Research on the transformation of work and gender has largely focussed on specific national contexts, with little directly comparative work or cross-national comparison within an overarching theoretical framework. Most comparative research aimed at developing a gender perspective has focussed on welfare and policy, not employment. Attempts at comparative analysis of gendered work are in their infancy, typically not going much beyond case studies published side by side in an edited collection devoid of the common theoretical and comparative framework needed to make sense of the similarities and differences. The research underway in this project is groundbreaking in its study of the transformation of work and gender relations within the common theoretical framework of gender regimes. Such ambitious research cannot easily be achieved without the collaboration of sociologists who have expertise in the study of work transformation and gender in specific national institutional contexts. In order to advance such a research program, we have built a robust network of sociologists of work and gender who have collaborated for two years on designing a framework for research to study the transformation of work within the context of comparative national gender regimes. Members of this network of scholars are as follows:
- U.S.: Heidi Gottfried (Wayne State University), Joan Acker University of Oregon), Prof. Ronnie Steinberg (Vanderbilt University)
- (Japan: Mari Osawa (University of Tokyo), Makiko Nishikawa (Hosei University), Kazuko Tanaka (International Christian University), Glenda Roberts (Waseda University)
- U.K.: Sylvia Walby (Lancaster University), Diane Perrons (LSE)
- Germany: Ilse Lenz (Ruhr University Bochum), Karin Gottschall (Bremen University), Dr. Monika Goldmann, (Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund), Karen Shire (University Duisburg-Essen)
The international research addresses three levels of work transformation: first, the changing content of work, second, changing modes of work organization/employment structure, and third, the governmental re-regulation/de-regulation of work. Specific research projects focus on particular instances within this range of changes in gendered employment practices so as to contribute to the overall research framework. Support for the Network has been provided by the Council for European Studies and the Center for Global Partnership, among others.
In 2006 the project members completed a first edited research volume, published by Palgrave Press:
Gendering the Knowledge Economy: Comparative Perspectives
Data Appendix to Chapter 2:
Gender and the Conceptualization of the Knowledge Economy in comparison (PDF)
