GLOGENDER · Global Governance and Gender Disparities. Explaining Developments in Key Labor related Human Rights Indicators

How successful are current initiatives at furthering a fairer globalization? Employing women’s equitable integration into the labor market as a paradigmatic case, this proposal suggests ways to examine the impact of global governance structures on key labor market and other indicators. Research in this project so far has shown that for an adequate assessment of women’s equity it is not sufficient to merely look at their labor market position but an examination of indicators such as political participation, physical integrity and reproductive rights is now integrated.Triangulating quantitative and qualitative methodologies on the macro-, meso- and micro- levels of aggregation, this research addresses three current world society lacunas:(1) Implementation: On the country level, quantitative data assess the impact of international norms from 1958 to 2005 on key labor market indicators of women relative to those of men: differences in unemployment rates by professions and gender wage differentials in the manufacturing sector descriptively. The data also tracks the trade-off that women make between fertility and labor market participation in the non-agricultural sectors analytically.(2) Mechanisms: On the organizational level, qualitative interviews in four countries illuminate how world norms stipulated by the United Nations and world regional norms put forth by the Organizations of American States are adapted and utilized by social movement actors in Latin America: Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. In addition, to interviewing governmental representatives and social movement actors in non-governmental organizations as originally foreseen, I interviewed the heads of the Inter-American Court and key personnel in the Inter-American Commission. Relevant legal documents are currently being coded as these legal decisions and recommendations proved to be a key mechanism for the evolution of discriminated groups, particularly women.(3) Diversity: On the individual level, large quantitative household data analyze differences within nations regarding gender equity attitudes and their (un)intended labor market and fertility effects in Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. This analysis is now supplemented by analyzing the other key socio-structural and attitudinal dimensions of gender equity such as political participation, physical integrity and reproductive rights.