HOMEWORKING IN RURAL SPAIN - A GENDER APPROACH

An increasing internationalization of economic activities in recent de cades has led to relocation and restructuring of work processes in man y parts of the world and in different sectors of the economy in labour -intensive industries. The search for greater flexibility in the labou r market has enhanced the importance of 'atypical' work often falling within the so-called 'informal economy', in which female labour is pro minent but can scarcely be traced in statistical records. A clear exam ple of this restructuring in Southern Europe is industrial homeworking , which is carried out mainly by women within the context of the under ground economy. In this article we try to shed light on the nature and function of women's industrial homeworking in different rural areas o f Spain - Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia and Galicia where economic re structuring has been particularly strong. While the type of work and t he way homeworking is combined with other activities to boost househol d incomes varies between the regions, many of the women interviewees r eport similar experiences of homeworking, both positive and negative. In each case-study, however, it is clear that the choice to engage in homeworking is highly constrained. It is shaped by the restrictions de riving from gender roles and relations within the family and by the re gional context.