterns are reproduced in daily workshop practices and how gender roles, sexualized meanings, and harassment serve as tools of power, control, and discipline in the workplace, reinforcing patriarchal hegemony. The study identifies that women are considered "ideal workers" in the garment industry due to being perceived as "loyal," "disciplined," and "docile." Furthermore, patriarchal discourses surrounding femininity and heterosexual relationships (whether marital or sexual) are used to control and discipline women workers throughout the production process as a labor control regime. The competition among female workers is shaped by patriarchal femininity roles rather than by the qualifications required for the job. These mechanisms contribute to the creation of a gendered workplace, reinforcing production politics that undermine solidarity among women workers and foster distinctions based on gender and sexuality

Keywords

• Gender
• hegemonic-despotism
• labor
• patriarchy
• labor control regimes
• women

Gender And Sexuality as a Labor Control Regime in the Garment Industry/ Konfeksiyon Sektöründe Emek Kontrol Rejimi Olarak Toplumsal Cinsiyet ve Cinsellik

Öz

Bu çalışma, kadın işçilerin despotik piyasa koşullarını ve yerel patriyarkal yapıları konfeksiyon üretimi bağlamında nasıl deneyimlediklerini incelemektedir. Özellikle, atölye içerisinde kadın emeğini geçici, itaatkâr ve disiplinli hale getiren dinamikleri ele almaktadır. Çalışma, Türkiye'nin Mersin Serbest Bölgesi'nde çalışan kadın konfeksiyon işçilerine odaklanmakta olup, 19 kadın konfeksiyon işçisi, üç işveren, bir sendika temsilcisi ve bir işveren temsilcisi ile gerçekleştirilen derinlemesine görüşmelere dayanmaktadır. Bulgular, patriyarkal kalıpların günlük atölye pratiklerinde nasıl yeniden üretildiğini ve toplumsal cinsiyet rolleri, cinselleştirilmiş anlamlar ve tacizin işyerinde güç, kontrol ve disiplin araçları olarak nasıl kullanılarak patriyarkal hegemonyayı pekiştirdiğini ortaya koymaktadır. Çalışma, kadınların konfeksiyon sektöründe "ideal işçiler" olarak kabul edilmelerinin, onların "sadık", "disiplinli" ve "uysal" olarak algılanmalarına dayandığını göstermektedir. Ayrıca, kadınlık ve heteroseksüel ilişkiler (evlilik ya da cinsellik) etrafında şekillenen patriyarkal söylemler, üretim sürecinde kadın işçileri kontrol etme ve disipline etme aracı olarak kullanılmaktadır. Kadın işçiler arasındaki rekabet, işin gerektirdiği niteliklerden ziyade patriyarkal kadınlık rolleri tarafından belirlenmektedir. Bu mekanizmalar, toplumsal cinsiyete dayalı bir işyeri yapısının oluşmasına katkıda bulunarak, kadın işçiler arasındaki dayanışmayı zayıflatmakta ve toplumsal cinsiyet ve cinselliğe dayalı ayrımları pekiştiren bir üretim politikası yaratmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Toplumsal cinsiyet
• hegemonic despotizm
• emek
• ataerki
• emek kontrol rejimleri
• kadın öznelliği

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