Patriarchy on the Line: Labor, Gender, and Ideology in the Mexican Maquila Industry

In the Mexican maquiladora industry—the string of U.S. export-processing subsidiaries on the Mexican side of the border—women constitute the majority of workers. This comprehensive study of the maquilas in Mexicali, the capital of Baja California, analyzes the roles of these women workers and dispels the myth that they are docile and downtrodden. Rather, they employ creative responses to their work and domestic lives. Susan Tiano investigates women assemblers in electronic and apparel maquilas as well as women workers in service jobs. Comparing the organizational structure and working conditions in these industries, she identifies trends in women's economic activity. What emerges is a multihued portrait of women who take on jobs outside the home for a variety of reasons and who are conscious of their productive and reproductive influence on a developing international division of labor. Linking fertility, age, education, and marital status to women's participation in the maquila industry, Tiano explores the gender consciousness of the women workers and of the men who attempt to dominate them, both on the line and in the home. The processes and dynamics illuminated in Patriarchy on the Line resonate in other urban labor markets undergoing similar changes as transnational production becomes a global reality.