*** revised draft, 11/5/04 ***
Gender and the Labor Market in China and Poland
C. Cindy Fan* and Joanna Regulska**
* Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, (310) 825-3821,
fan@geog.ucla.edu
** Departments of Women's and Gender Studies and Geography, Rutgers University, (732) 9321151, regulska@rci.rutgers.edu
Gender is an important dimension for understanding labor market experiences throughout the
world. In this chapter, we attempt to answer the question of what accounts for gender changes in
labor market during the periods of political, economic and social transformations. In particular
we are interested in understanding of who are the actors and how their actions translate into
persistence of gender differentials in the labor market.
The varieties of wide ranging theoretical and policy approaches have been proposed as
explanations of gender differentials in the labor market. Yet, often they seem to be unable to
account for gender differences in labor force allocations and participation, gender wage gap and
occupational structures. At minimum, this inadequacy of explanations does reinforce the fact that
singular explanations are insufficient to grasp the complexity of what causes and why gender
differences remain in the labor market. More broadly, shifts at the global scale formed new flow
of capital, goods, people, services and information that produced deeper gendered patterns of
social exclusion, poverty and fear. These new flows and actions connect across scales and create
complex webs of new spatial and scalar arrangements in the labor market. How these patterns
have changed and how they implicated gendering of labor market? Who are the critical actors
shaping these relationships and how did they respond to these new circumstances? Have gender
differentials become significantly altered and if yes, what have been changed and what remained
unaffected? In short, what accounts for the processes of constructing the new spaces of gendered
economy under conditions of transformations?
This chapter will look specifically at two empirical case studies, that of China and
Poland. Both of these countries, while subscribing to socialist and communist tenets for decades,
have undergone recently dramatic political, economic, social and cultural changes. Poland, not
only broke away (as the rest of the central and east Europe (CEE) countries did) from Soviet
regime, but a decade later realigned itself politically, economically and socially, by joining the
European Union. China, on the other hand, while sustaining certain degree of central control,
opened and restructured its market in unprecedented fashion and continues to aspire to join ranks
of capitalist, albeit state control, economy (for example via WTO). While, both of our cases
share large degree of similarities of past practices and policies, and therefore of implications that
these policies brought, each also has its own social, cultural and political history that makes them
different. These similarities and differences present a challenging case for answering the
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question of why gender differentials existed and continue to operate, even though dramatic
changes took place.
We first summarize several theoretical perspectives that represent both traditional as well
as alternative explanations on gender differentials in the labor market. Then, from historical
perspective, we articulate the socialist and transitional context of our two case studies. We argue,
that in order to examine changes and shifts in women’s position as economic subjects in China
and Poland, we have to look at four primary forces: 1) patriarchal ideologies and sociocultural
context that has shaped and is shaping with a renewed strength the social practices at home, work
and in public sphere; 2) the state - that had advocated a degree of equalization but recently has
become more fragmented and is undergoing process of rescaling; while simultaneously
repositioning itself vis a vis different social groups; 3) market - that have adopted rapidly and
openly capitalist and neo-liberal philosophy, but at the same time struggles with legacies of the
socialist past; and 4) women’s agency that gained strength and allows women to create new
spaces of engagement. We conclude the paper by pointing out the advantages of studying two
transitional economies with different backgrounds and by highlighting that allow gender
differentials to sustain their force.
Theoretical Considerations
Most conventional theories for analyzing economic questions such as labor market differentials
tend to neglect gender ideology and institutional structures such as the state. More often than
not, gender is absent or treated as merely one of many categories and women's agency is ignored.
How the state has repositioned itself during globalization and economic liberalization and thus
impacted the labor market, which is especially relevant for socialist and transitional economies,
is not a central focus in existing research. We argue that feminist and institutional approaches
are alternatives to and complement the mainstream discourse in meaningful ways and in ways
that shed important light on understanding the situation of women in the labor market. Before
we address our two empirical cases, therefore, we review in the following the crux and
limitations of conventional theories and explain why we believe feminist and institutional
approaches constitute more powerful analytical frameworks.
Conventional Theories
Neoclassical economic theory assumes that labor market outcomes are functions of individuals'
human capital and productivity differentials. As women in most societies have lower level of
education than men, they also have lower productivity and lower wages. In this view, improving
education and human capital for women is key to closing the gender gap in the labor market
(Stiglitz 1998). Yet, perfect markets do not exist, nor do perfectly level ground for competition in
the labor market. Many studies have shown that women's lower wages and underrepresentation
in powerful and political positions, cannot be fully explained by human capital characteristics
such as education and experience (Barrett et al. 1991; Bauer et al. 1992). As our Poland case will
show, women with higher education level than men still occupy inferior position in the labor
market.
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Theories on labor market segmentation deal with how people of similar backgrounds are
clustered in certain occupations, jobs and sectors, and are especially concerned with
segmentation into the formal and informal sectors, or the primary and secondary sectors (Harris
and Todaro 1970; Piore 1979). The primary sector is often associated with dominant groups of
society while subordinate groups such as minorities, migrants, and women tend to concentrate in
the less desirable secondary sector. In this view, gender differentials in labor market experience
are explained not only by human capital differentials but by women’s lower social status,
barriers that block them from certain jobs, and subsequently their concentration in the secondary
sector (Cai 2002: 250; Huang 1999; Titkow 2001). During the socialist period, rapid
industrialization expanded dramatically primary sector and the tenets of equality, including
gender equality, brought large number of women into the economic fold. Yet, despite the
equality rhetoric differentials along gender and class remain intact.
The Marxist perspective emphasizes that capitalism's inevitable outcome is a dualistic
and polarized society. In capitalist societies, therefore, women’s entering the labor market and
taking up unskilled, low-paid jobs would further aid capital accumulation (Beechey 1986).
Marxism legitimizes state intervention not only in industrialized economies but in less
industrialized economies such as those socialist block in central and east Europe, China and
Vietnam. So for example, interpreting a capitalist labor market as problematic, the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) as well as communist parties in CEE countries replaced it by centralized
labor allocation and wage control. In theory, therefore, female workers had the same
opportunities and wages as male workers. Also subscribing to the Marxist logic that prioritizes
production over reproduction, communist parties drew women out from the home and placed
them at work side by side with men. Thus, historical disadvantages of women are considered
products of capitalism, which oppresses proletariats and women alike. The Marxist theory,
however, is fundamentally a class theory and it emphasizes the sameness between men and
women rather than gender ideology.
Feminist Theory
The mainstream discourse, as reviewed above, is masculinist as it addresses a limited set of
places, processes and actors and in this way marginalizes certain places such as the South and
reduces women to passive victims (Nader et al. 2002). Feminist theory, as an alternative, focuses
on power relations, justice, cultural constructions of difference and boundaries, agency, and
contextual and inclusive understandings. It is viewed as an alternative to Feminist scholars
engage in analyses that unfold the construction of gender, class and race and conceptualize
subjects as embodied actors in social relations – labor relations - in our case.
In the feminist view, gender differentials in the labor market must be understood in terms
of how gender is socially and culturally constructed, such as through patriarchal ideology, and
how work is gendered. For example, women workers in assembly line-type manufacturing work
are constructed as docile, passive, obedient and disciplined workers (Cheng and Hsiung 1992;
Lee 1995; Reszke 1993). Thus, work processes are imbued with notions of appropriate
femininity, which exemplifies the conventional view that women belong to domestic, informal
and above all less important spheres (Mohanty 1997). Some jobs are regarded as or have become
female jobs not only because of the biological argument but because they are considered of low
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value, which reflects gender hierarchy rather than the characteristics of the jobs themselves
(McDowell 1999: 127).
The construction of women as passive, obedient or with limited skills attempts to deny
women their subjecthood and their agency. Yet, in reality, women acquire skills, make career
choices, search for jobs and thus women interact with a variety of actors across scales. Their
actions are not uniformed as they are differentiated and marked by gender but also by class,
ethnicity, race, age or location. Furthermore as each of the individual is guided by internal
attributes of confidence, assertiveness, desires, or need for privacy and intimacy, their agency is
shaped by these markings. Using Goddard's (2000) definition of agency seen as “capacity and
willingness of actors to take steps in relations to their social situations” (2000: 3) women do act
then as agents in the labor market. But as Lister (1997) and Dissanayake (1996) point out we
must also pay attention to institutional mechanisms as it is through them that agency gains in
power and definition; agency cannot be enacted unless individuals or groups become actively
engaged with these structures. By arguing that this is not a simple desire to act, but rather that
this desire to act is also a response to specific social, political, cultural or economic context
within which particular individual or groups live, we account for personal intentionality and
individual desires and interests, but simultaneously we acknowledge larger context of social
relations and structures.
Institutional Approaches
What seems also to be omitted from conventional explanations is the explicit acknowledgement
of the role that structures such as state institutions, non-governmental organizations, foreign private and public - institutions and organizations do play in the process of interacting,
controlling and changing labor market. What power these actors have, how they use it, under
what conditions and with what aims, do implicate not only who and where has access to jobs, but
also what kind of jobs they can get, how much will they be paid and what their career path (if
any) will look like. In other words the social, spatial and fiscal differentiations of the labor
market are governed by shifting institutional power relations.
While some scholars have been proponents of the demise of the state arguments (e.g.
Ohmae 1996), others continue to regard the state as of great relevance both in its economic and
its political capacities (Hirst 1997). Rather then focusing on the analysis of the weakened or
strengthened state, they ask “how the state continues to participate in capital’s
internationalization in order to reproduce itself” (Kelly 1999: 389). The repositioning of the
state, they argue, has been linked to the demise of the nation-state, but also to global shifts and to
explorations of new forms of global governance (Axford 1995; Bauman 1998; Zurn 2000). Thus,
while globalization, reinvigorated state attempts to retain control within its jurisdiction, it has
also created possibilities for new forms of capital alliances across scale to emerge. The focus
then on the changing power, structure and orientation of the state, and its ability to adjust its
form, responses, and functions offers more fruitful potential for analysis (Dicken et al, 1997;
Bauman 1998; Brenner et al. 2003; Strange 1996).
The analysis of state role cannot however assume that state is monolithic. Jessop
proposes a useful approach to treat state as an ensemble of actors who govern through complex
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process of competitions, contestations and disunity (Jessop 1990; 2002). Silvey (2004: 248)
argues further that the terrain of state actions is shaped by “a series of ongoing struggles and
bargains in which subordinated groups play active roles”. As a result we cannot assume that
state practices will have uniformly patriarchal-capitalist outcomes. Such impacts will vary across
scales, locations and will impact differently individuals and households depending on their
multilayered identities marked by gender, race, ethnicity, class, age, religion among others. The
state fragmentation argument is in particular, valuable, in two respects, when applied to
politically and economically volatile environments of countries in transition. First, socialist state
has shown its ability to adjust by repositioning and reorienting itself by embracing neoliberal
economy tenets of private ownership and simultaneously withdrawing social support to those
groups that in the past have been at the core of its support. Thus while state began to support
small businesses, it scaled down its support of children, women, elderly and sick. Secondly,
regime transformations resulted in devolution of power to regional and local level, and thus in
the departure from a centralized and hierarchically planned economic system. These shifts in turn
opened possibilities for institutional fragmentations and establishment of new power relations
among and between state and non-state actors. The emergence of privately owned businesses and
new opportunities for foreign investments; establishment of local and regional governments with
larger degree of autonomy and fiscal independence; freedom for non-governmental organizations
to emerge and for foreign institutions and organizations to build new formal and informal
linkages, partnerships and alliances are all indicators of such state and institutional reorientation
and fragmentation. Indeed Blatter (2003) points out that not only formal but also informal,
interorganizational networks play important role in the governing and policy-making process.
Contextualizing Theoretical Explanations in Transitional Economies
Examining the two empirical cases of China and Poland together permits us to address contexts
that share a socialist history but that are different in many respects. Before we examine
particular forces that have shaped gender differences in labor market it is necessary that we
briefly outline the history of the two empirical contexts.
The bulk of China's history was characterized by feudalistic and Confucian societal codes
and an authoritarian political system. On the brink of socialist transformation in the mid-1900s,
the Chinese population was overwhelmingly rural and uneducated. Socialism was imported and
its triumph marked a victory of Mao and nationalism rather than a societal commitment to
socialist ideology. Also borrowed from the former Soviet Union, a model of development
consisting of centralization, collectivization, indigenous industrialization and mass mobilization
for production was imposed on China. Socialism legitimized the Chinese Communist Party to
practice authoritarian rule and central planning, but commitment to socialist ideology was
relatively short-lived and it was quickly replaced by economic liberalization beginning in the late
1970s. Since then, the Chinese state has readjusted its charge from central planning to guiding
the economy and has increasingly refrained from implementing socialist ideals in the social and
economic arenas. This has made room for market, including labor market, to grow. Market is
by no means new in China. Prior to the mid-1900s, trade, mercantilism, commerce and capitalist
organization had had a long history in that country. The recent market reforms fostered trade,
economic liberalization and diversification, urbanization and industrialization, and growth of the
private sector, but it also meant layoffs, unemployment, and withdrawal of the state from
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provision of social benefits. This new development model quickly delivered successful results,
transforming a previously stagnant economy into one commanding an ever-expanding segment
of the world economy and aspiring to accommodate world standards, as seen in China's recent
entry into WTO. This success is often attributable to an incremental and gradualist approach
toward reforms and is contrasted with that of Russia and Central and Eastern Europe, where
"shock therapy" delivered less successful economic results. China's approach, however, also
meant much lower tolerance for resistance, as shown by the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989 and
the subsequent period of relative lack of civil challenges to the state. Still, economic
liberalization has indeed enabled individuals such as entrepreneurs and organizations such as
NGOs to enlarge their roles and to exert their agency.
Poland’s history is in many ways much more turbulent. Within the short period of one
century, the country has undergone tremendous changes moving from a poor and predominantly
rural society, that suffered tremendously as a result of the WWII, through its incorporation as a
satellite country of the Soviet block, that only forty years later witnessed (with the rest of the
central and east Europe) the collapse of the Soviet experiment. Similarly as in China, Soviet
socialism was forced upon Poland and with it centralized and planned economy was introduced.
The new system meant, on the one hand, war on illiteracy, provision of free education and social
insurance, rapid industrialization and urbanization, but on the other, it resulted in destruction of
private sector, forced collectivization of farming (that in the end was never completed) and slow
but visibly growing discrepancies between rural and urban standards of living.
Throughout the four decades of socialism, Polish society continuously rejected the
imposition of Soviet style socialism. State economic and social policies have been challenged
regularly as strikes and demonstrations (often ending in violent confrontations with state)
engulfed periodically different regions of Poland; the civil disobedience spirit was always
present. Citizens’ demanded better pay and better working conditions, they objected to price
increases and challenged regimes oppressive restrictions on civil and political rights (that
culminated in emergence of Solidarity movement with its 10 million membership). Catholic
Church has been repeatedly in odds with the state and eventually became supporter of civil
resistance and added opposition movement that brought the fall of Soviet regime in 1989. Yet,
Catholic Church similarly as the state saw women as mothers, wives, caregivers and attempted in
many ways to delineate home as their primary location. The post-1989 social and economic
reforms, were not gradual as in China, but rather were introduced as “shock therapy”. They
introduced price liberalization, rapid state withdrawal of subsidies, private ownership, reforms of
financial sector but also forced massive lay-offs, decline incomes for many and erosion of social
benefits. These reforms were further intensified as Poland had to reform its economy rapidly in
order to meet accessions criteria; a pre-requisite for joining the European Union that finally took
place in May 2004.
In this chapter we propose that as much as introduction of socialist tenets challenged
patriarchal ideologies of the past, it also did create new social and economic prospects for
Chinese and Polish women. The arrival of market ideology did also introduce new opportunities,
but simultaneously advanced gender and social divisions that led to abandonment of certain
segments of population by state. These new conditions, where state and market began closer
cooperation, created in turn a need for more active role on the part of civil society, and especially
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of groups such as women to self-organize in order to benefit from new opportunities but also to
counter persistence of patriarchy and of the negative consequences of the reforms. We argue that
in both countries women's labor market experiences can be explained by examining the role of
sociocultural institutions, of state (and its repositioning), market and women's agency. In the
following sections, we will discuss each of these forces.
Patriarchal Ideology and Sociocultural Institutions
Powerful sociocultural institutions are less flamboyant then drastic regime changes but are no
doubt deeply ingrained into the social fabric and are perhaps more resilient than revolutionary
events. Thus any discussion of how women’s economic position has shifted over recent decades
cannot begin without acknowledging the cultural contexts within which these changes were
taking place and of an recognition of those cultural forces that have especially shaped women’s
experiences as economic subjects. For such an understanding it might be critical to accept an
inclusive notion of sociocultural institutions that is not only limited to tangible forms, such as
marriage, family and the church, but does encompasses also deeply-rooted ideologies and
practices.
Confucian thought in China and Catholicism in Poland are certainly among the forces
that, over the centuries, shaped in fundamental ways societal norms and practices. Both of these
philosophies prescribe to clear gender differences by positioning women in the society and
family as unequal to men. While in case of Confucianism these parameters are far more strict
and women are the objects of more controlled limitations, Catholicism nevertheless demanded
from women to be complaint wives and mothers. In China, Confucian thought prescribes specific
roles to individuals based on their gender, social class, and relative position to each other; it
erects boundaries and defines power relations between members of society. Thus women are
subordinated to other male members of the family, namely, their fathers, their husbands, and
ultimately their sons. This patriarchal ideology underlies age-old practices, especially in the
countryside, whereby marriage connotes the transfer of a woman’s membership and labor to the
husband’s family (Croll 1984). Women are not only expected to be submissive to men but to
sacrifice their interests to those of men (Fan 2003). The depth of patriarchal ideology is vividly
illustrated by parents' (especially those in rural China) strong preference for sons and practices of
abandoning girls in response to birth-control policy.
The Catholic ideal demands the family and child-centered women’s identity (Sroda 1992:
15). For the Catholic tradition the female identity rests not only on submission, but also on
obedience, religiousness and passiveness; from this perspective, women’s agency is denied. Yet,
the Catholic tradition gave women also a central place and signaled their agency. Church and
the nation repeatedly called upon women to preserve nation when under threat, to safeguard
family and to use all women’s capabilities to care, manage and sacrifice. Thus, while women
were central in some respect, de facto this pseudo centrality reduced often women’s role to the
symbolic dimensions and did not translate into benefiting women as an oppressed group. This
system of beliefs does go then beyond religious stand and as such it signifies existence of far
deeper patriarchal order. Indeed, some scholars argued that Catholicism in Poland can be
perceived as not only the religion but also as “the lifestyle, the worldview, the educational
model” (Sroda 1992:13). Yet in the end, Catholic traditions while cultivating “woman” as a
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national and religious symbol, constrain, similarly as in Confucianism, women in the private
sphere of the family duties.
These cultural and religious tenets resulted in the construction of cultural norms, both in
China and in Poland, where repeatedly women found themselves in the inferior positions vis a
vis men. There are differences, however, in the degree to which each of these philosophies
affected governmental standards and societal norms of daily practices. While in China women’s
ultimate membership in the husband’s family discourages the natal family from investing in their
education (Lu 1997), (even when socialism began investing in education), in Poland education
became widely available to women, especially with arrival of socialism. As a result in China
these limitations of access set off a vicious cycle in which women are poorly educated and thus
have low returns in the labor market, which further discourages investment in their education. In
2002, 60.5% of men in China, compared with only 49.0% of women, had received education at
or beyond junior secondary level. In Poland, on the other hand, women became better educated
than men in terms of years of schooling and they outnumber men at the post-secondary level
education (Bialecki and Heynes 1993). With little access to education and constrained by
subordinate social position, women in China are told that their place is “inside” the household
while their husbands are responsible for the “outside” sphere, including making the earnings to
support the family. Housework continues to be the primary reason why some women in China
are not in the labor force (NBS 2002: 1237-1242). In both countries, however as in the West,
women are stereotyped as the nurturing members and are expected to be the primary care-givers
(Yu and Chau 1997; McDowell 1999:126). Furthermore, what Polish case indicates is that even
access to education and resulting from it higher level of educational attainment did little to
benefit women and eradicate gender differences in economic sphere. Instead women became to
suffer from double burden in the labor force and in the home (Bauer et al. 1992; Corrin 1992;
Harrell 2000).
The inside-outside dichotomy not only prescribes gender division of labor but legitimizes
unequal power in the household. These are continuously being reproduced in both countries,
although in Poland a more equitable gender model begun to emerge, where both women and men
are willing to share more equitably in domestic chores and men acknowledge
underrepresentation of women in public sphere (Fuszara 2001). Women in China do remain
coded as less important family members who are responsible for a limited sphere that is informal
and domestic; men, on the other hand, access a much broader sphere outside the home which is
important (as the family’s economic well being hinges on it) and more formal. Jacka (1997) and
others argued that in the countryside the inside-outside boundary had shifted to one between
agricultural and nonagricultural work as women become the primary agricultural labor. Feminist
scholars have also shown that power relations in the home and at the work place are key to
explaining gender differentials in the labor market. Lee’s (1995) work illustrates how young
migrant women are constructed as docile and ignorant “maiden workers” and how women's work
is perceived as secondary to familial responsibilities.
The construction of women as less productive labourers reflects more than their lack of
education as it draws attention to gendered power relations and boundaries. In fact as
discriminatory job advertisements indicate, the notion that women are not as productive and
efficient as men in the labor market and are only suitable for certain jobs is deeply rooted in both
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societies (Ingham et al. 2001; Tan 1996). Mandal claims that indeed “Sexism as an ideology
“explains” and “justifies” women’s inferior situation on the job market” (1998: 71). She argued
that gender not only hinders women’s ability to advance professionally, but also represents a
significant barrier to women’s attempts of leaving the ranks of unemployed. The traditional
gender roles and expectations regarding women’s role in the family as well as negative
stereotypes reading women as professional workers including their low reliability, inability to be
a boss and men not wanting them to be a boss (Reszke 1993); having less commitment to
professional work and being less attached to their jobs are among chief factors that perpetuate
sexism on the Polish job market.
Sociocultural institutions and cultural practices have constrained then repeatedly
women’s ability to become active economic subject. What is clear from examining how
Confucianism and Catholicism were integrated into daily practices is that role of state was not
neutral here. Paradoxically, socialist state of China and Poland, despite its rhetoric of sameness
and commitment to eradication of gender differences, actively perpetuated patriarchal gender
roles and legitimized gender inequalities.
State
Based on Marxist logic, the premise of the socialist state was that increased inequality is an
inevitable product of a capitalist labor market; the key strategy then was to reduce, if not
eliminate, inequality. Underlying notion was that the state could equalize. In an attempt to create
a classless society, the Chinese as well as Polish state eliminated landlords, persecuted
capitalists, centralized labor allocation, kept wages even, and officially maintained near full
employment. We argue that while the official attempt was indeed to achieve gender equality,
these efforts were paralleled by inexplicit propagation of patriarchal ideology that in the end
reinforced and produced new inequalities. Socialist state utilized several mechanisms and
policies to achieve its goals. Among them was focus on mass women’s labor force participation,
allocation of jobs, control of occupational structures and control of wages, and provision of
social benefits and services. We will discuss each of these briefly in the context of socialist
economies.
Massive mobilization of women to enter the labor force has been a major achievement of
both Polish and Chinese state. In both countries, several top-down instruments facilitated the
entrance of women into the labor force in large numbers. The CCP Mao’s famous statement that
“women carry half of the heavens on their shoulders” summarizes a Marxist version of gender
ideology, one that emphasizes gender equality in production. Underlying this ideology is the
notion that emancipation of women depends on increasing their economic contribution to the
non-domestic sphere (Barret et al. 1991; Johnson 1983: 88). As a result women’s labor force
participation in China rose dramatically. When the PRC was founded, women accounted for only
7.5% of the labor force (Davin 1976). In 1982, 81.7% of women between the ages of 15 and 54
were in the labor force and that proportion changed only slightly in subsequent decades (All
China Women's Federation 1991: 234-237; SSB 1985: 440-443). However, the state’s
commitment toward gender equality is seen as inconsistent and easily shaken by economic
problems (Andors 1983). Economic crisis in the late 1950s and early 1960s coincided with
programs that advocated for the notion of “good socialist housewives” (Loscoco and Wang
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1992). In response to large young cohorts entering the labor force in the 1970s, the state
implemented a mandatory policy that requires women to retire at 55 – 5 years earlier than men
(Bauer et al. 1992). In essence, these programs and instruments legitimize practices that force
women out of the labor force when jobs are in great demand.
As in China, the Polish socialist state formally committed to integration of women into
the labor force. What made Polish circumstances different from Chinese was the massive
destruction of the country during the WWII and therefore the acute labor shortage increased
women’s participation from 32.9% in 1950 to 39.3% in 1970 and 44.3% in 1983; by 1989
women represented 45% of labor force and women’s labor force participation was 68.1%.
(Regulska 1992, Ingham and Ingham 2001). As in China, the noticeable slow growth through
50’s and 60’s reflected the shift in state attitudes towards women’s labor force participation and
the official celebration of women’s “homecoming”. The focus on pronatal policies and yet
withdrawal of state responsibilities for day-to-day consumption needs such as medical and
welfare benefits as well as some educational responsibilities forced women to accept the new
burden at home but also to continue their work outside to pay for the family needs (Lake and
Regulska 1990; Titkow 1984). These two opposing tendencies negotiated, over next decades,
women’s place at work and at home. As scholars argue the reasons for women’s participation in
Poland were then negative in nature; this was done partly to legitimize state’s equality ideology,
but partly to address constant shortages of labor and to meet financial needs of families (Ingham
and Ingham 2001; Titkow 1984). Moreover, the diverse laws that were implemented to advance
women’s participation often translated into discriminatory practices as women were precluded
from certain occupations, could not lift, work in potentially heath endangering environment or
work during the night shift.
The push for mass activization of women was imported from the former Soviet Union
and some scholars argue “was done without women’s will and participation” (Titkow 1992: 6).
In Poland since the imported state socialism was ideologically rejected by the majority of the
society, most women felt at least ambiguous, if not alienated from it. The incorporation of
women into the labor market didn’t mean that women were free from the traditional duties in the
private sphere. Since to the certain extent the communist emancipation was artificial, for almost
50 years the “ideal” woman had to combine the traditional mother’s and housekeeper role
(required by the national and anti-state tradition) with the full time job (required by the socialist
state and the “real life”) (Sroda 1992: 15). Similarly in China, despite its success in placing
women at work outside the home, the CCP’s commitment and ability to challenge age-old
gender ideology is questionable (Barrett et al. 1991; Park 1992). Researchers point out that
participation in the labor force alone does not ensure gender equality and that the Maoist state
did little to reduce women’s heavy responsibility in the home (Bauer et al. 1992; Johnson 1983).
The second avenue used by state to control labor market was labor allocation system,
control of occupational structures and of wages. The state’s centralization of labor allocation
effectively abolished a free labor market, such that labor was not considered as a cost and that
near-universal adult participation in the labor force was possible (Ingham et al. 2001; Stockman
1994). The state determined who and how many to place in which jobs. Despite the fact that
both states used the same mechanism, women in Poland have made inroads into many
occupations previously taken on only by men, with several sectors showing clear domination of
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women; this was however less of a case in China. In the late 1970s female labor force
participation in state-controlled enterprises in Poland was similar for women and men (46%) and
the average occupational prestige of working men and women, Titkow reported “ is the same”
(1984: 561). At the same time, Polish women became concentrated in services, clerical work and
sales (60% in 1979), also 70% of teachers were women (although only 10 out of 100 in the
executive positions). Women were also dominant in health and social work (Titkow 1984). This
occupation segregation retain its permanency for decades and continued to persist during the
period of transformation (Ingham and Ingham 2001). In China, women were also concentrated
in less prestigious sectors and analysis of gender composition by economic sector further depicts
a high level of segregation. Based on the 1982 Census, Loscocco and Wang (1992) observed that
women concentrated in the following occupations: child care, nursery school teachers, nurses,
embroiderers, knitters, housekeepers; sewers, weavers, washers and darners, electronic assembly,
heads of neighborhood committees, kindergarten teachers, babysitters, housemaids, and hotel
attendants. Men constituted 56.31% of the labor force, but they accounted for over 75% of
workers in government, construction, transportation, and geological survey and exploration, all
sectors that have traditionally enjoyed high prestige and/or good earnings (Bauer et al. 1992;
Loscoco and Wang 1992). Women did not dominate any sectors, but they made up respectively
48.13% and 46.24% of workers in commerce and agriculture, both sectors with relatively low
prestige and earnings.
The great discrepancies in terms of earning level, observed in both countries further
reinforce typical divisions of labor (see also "Market"). Yet, this was not supposed to have
happened. The new, Polish Constitution of 1952, as well as the Chinese Constitution, provided
equal rights to women and guaranteed them ”equal pay for equal work”. While little actual data
were collected, in Poland, during the socialist period on wages and earning level, what evidence
exists it reinforces the notion that “women received lower pay than men in all industries and
occupations” (Inghman and Inghman 2001:56) and Domanski (1996) showed that during 19821993 women earned 66-67% of the wages earned by men. There is plenty of evidence that
Chinese work units and communes discriminated against women in job assignment and rewards
(Bian et al. 2000; Honig and Hershatter 1988; Meng and Miller 1995).
The state notion that women are just like men in economic production did little then to
address gender as a focal point of social process or to challenge patriarchal ideology in the home.
(Titkow 1998). The construction of the “iron girls” or ”women on the tractor” images, that were
heavily promoted in both countries, aimed at promoting the idea that women were capable of
performing jobs commonly done by men, such as tractor drivers and pilots (Loscocco and Wang
1992; Tan 1996, Haney and Dragomir 2002). This interpretation of “equality,” however,
emphasizes physical strength and the sameness between men and women more than women’s
distinct and differing social expectations, circumstances and contribution; it prescribes that
women should improve their status by aspiring to become men. (Honig 2000). Thus, both in
China and Poland “emancipation of women” did not necessarily enrich women’s identity with
the desire for professional success, economic independence and for partnership model of the
relationship. The public private divide, while on one hand was altered by creating possibilities
for women to enter public arena through workplace and in Poland, political representation, on the
other it reinforced women’s place in the private.
11
The state provision of services and benefits attempted often to achieve both: to retain
women at work, but at the same time to allow them to continue to bear and rear children and
perform other home related duties. So for example, social services such as childcare were
organized at the place of work. In China these included the work units (danwei) and urban
neighborhoods (where street residents’ committees were pivotal to organizing efforts) (Lock
1989) and in Poland place of work and local government, especially in urban areas were main
providers. Unlike work places in capitalist economies, the danwei straddled the productive and
reproductive spheres in urban China as it provided welfare functions to their members and their
families (Stockman 1994), making it possible for women to work full-time outside the home.
Yet, despite the pressure on professional activation of women Titkow have shown that in Poland
this process sustained and enforced the traditional pattern, according to which “the burdens of
family life should be borne by women and their professional careers must be subordinated to
family needs” (Titkow 2001: 30; Titkow 1993). State simultaneously and repeatedly reaffirmed
women’s role as mothers, producers and reproducers through enactment of legislation (maternal
leaves) and by offering a variety of social entitlements including housing, childcare facilities,
subsidized transportation, vacation and a variety of other services. These provisions resulted then
in shifting women’s dependency away from husband and men and in creation of public
patriarchy where women relied predominantly on state (Ingham et al. 2001). Women in China,
perhaps more than their counterparts in other parts of the world where their labor force
participation is lower, suffer from double burden as they work outside the home and continue to
shoulder the bulk of housework (Bauer et al. 1992; Harrell 2000).
Evidence on the state’s effectiveness to equalize is then mixed; introduced under
socialism changes did not eliminate discrimination as reflected in wages, career paths and
occupational promotion that has been far more difficult for women then men, even in the
occupations that have employed predominantly women. Critics argue that the focus of the Maoist
state was class rather than gender (Honig 2000). Yet there is evidence that state’s retreat, over
the last decade, from an explicit gender-equality agenda has made room for the entrance of
market forces and the reproduction of traditional gender ideology both in China and Poland (Fan
2004; Ingham et al. 2001; Titkow 1998; Xu 2000: 36). Many researchers have observed that
women in China have lost ground relative to men in the labor market (Goodman 2002; Hare
1999; Maurer-Fazio et al. 1999). Thus, implicit in this process is an appeal to the Marxist logic;
that is, the socialist state was indeed an equalizer and that removal, during the period of
transformation, of its equalizing effect permitted old disequilibrating forces to reemerge. Recent
ILO report argued that one of the reasons why women’s overall share of professional jobs in
2000-2002 was highest in east Europe (60.9% in Poland), was precisely because of long-standing
policies supporting working mothers. The new market conditions with mass lay-offs,
privatization of state enterprises, state withdrawal of support and simultaneous rapid growth of
the private sector are among chief forces that have created challenges for women in the new
labor market. These shifts reinforce the notion of the fragmentation of state and yet of states’
abilities to be flexible in order to retain its control and role in shaping policy content. They also
indicate state’s persistent patriarchal attitudes towards gender division of labor and stereotypes of
seeing women as a certain kind of worker: adequate for low prestige and low paying jobs,
nurturing and carrying about family, children, sick and elderly and therefore not reliable enough.
Market
12
There are many indicators that as a group, women in China and Poland profit less then men from
market reforms. We argue that though the process of marketization has introduced new
opportunities for women as economic agents, it also advances gender discrimination and gender
differentials in the labor market remain large.
Market reforms, in China, gave employers' greater autonomy to hire and fire and the lack
of proper legislation have opened unlimited possibilities for discrimination in the labor market
(Bauer et al. 1992; Beijing Municipal Women's Federation 2000; Huang 1999). Discrimination
by gender in hiring is common, as seen in advertisements and interviews that exclude or
disadvantage women and especially women who have children. A survey of Chinese
newspapers in 2000 finds that 85% of the advertisements for managers and senior clerical staff
specified male applicants only and 85% of those for restaurant and service work, which typically
is of lower pay and status, specified female applicants only (Li 2002: 55). In Poland, when
applying for jobs, women are expected to be better educated than men. Knowledge and
awareness of women about laws and their constitutional and labor rights is often limited
(Lisowska 2002; Nowakowska 2000), although the existence of legal protection of women's
work (especially now after the entrance to EU as the labor code was strengthened) is one of the
factors that has potential to place women in a better position (Kowalska 1996).
Unemployment is a new phenomenon in Poland and China and its emergence reflects
new market practices that endorse gender discrimination. Explanations often mentioned include
human capital considerations such as education and skills (e.g., drivers license in Poland),
structural reasons such as different gender roles (e.g., child care and maternity leaves) and
different legal framework that govern women and men (e.g., women's lower retirement age), and
sociocultural and gendered perceptions of who is a valuable worker (Beijing Municipal
Women’s Federation 2000; Siemienska 1996). When job shortages emerge, employers generally
believe that men rather than women should be given jobs. Evidence in China indicates that
urban women more so than their male counterparts are under pressure to take early retirement
and that layoffs, which became rampant as increased number of state-owned enterprises went
bankrupt, disproportionately affect women, especially women in peak child-bearing ages (Li
2002: 56; Maurer-Fazio et al. 1999). For the country as a whole, in 2000 the unemployment rate
(15 years and older) for women was 3.7% and the rate for men was 3.5%; not only were the rates
higher in cities but the gender gap was also larger: 10.4% for women and 8.7% for men (NBS
2002: 1241-1244). Combined with the effect of aging, unemployment has resulted in a decline in
the proportion of employed persons (in the labor force) but the decline was faster for women
than men, such that the gender gap in employment (15-54) had widened from 6.5% in 1990 to
9.5% in 2000 (All China Women's Federation 1998: 22, 324; NBS 2002: 1237-1242), hinting a
setback to the gains in women's labor force participation made during the Maoist period.
Likewise, in Poland, more women than men are unemployed. In 1990 women accounted
for 50.9% of the unemployed and the proportion increased to 60.4% by 1997 (Kotowska 2001).
Despite, brief decline in unemployment among women in 1998 (58.5%) (Kotowska 2001) the
unemployment rate begun to increase for both men and women (in 2000 14.2% for men and
18.1% for women, but by 2003 18.4% and 20.3% respectively) (GUS 2004). Pater (1998)
showed that in the urban labor market the majority of the unemployed are often women. Even
13
during the period of Poland's highest economic growth in the second half of 1990’s women’s
unemployment grew, indicating that it was related to not only economic but structural and
institutional causes. These possible explanations are reinforced by the fact that male
employment during 1992-1998 was growing faster (1.6%) than that of women (0.7%) (GUS
1999 after Kotowska 2001). Moreover, women remain unemployed for longer periods and have
greater difficulties reentering labor market than men; thus their unemployment is seen as of
chronic character (Beskid 1996). Some have observed the "professional deactivation" of women
when they are so discouraged by the lengthy period of unemployment that they no longer look
for jobs (Kowalska 1996).
In China, gender gap in education remains large and thus gender differentials in labor
market outcomes is often attributable to human capital differentials between women and men
(Cai 2002: 255; Gustafsoon and Li 2000; Liu et al. 2000). This view implies that improving
women's education is key to narrowing gender gaps in the labor market. Data from Poland,
however, challenges this view. Unemployed women are often highly educated; in 2003, over
23% of unemployed women had at least post-secondary education and over 50% of unemployed
women had at least secondary education (for men this figure was 32%) (GUS 2004). Thus,
education does not protect women from unemployment. In addition, unemployment of women
varies by place of residence and it is highest where the proportion of women with college and
higher education degrees is also highest (Knothe and Lisowska 1999).
The unemployment of women varies by age also and this reflects joint discrimination by
gender, age and marital status. In China, migrant women in their late teens and early 20s are
more likely to get work than older women because the former are mostly single and are
perceived to be physically fit for detailed work (Chiang 1999; Tam 2000). In Poland, however,
women aged 18-24 showed high unemployment as many employees fear that they will possibly
have family in the near future. On the other hand, women 30-44 are also disadvantaged in the
labor market as it is believed that they had acquired bad work habits under Communism,
including low efficiency, poor work ethics and frequent sick leaves (GUS 2004).
Gender segregation in the labor market is not new but it is believed that it has accelerated
since market reforms. In China, it is well documented that agriculture is increasingly feminized
(Bossen 1994; Jacka 1997). Loscocco and Wang (1992) observed that women's relative lack of
access to leading administrative positions is more pronounced since the reforms. Data from
2000 shows that urban women concentrated more so than men in commerce, health and
education, all sectors of rapid growth but relatively low earnings (NBS 2002: 935-1096). Rural
women migrants, in particular, are squeezed into urban services such as housemaids and
waitresses, positions that serve others and confer less dignity and bring less reward (Huang
1999). Thus, the labor market that emerged is one consisting of different segments
corresponding to workers’ gender and social status, reflecting also an urban-rural divide (Huang
1999; Knight and Song 1995). Poland’s economic restructuring does show some parallels with
that of China, as seen in decline in agriculture with men moving out at faster rate then women,
predominance of women in services (health and education), and increased women's employment
in government administration from 2.2% in 1982 to 7.8% in 2000 and in finance and insurance
sectors from 1.9% in 1982 to 4.8 in 2000. These shifts advanced further feminization of certain
professions, reinforced occupational segregation, and deepened gender wage gap as they
14
concentrate in sectors with lower wages (UN 2000). And, Titkow (1998:25) pointed out that
“even in the better-paid sectors women are primarily lower-status administrative employees or
semi-skilled workers.” Even though the public sector employs more women, its role in the
economy has been diminishing.
Self-employment and entrepreneurship clearly increased since market reforms. In
Poland, the rate of women ownership of small and medium size enterprises increased from 27%
in 1989 to 37% in 1995 and the number of women entrepreneurs grew from 3.7% to 22% during
the same period. These trends reflect market conditions especially in urban areas that are seen
by many, including women themselves, as a possibility to escape unemployment and respond to
the threat of losing jobs in the public sector, and parallel social changes indicating growing
desire by women for greater independence and self-sufficiency (Lisowska 1996; 2002;
Nesporova 1999, Nowakowska 2000; Ruminska-Zimny 2002a). Ruminska-Zimny (2002a)
shows that self-employment is an important path toward women's employment and access to
well paid jobs. Nevertheless, men still began to own their first businesses earlier (Siemienska
1996) and women are less likely to be self-employed then men (Ingham and Ingham 2001). The
challenges for women in Poland do not lie in education but in persistent stereotypes about
women’s family role and in numerous structural barriers such as instability of tax regulations and
lack of operating capital (Lisowska 2002; Reszke 2001). Yet, Reszke's (2001) survey pointed
out that women were portrayed as better employers and that many respondents saw business
ownership as equally suited for their sons and daughters, hinting further attitudinal changes to be
expected. In China, privatization has rapidly increased but women remain underrepresented in
self-employment and among entrepreneurs. The 2002 urban employment figures indicated that
6.8% of men and 5.5% of women were employers in the private sector and 13.4% of men and
11.9% of women were self-employed (NBS 2003).
In both Poland and China, research on gender wage gap presents mixed results. Ingham et
al. (2001: 11) argued that in Poland “the gender gap in earnings actually fell over the period
1992-1995.” Still, in 1998 women’ salaries constituted only 69.5% of an average men’s salary
and while 75% of women earned less than average salary, 80% of men were among those
earning the highest salary (Nowakowska 2000:63). In 2002 women’s average wages and salaries
were lower by 16.9% than those of men (GUS 2004). In China, female wages are placed at
anyway between 56% to 93% of male earnings (Kahn et al. 1992; Knight and Song 1993; Meng
and Miller 1995; Yang and Zax 1997), and Gustafsson and Li (2000) show that gender wage
differential grew from 15.6% in 1988 to 17.5% in 1995 (see also Maurer-Fazio et al. 1999).
High concentration of women in sectors with lower wages, such as agriculture and commerce in
China and the public sector in Poland, has clearly contributed to the persistent gender wage gap
(Kowalska 1996; Loscocco and Wang 1992; Maurer-Fazio et al. 1999; Siemienska 1996). Yet,
Hare's (1999) survey in Guangdong in 1989 found that women earned 29% less than men even
after controlling for differences in economic sector, indicating still other factors at work to
depress women's wages. Kotowska (2001: 70) raised the question if gender earnings
differentials in Poland would hold when controlled by hours of work, the argument being that
women work fewer hours. Whyte (2000) argued that most studies on gender wage gap in China
lacked comparable data and could not validate the claim that women had lost ground.
15
As a whole, therefore, the actual impacts of market reforms on women's position in the
labor market are rather mixed. We have shown that market reforms allowed for more explicit
gender discrimination, as especially seen in unemployment of women. While it is believed that
improving education for women in China would elevate their positions (Gustafsoon and Li
2000), women in Poland with higher education continue to be in situations worse off than men
(Kowalska 1996). Gender segregation persists and gender wage gap remains large, reflecting not
only market forces but deeply rooted perceptions, stereotypes and cultural norms in both
economies. Yet, market reforms have indeed introduced new economic opportunities for
women, as seen in their moving into growing urban sectors and entrepreneurship. The
incompleteness of the reforms and in many cases also incomplete and short-term data make any
firm conclusions questionable. Also, not all phenomenon can be captured in a quantifiable way,
as we demonstrated earlier with the discussion of patriarchy, which shapes the ways through
which individuals, families and institutions view their own worth and that of others.
Women’s agency and role of NGOs
From a historical perspective, marginalized groups in different places and at different times were
denied the possibility to act on their behalf and even when it appeared that they did have power,
these were, de facto, instances of pseudo-agency, that in reality amounted to theoretically given,
but in practice restricted freedoms. Unquestionably such was the case of state socialism practiced
where women had little power to influence the political decision-making process or to control the
conditions of their work and where de facto their role as mothers or workers was often privileged
over that of independent agents (Einhorn 1993).
In both countries, economic liberalization has created new conditions for women’s more
assertive role in drawing attention to their economic position. First, enterprises that came into
being or grew as a result of marketization are expected to pursue efficiency rather than equity,
making the marginalized segments of society ever more vulnerable. Second, the state's social
functions, such as those previously carried out by "work units" (danwei) in China or by state
owned enterprises in Poland, have gradually but substantially reduced. Third, heightened
consciousness and increased discourse by women about gender inequality and women's issues,
led especially by those with higher levels of education, have enabled the creation and expansion
of many women organizations. In this section, we argue that introduction of new market
conditions created new opportunities for women to both challenge gender inequalities and
practices that discriminate against them, but also to engage in activities that would allow women
to enhance their skills and assert their agency.
While in both countries the growth of NGOs is noticeable, specific context of each case
have conditioned the actual development of women’s NGOs. So while in Poland the political
changes of 1989 immediately open opportunities for NGOs to growth, in China, where the
reforms were more gradual, this process was instigated by the preparations to the United Nations
Fourth World Conference on Women Conference that took place 1995. Yet, both countries, had
to struggle with the past legacies in form of the old mass membership women’s groups that
wanted to retain the power. In Poland, there were two such organizations - the Circles of Rural
Women and the League of Polish Women. While the former had a long tradition focusing on
peasant family, raising agricultural knowledge and “teaching its members how to run a
16
household” (Malinowska 2001:194), the latter, created in 1945 reflected socialist ideology tenets
and was mainly operating in urban areas. With the transition of 1989 both of them lost power,
finances and prestige, although with time during the 90’s they began to rebuild their networks
and influence. The new women’s groups were in the meantime growing rapidly in Poland and by
1995 there were sixty-eight women’s formal and informal groups, associations, foundations as
well as networks (Malinowska 2001). By 1999 over 205 were functioning (OSKA 1999). As
Titkow (2001:13) pointed out, after 1989 women in Poland have to “learn how to self-organize.“
These groups and centers, clubs, associations, charity groups as well as religious groups address
wide ranging issues including women’s rights and legislative changes, skills training, economic
and employment issues, violence against women, family planning, health and sexual education,
political participation as well as provide services to single mothers, pregnant women, people
with AIDS and varying degree of physical and mental abilities. They work locally and
independently as well nationally and globally through variety of networks and as chapters of
larger national and international organizations.
In China the struggle between old and new came to head in 1995, when the notion of
NGOs began to demand attention from Chinese women and society at large. The UN main
conference as well as its NGO Forum were to be held in Beijing (the NGO Forum was, in fact,
held in Huairou, a small town about an hour from downtown Beijing, which sparked criticisms
that the Chinese government wanted to undermine the visibility of NGOs). At the center of
debate, during China's preparation for the conference, was whether the All China Women's
Federation (ACWF) could be considered an NGO (Liu 2003). Established in 1949, ACWF’s
mission is “to represent and to protect women’s rights and interests and to promote equality
between men and women” (All China Women's Federation 2004). Like other state-sponsored
organizations, ACWF has a vertically-integrated structure consisting of local women’s
federations at every level of government and administrative divisions. Though various women’s
organizations can apply to be members of ACWF, the latter is mostly regarded as a part of
government. Yet, in the debate prior to the UN Conference, ACWF clearly wanted to be defined
as an NGO (and the largest women’s NGO in China), in part to legitimize its representation of
women and in part to emphasize that NGOs are not anti-government but rather are in partnership
with the government. Despite its official status as an NGO and the government's push for that
status, ACWF, like mass membership women's groups in Poland, remains a legacy of the
socialist experiment and faces challenges of how to adjust to new social and economic realities
and of working with new NGOs. Similarly to Poland, most of the new women NGOs that sprang
up in China since economic liberalization, are organized strictly outside the government structure
(Liu 2003). Though most of these organizations are in their infancy, they have indeed become a
force behind the passing of legislations that protect women’s rights, including labor rights. Some
of these “new” NGOs are research oriented and are affiliated with universities and research
institutes; but some are truly grass-root organizations that provide services and networking
opportunities.
In both countries, the development of numerous and diverse organizations in social and
economic field should be then seen as a response to new conditions and pressures but also to new
ambitions expressed by women. While the former results from the restructuring of the state and
its new position vis a vis women as well as from changing local economic conditions, the latter
reflects women’s desire to increase their skills, knowledge, independence and a recognition that
17
collaborative efforts would facilitate the advancement of their goals. A brief survey of women’s
groups in Poland revealed that out 205 groups in 1999, 37 conducted activities related to
economic sphere (OSKA 1999). Majority of these groups were located in large urban areas and
while each of these has multiply focus, certain areas seems to be repeatedly addressed:
unemployment (16 groups), labor market (17) and economic activization of women (17). As
research have shown majority of women’s groups was created in response to growing
unemployment and to possibilities of further lay-offs thus such groups focus on basic skills
enhancement (how to apply for job and create a good resume), provide social and legal services
and work with women on wide spectrum of psychological effects of being unemployed. Often
these activities target specific age groups such as women after 40’s (CPK 1995:11) or categories
of women i.e. single mothers by creating context where women could bring their children as they
learn new skills (e.g. summer school for single mothers) (CPK 1995:127).
Women who already have jobs and often hold career positions, but desire to enhance
their skills further, increase their qualifications and learn about their economic rights have also
developed numerous new support groups and networks (e.g. the Federation of Business and
Professional Women, Zonta International or Soroptimists International). Such organizations are
often critical to women’s professional progress. Women entrepreneurs who, in the past, had
much less access to business and professional networks then men did now can and do benefit
from new networks (Ruminska-Zimny 2002b). But as Ruminska-Zimny pointed out the legacy
of past conditions is to be blamed for missed opportunities of networking. She argued that this
gender gap is directly related to occupational segregation as women are predominantly
concentrated in service sector (food, health, education, consumer services) which remains
“outside the most influential bureaucratic and technocratic networks” (2002b: 89). The
emergence of new groups allow to overcome this marginalization and helps to establish network
of personal contacts, provide information and often much needed advice. In fact, she argues “that
women’s business associations and NGOs played a key role in the development of women’s
entrepreneurship in all transitions countries” (2002b: 94). These arguments are echo by others
(Mandicova 2002, Poncini 2002) as they point to influence that women’s groups and
professional associations made in creating more socially responsible leadership and in lobbying
such bodies as UNCTAD, WTO or Human Rights Commission on wide ranging issues from
women’s economic rights to electronic work, intellectual property and exploitation of women in
trade and employment. Connecting specific Polish context of women’s work with similar
challenges and opportunities faced by women regionally and globally has proven as especially
effective tool for promotion of women’s economic concerns.
In China, while fewer parallel initiatives also emerge. A well-known example is “Migrant
Women Knowing All” (MWKA), a Beijing-based organization that aims at providing a physical
venue, a magazine and other resources for migrant women to network and for their voices to be
heard (Gong 2002). Like many women NGOs in large cities, MWKA focuses in particular on
issues of marriage, family and employment. Though as a whole the impacts of NGOs on
women’s labor market experience in China are still limited, their increased number and expanded
roles are testament to women’s heightened desire to exert their agency and to do so through selforganization. These and other examples of the rapid growth of NGOs run by women and for
women indicates indeed the increased focus on women’s agency and on their abilities to act,
engage, network and advance their goals and meet their economic needs.
18
Conclusion
Socialism and its demise have no doubt led to profound changes in the world and especially in
countries that experienced first-hand socialist transformation and subsequently economic
liberalization. In this chapter, we have examined the cases of China and Poland. Our goal is to
identify gender changes in the labor market and the forces that accounted for these changes. We
have emphasized women as economic subject and examined their relative positions in China and
Poland, focusing especially on urban situations. Evidence as presented in recent research and in
published data shows that gender differentials in the labor market, in terms of parameters such as
labor force participation, occupational segregation, earning differences, unemployment and
layoffs, have not been significantly altered despite the dramatic political, economic and social
changes in the two countries. This raises two puzzling questions: Why are gender differentials,
and the power hierarchy between women and men in the labor market and in the home that they
reflect, so resilient; and what are indeed the gender changes and new prospects for women during
major structural transformations?
Conventional theories that deal with the labor market are inadequate for answering these
questions because they failed to use gender as an organizing principle and they do not emphasize
the state and its repositioning during transformations. Rather, our empirical cases are informed
by two alternative approaches. First, feminist theory focuses on power hierarchy, construction of
difference, and agency, all perspectives central to our explanations for women's position and role
as economic subject. Second, we employ an institutional approach that gives explicit attention to
institutions such as the state and NGOs and how they adjust themselves during transformations
and the labor market implications of such adjustment. Unlike most studies of labor markets, our
chapter focuses on two empirical cases. The advantage of examining the two cases is to
illustrate that while they share many parallels in terms of the restricted position of women in the
labor market and the explanations for such position, they did have diverse experiences and
outcomes which can only be understood by contextualizing and historicizing the forces that
gendered the respective economies.
We have argued that in both China and Poland four forces were particularly important in
shaping women's labor market experiences. Patriarchal ideology remains deep-rooted in both
societies; traditions and thoughts such as Confucianism and Catholicism that embody such
ideology continue to be strong and they define the sociocultural institutions such as family and
church, which perpetuate women's subordinate position and constrain their role as economic
subject. Second, the socialist state in China and Poland, both pushing women to enter the work
force, incorporated them into a centralized labor system but did not challenge the fundamental
tenets of patriarchy nor did it address the roots of inequality. Thus, the state equalized but it did
not equalize. The results are, not surprisingly, mixed. Women's labor force participation did
increase remarkably but it was due to top-down instruments rather than an appeal to women's
identity, will or aspiration. Women are, therefore, expected to perform and be judged both as
wives/mothers and producers. Polish women had made substantial gains in education and made
inroads into many occupations, including professional work, but these gains were not translated
into significant improvement of their position. In China, gender gaps in education and
19
occupational attainment remain large. These mixed results reinforce the notion that patriarchal
ideology was far more powerful and resilient than socialist ideals and state policy.
Market reforms in Poland and China introduced a third layer that further complicated
women's labor market experiences. Withdrawal and fragmentation of the state allowed for new
market practices that systematically discriminated against women, as seen in their disadvantaged
position in hiring and their susceptibility to be unemployed. Although economic diversification
meant a greater variety of work opportunities for women, women do tend to concentrate in
sectors that are inferior in pay and prestige. Women in the labor market are therefore still
marginalized and are increasingly vulnerable. On the other hand, more so in Poland than in
China, women began to actively enter into entrepreneurship, in part to escape unemployment and
the threat of unemployment. This also illustrates the fourth force -- women's agency -- aiming at
empowering themselves and challenging inequalities and via efforts to improve skills and to selforganize. In both countries, women's NGOs have grown in number and activities; most
importantly, NGOs outside the socialist government structure have become instrumental toward
advancing women's interests including labor rights and economic welfare. Perhaps because of
Poland's longer and deeper engagement in labor activism, women's NGOs there are more active
and visible than those in China. Nonetheless, these organizations and their advocates represent a
new force, with new role models and aspirations, and they hint at the emergence of civil society
where women's agency will play a more important role in determining their labor market
experiences.
Acknowledgements
We wish to acknowledge the support provided by UCLA Academic Senate for our research, and
we would like to thank Wenfei Winnie Wang and Anna Wilkowska for research assistance.
20
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