Economic Development and Political Empowerment of Women in the Globalization Process.

Feminization of labor finally expands the bargaining domains of women in public spheres. Hegemonic globalization as a gendering process has deepened gender inequality in economy by way of the labor market. However, the exploitative processes against women workers in the semi-periphery have incubated feminist activism and thus integrated women into public discourse. Such mechanism is deciphered by the Korean case. Their numbers vastly increased since the 1970s, and their collective actions played a crucial part in the civil society growth. The exploitation of women resulted from the development of the labor-intensive, export-oriented industrial structure under the global capitalism, but this in turn generated the solidarity of women workers and those in professions. Feminist activism in the semi-periphery is more distinguished than in the periphery not just because of severe exploitation, but rather due to higher professionalization levels being a determinant factor. In order for feminist activism to be successful, the role of the outsiders within, who provides a clicking point at the conjunction of proletarianization and professionalization of women workers is requested. The professionalization of women as well as democratic unionization maximized the opportunity structure of women in the institutional arrangement. Specifically, to locate the social construction of gender in Korea, this study shows the changing trends in professional occupations by gender both in academia and government offices, including in parliamentary and ministerial positions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]