The Business of Women's Empowerment: Corporate Gender Politics in the Global South (Global Political Economies of Gender and Sexuality)

188 Pages·2019·1.605 MB·English

by  Sofie Tornhill

The Business of Women’s
Empowerment
Global Political Economies of
Gender and Sexuality
SeriesEditors:NickiSmith,AdrienneRoberts,andJuanitaElias
This series brings together scholarship from leading and emerging scholars working on
theintersectionsbetweengenderand/orsexualityinpoliticaleconomy.Itseekstomove
beyond the “blindness” of International Political Economy to feminist, gender, trans*,
queer,andmasculinitystudiesinordertomorefullycapturethecomplexand contested
transformationsassociatedwithglobalization,capitalism,andneo-liberalism.
TitlesintheSeries
BiopoliticalGovernance:Race,GenderandEconomy,editedbyHannahRichter
RealisingJusticeforSexWorkers:AnAgendaforChange,editedbySharronA.Fitz-
GeraldandKathrynMcGarry
LivableIntersections:Re/FramingSexWorkattheFrontline,bySaraM.Kallock
TheBusinessofWomen’sEmpowerment:CorporateGenderPoliticsintheGlobalSouth,
bySofieTornhill
HeavyMetal,PoliticsandFeminism:SexyorSexist,byHeatherSavigny
The Business of Women’s
Empowerment
Corporate Gender Politics in the
Global South
Sofie Tornhill
London•NewYork
PublishedbyRowman&LittlefieldInternational,Ltd.
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Copyright©2019bySofieTornhill
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany
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withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote
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BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformation
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN:HB978-1-78660-158-2
ISBN:PB978-1-78660-159-9
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Tornhill,Sofie,1974–author.
Title:Thebusinessofwomen’sempowerment:corporategenderpoliticsintheGlobalSouth/Sofie
Tornhill.
Description:London;NewYork:Rowman&LittlefieldInternational,[2019]|Series:Global
politicaleconomiesofgenderandsexuality|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2019005446(print)|LCCN2019007670(ebook)|ISBN9781786601605(elec-
tronic)|ISBN9781786601582(cloth:alk.paper)|ISBN9781786601599(pbk.:alk.paper)
Subjects:LCSH:Businesswomen—Trainingof—Developingcountries.|Entrepreneurship—Devel-
opingcountries.|Feminism—Developingcountries.|Socialresponsibilityofbusiness—Devel-
opingcountries.
Classification:LCCHD6072.6.D44(ebook)|LCCHD6072.6.D44T672019(print)|DDC338/
.04082091724—dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019005446
TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican
NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary
Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction:Win-WinCapitalism 1
1 ApproachestoCorporate-LedEmpowermentintheGlobalSouth 17
2 FeministResearchintheWakeofCorporatePower 37
3 BrandingPoverty:TheValuesofWomen’sEmpowerment 53
4 “OpenHappiness”:EmpoweringEmotions 85
5 TheEntrepreneurializationofFeminizedLabor 113
Conclusion:TheContradictionsofCorporateGenderPolitics 141
Notes 155
References 159
Index 171
v

Acknowledgments
The work with this book has been informed by many collaborations and
conversations, for which my sincere thanks are due. First and foremost, I
extendmywarmestthanksandgratitudetothosewhoagreedtoengagewith
me in this study: all the 5by20 program participants and implementers in
Mexico and South Africa who have been interviewed, spent time with me,
andsharedtheirknowledgeandexperienceswithme.Needlesstosay,wasit
notforyourengagementandgenerosity,thisbookwouldnotexist.
Besidestherewardingencountersandinsightsthatmyeffortstotracethe
5by20 program in Mexico and South Africa led me to, the most gratifying
outcome of this study has been becoming a part of new feminist research
communities. The network meeting and workshop Gender Incorporated at
Roskilde University was especially important in this regard—thanks to eve-
ryone for such a vibrant two days. For collaborations around conferences,
seminars,andthelike,I wishto especially thank Özlem Altan-Olcay, Susan
Jackson, Charlotte M. Karam, and Grietje Sabra. On this note, I wish to
express my warmest thanks to Catia Gregoratti, whose sharp thinking and
uncompromisingsolidarityhassustainedmyworkonthisbook.
Many thanks also to Katherine Allison, Catia Gregoratti, and Adrienne
Roberts, with whom I have coauthored texts on themes which overlap with
the ones discussed in this book. The opportunity to collectively ponder the
implications of corporate power and the methodological challenges to study
its concrete manifestations has truly enriched my thinking around these is-
sues.Myworkonthe5by20programhasbeenpublishedin editedvolumes,
and I would like to thank the editors of these for their constructive com-
ments: Maria-Therese Gustafsson and Livia Johannesson; Kate Grosser,
Maureen Kilgour, and Lauren McCarthy; and Yulia Gradskova and Sara K.
Sanders.
vii
viii Acknowledgments
During the course of the project, I have been affiliated with several uni-
versity departments. The idea to make an ethnography about the 5by20 pro-
gramfirststartedtotakeformduringapostdocperiodatdesigALdades.net,a
research network about transnational inequalities in Latin America based at
the Free University in Berlin. A second postdoc period in the department of
politicalscienceatStockholmUniversityenabledmetomaterializetheidea,
andthegenderandpoliticsresearchgroupconstitutedanimportantcontext.I
subsequently taught gender studies at Stockholm University before I was
appointed lecturer in gender studies in the department of social studies at
Linnaeus University. Many thanks for input, company, and support to all
colleaguesandfriendsinthesedifferentenvironments.
CatiaGregoratti, Elisabeth Prügl,andMaria-Therese Gustafsson assisted
withvaluableinputonthesynopsisofthisbook,whichenabledmeto better
visualizetheroute it would take. David Payne made a tremendous contribu-
tion to the readability of this text by carefully revising and editing it—my
warmestthanksforthis!SpecialthanksalsotoMalinAh-Kingforbeingsuch
a supportive companion through insecure employment conditions and the
joysandanxietiesofbookprojects.
Theserieseditors,JuanitaElias,AdrienneRobertsandNickiSmith,have
been enormously encouraging and have provided me with careful readings
and insightful comments on the manuscript, elevating the argument and re-
ducing the stress levels. Thank you for making this book journey smoother
thanitwouldotherwisehavebeen,andforyoureffortstomakeabookseries
ontheimportantissuesofgender,sexuality,andpoliticaleconomypossible.
At Rowman & Littlefield International, Dhara Snowden, Lara Hahn, and
Rebecca Anastasi have promptly attended to any of my questions and quer-
ies.
A number of foundations made this project possible economically. My
two year postdoc period at Stockholm University was financed by the Anna
AhlströmsandEllenTerserus’sFoundation.FundingfromtheHelgeAx:son
Johnson Foundation, The Lars Hierta Memorial Foundation, and The Åke
Wiberg Foundation made my research trips to Mexico and South Africa
possibleandgavemetimetoworkonthemanuscript.
MuchofthemanuscriptwaswritteninthecollectivehouseinStockholm
where Alexander Berthelsen, Edvin S. Frid, Veronika Nilsson, and Olivia
Plender provided me with good company, support, and friendship. In South
Africa, Karl Hermanus welcomed me to his home and became a wonderful
friend. Special thanks also to Theodor and the cats who contributed in their
own special ways. During a good part of this project, Jenny Gunnarsson
Payne has been a dedicated and knowledgeable discussion partner, tireless
reader,andcompanion.Iameversogratefulforthis,aswellasfortheother
waysinwhichyouarepartofmylife.