Restructuring work and gender: (Dis)integrating worlds?

As gainful employment is transformed towards more flexible, market-efficien t work in the service sector, we examine the opportunities for women, focus sing in particular on the relationship between the world of paid work and t he world outside. Our underlying thesis is that trends towards ,,undoing ge nder" are an inherent feature of the reorganisation of work. However, these processes are countered by persistent gender inequalities and by off-loadi ng society's reproductive needs into the ,,private" sphere, which triggers new (reconfigured) gendering processes. The effects are ambivalent: ,,women 's" paid employment promotes an integration and simultaneously a greater di sintegration of work spheres. This thesis is explored by drawing on researc h at the Deutsche Bahn AG, where rigorous restructuring in pursuit of (pre- IPO) commercial efficiency in our view reflects a paradigm of corporate reo rganisation. We conclude that paid employment for women will only sustain b roader opportunities, if labour policy is based on a consensus, which respe cts a symmetry between life inside and outside the workplace. In the medium term this would also enable companies to select quality on a gender-neutra l basis, thereby enhancing their commercial efficiency.