Description:
This book examines the effect of state policies on women's roles in the economy. At the most concrete level it investigates the relative lack of response of women's labor force activity rates to export-led development in the Republic of Ireland. At a broader level, it provides critical insights into current labor market debates regarding the causes of women's subordination and the efficacy of state policies designed to alleviate them.
The book shows how the state, in addition to and interactively with the workplace and household, can maintain gender inequality. In so doing, Pyle demonstrates the usefulness of a revitalized and broader structural approach to feminist analysis.
Brief description: Jean Larson Pyle is Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Lowell.
Review Quotes:
"The topic, the constraints on labor force participation of women in Ireland, is significant in itself because Ireland departs so startlingly from experiences of women in the countries undergoing similar economic growth. The topic is also central to our overall understanding of the conditions which influence women's paid labor. The author contrasts her analysis with neoclassical economic literature, with conventional Marxist explanations, and also with feminist theories about the means by which women's subordination is perpetuated." -- Susan Lehrer, State University of New York at New Paltz