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Description
In the wake of the 1980s debt crisis, Latin American governments implemented a series of neoliberal economic restructuring policies that moved away from the state-led national industrialization models of development that were dominant during the 1960s and 1970s. Countries across the region re-oriented their national economies towards free-market policies, liberalized trade, and expanded roles for transnational corporations and export manufacturing industries. One of the most visible societal transformations that resulted was the upsurge of female participation in the region’s workforce.This thesis traces the gendered implications of the neoliberal development strategies implemented by Latin American governments beginning in the 1980s and evaluates the unique ways women responded to economic crisis and economic restructuring within the labor market and within the household. The country-level analysis of neoliberal policies in Mexico suggests economic insecurity widened both income and gender disparities. Despite new economic opportunities that challenged traditional gender roles, Mexican women generally continued to find themselves marginalized by new, interconnected forms of discrimination.The gendered analysis of the rise and consolidation of neoliberal policies in Mexico supports the feminist literature linking gender bias in traditional economic development policies to oppressive and exploitative conditions in the labor market and in the household. Using the lessons from the Mexican case, I attempt to draw connections to similar gendered implications of export-led growth experienced throughout Latin America. In order to alleviate societal gender disparities, states must treat gender equality as a valid social and economic policy goal. Consequently, the gendered consequences of neoliberal policy agendas in practice confirm the necessity of creating more gender-aware economic development policy approaches.
