UNIVERSITY OF GHANA DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT GLOBALISATION, EXPORT PROCESSING ZONE EMPLOYMENT AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT IN GHANA BY FAUSTINA OBENG ADOMAA (10244999) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL GEOGRAPHY DEGREE DECEMBER, 2014 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i DECLARATION This is to certify that this thesis is the result of research undertaken by Faustina Obeng Adomaa towards the award of Master of Philosophy in Geography and Resource Development in the Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana. Candidate Faustina Obeng Adomaa …………………………. Date ……/……../………. Principal Supervisor Co-Supervisor Dr Charlotte Wrigley-Asante Dr Joseph Kofi Teye ……………………………. …………………………. Date ……/………./………. Date ……./………/………. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii ABSTRACT Globalization and the spread of export processing zones (EPZs) have resulted in the global drift of women into paid employment in this sector with marked implications for their empowerment across the world. Although Ghana has joined the tidal wave of establishing EPZs, the conditions under which women work in this sector and its implications on their empowerment are not well understood. This study was therefore conducted to assess the working conditions in Ghana’s EPZ and its influence on women’s empowerment in the economic, decision making, organisational and psychological dimensions. Adopting an interpretivist approach, the research was conducted with a sequential exploratory strategy. The first phase was the qualitative phase in which thirty women were selected from three free zones’ factories for in-depth interviews. Three focus group discussions; one for each factory was also conducted. The second phase was the quantitative phase in which findings from the qualitative phase were extended to a larger group of hundred and eighty-four women, who were proportionately sampled from the three selected factories for a survey. The study found out that although job loss in Ghana’s EPZ is rampant due to the lack of contractual agreement and other forces of globalisation, conditions of work such as salaries, working hours and occupational health and safety are generally better than the much known “sweatshop” conditions mostly found in other EPZs across the world. Women may also be experiencing empowerment especially in the economic dimension and in relation to decision making in their households which has improved their sense of self-worth and self-respect. However, lack of unionisation or its dormancy where it exists poses many challenges for women to press for better conditions of service. It is therefore important to address certain structural changes, especially on the working conditions for women in Ghana’s EPZs to ensure that they benefit fully from the empowering effects of their employment. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to the memory of my late parents, Mr. Sylvester Obeng Kyeremeh and Mary Akua Tamea whose love, dedication and guidance moulded me into the woman that I am today. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “Who am I, O Lord God and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far” (1Chr 17:16). My profound thanks go to the Almighty God who through diverse ways granted me the wisdom, strength, knowledge and understanding to go through this research. My sincere gratitude goes to my supervisors Dr. Charlotte Wrigley-Asante and Dr. Joseph Kofi Teye under whose guidance and supervision, I have been able to undertake this research successfully. Also my appreciation goes to Dr. Martin Oteng-Ababio, and the non-teaching staff of the Department of Geography and Resource Development, especially Miss Dora Baidoo, for their help and support during my stay in the department as a student. I also want to extend my profound gratitude to the following individuals: Mr. Oduro Amponsah, my husband for his love, support and understanding throughout the period of this research; my in-laws especially my mother-in-law, who took care of my little daughter during the times that I was away pursuing this study. To my older siblings: Gyamaa, Obeng, Owusu, Abrokwah and Gyamfua, for their unconditional love, support and encouragement especially during the demise of our father; their love kept me going and I am forever grateful. To my course mates and friends: Odame, Asafo and Odikro who through sharing of experiences, served as a major source of motivation for this research; I say thank you. Finally, a sincere gratitude to Dorothy Oforiwaa Ocran, a friend who has been with me through thick and thin, and to John and Elizabeth Boakye-Danquah who served as my editors, I am forever grateful. Also, a well-deserved gratitude to my two research assistants for their tremendous help during the quantitative data collection as well as to the management and employees of Blue Skies, Lucky 1888 Mills, and Liberty and Justice factories, for the support given me during data collection in their factories. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION............................................................................................................................i ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. ii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................. v LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS...................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Problem Statement .................................................................................................................. 4 1.3 Research Objectives ................................................................................................................ 5 1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................................................... 6 1.5 Research Propositions ............................................................................................................. 6 1.6 Justification of Study .............................................................................................................. 7 1.7 Organisation of Chapters ........................................................................................................ 8 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................ 10 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Changing Themes in Development ...................................................................................... 10 2.3 Globalisation, Gender and EPZ: The Global Debate ............................................................ 12 2.3.1 Export Processing Zones (EPZs) ....................................................................................... 15 2.3.2 Feminisation of EPZ Employment .................................................................................... 19 2.3.3 EPZ Employment and Women’s Empowerment ............................................................... 23 2.3.4 EPZ Employment and Working Conditions ...................................................................... 27 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi 2.4 Ghana’s Export Processing Zones: An Overview ................................................................ 34 2.5 Conceptualising Women’s Empowerment ........................................................................... 37 2.5.1 Conceptual Framework for the Study ................................................................................ 42 CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................... 50 METHODOLOGY AND STUDY SITES .................................................................................. 50 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 50 3.2 Study Sites and Population ................................................................................................... 50 3.3 Research Design ................................................................................................................... 53 3.4 Philosophical Considerations................................................................................................ 54 3.4.1 Epistemological Considerations ........................................................................................ 54 3.4.2 Theoretical Perspective ...................................................................................................... 57 3.5 Research Strategy ................................................................................................................. 58 3.5.1 Sequential Exploratory Strategy ........................................................................................ 59 3.6 Data Sources ......................................................................................................................... 60 3.7 Primary Data Collection Process and Methods .................................................................... 61 3.7.1 In-depth Interviews ............................................................................................................ 62 3.7.2 Focus Group Discussions .................................................................................................. 63 3.7.3 Questionnaire Survey ......................................................................................................... 63 3.8 Data Analysis and Presentation ............................................................................................ 64 CHAPTER FOUR ...................................................................................................................... 65 CONDITIONS OF WORK IN THE FACTORIES .................................................................... 65 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 65 4.2 Demographic Characteristics and Nature of Activities of the Women ................................ 65 4.3 Working Conditions of the Women ...................................................................................... 68 4.3.1 Contractual Agreement and Security of Employment of the Women ............................... 69 4.3.2 Remuneration and Social Security of the Women ............................................................. 75 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii 4.3.3 Working Hours of the Women .......................................................................................... 79 4.3.4 Occupational Health and Safety Issues in the Factories .................................................... 85 4.3.5 Unionisation and Representation in the Factories ............................................................. 90 4.3.6 Employer-Employee Relations in the Factories ................................................................ 92 4.4 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................. 93 CHAPTER FIVE ........................................................................................................................ 95 EPZ EMPLOYMENT AND WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT ............................ 95 5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 95 5.2 Women’s Earnings and Decisions over the Use of Income ................................................. 95 5.3 Savings and Assets Accumulation by the Women ............................................................. 101 5.4 Contribution to Household Budget and Sending of Remittances ....................................... 115 5.5 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................................... 126 CHAPTER SIX ......................................................................................................................... 128 EPZ EMPLOYMENT AND THE INTERPERSONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN ............................................................................................ 128 6.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 128 6.2 EPZ Employment and Women’s Interpersonal Status ....................................................... 129 6.2.1 Women’s Decision making in the Household ................................................................. 129 6.2.2 Women and Workplace Decision Making ....................................................................... 138 6.2.3 EPZ Employment and Self-Help Groups ........................................................................ 142 6.3 EPZ Employment and Psychological Empowerment of Women ....................................... 145 6.3.1 EPZ Employment and Women’s Acquisition of New Skills and Knowledge ................ 145 6.3.2 EPZ Employment and the Self-efficacy of Women ........................................................ 150 6.3.3 Self-Confidence and Psychological Wellbeing of Women ............................................. 152 6.4 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................................... 155 CHAPTER SEVEN ................................. .................................................. 157 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................ 157 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii 7.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 157 7.2 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 157 7.3 Conclusions......................................................................................................................... 162 7.4 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 163 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 165 APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................... 182 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Dimensions of empowerment propounded by some selected authors .................... 40 Table 2.2 Domains and dimensions of empowerment used in this study ............................... 46 Table 4.1 Demographic characteristics of study women ........................................................ 66 Table 4.2 Women’s participation in household and community activities ............................. 84 Table 5.1 Relationship between control over income and marital status of women .............. 99 Table 5.2 Relationship between control over income and head of women’s household ...... 100 Table 5.3 Relationship between savings of income and primary income earner .................. 102 Table 5.4 Relationship between savings and head of household of women ......................... 103 Table 5.5 Relationship between savings and plans of furthering education ......................... 105 Table 5.6 Relationship between savings and accumulation of capital to start own business 106 Table 5.7 Relationship between savings and women’s monthly salary ................................ 108 Table 5.8 What EPZ women spend their income on in descending order ............................ 117 Table 5.9 Relationship between what EPZ women’s income is spent on and their household headship ................................................................................................................................ 119 Table 6.1 Women’s participation in some household decisions ........................................... 130 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x LIST OF FIGURES Fig 2.1 Kabeer’s model of empowerment ........................................................................................ 43 Fig 2.2 Conceptual framework for analysing EPZ employment and women’s empowerment in Ghana ............................................................................................................................................... 47 Fig 3.1 Study Sites ........................................................................................................................... 52 Fig 4.1 Positions of women in the factories ..................................................................................... 67 Fig 4.2 Level of activities of women ................................................................................................ 73 Fig 4.3 Salaries earned by women in the factories ........................................................................... 76 Fig 5.1 Relationship between savings and women having other business aside EPZ .................... 107 Fig 5.2 Category of assets purchased by women with EPZ income .............................................. 110 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AANA ................................................................................ Afro-American National Association ACET .....................................................................African Centre for Economic Transformation BRAC ..................................................................... Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee CENWOR ................................................................................... Centre for Research on Women COLI ............................................................................................................ Cost of Living Index CPI ............................................................................................................. Consumer Price Index GFZB ..................................................................................................... Ghana Free Zones Board EPZ .......................................................................................................... Export Processing Zone EPU ......................................................................................................... Export Processing Unit FDI ...................................................................................................... Foreign Direct Investment FGD ...................................................................................................... Focus Group Discussion FIAS ................................................................................. Foreign Investment Advisory Service ICFTU ............................................................ International Confederation of Free Trade Unions ILO .................................................................................................... International Labour Office ILO .......................................................................................... International Labour Organisation IOE ................................................................................ International Organisation of Employers LaRRI .......................................................................... Labour Resources and Research Institute MDGs ........................................................................................ Millennium Development Goals MNC .................................................................................................... Multinational Companies NAFTA .......................................................................... North American Free Trade Agreement NIDL ................................................................................ New International Division of Labour University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xii OECD ................................................ Organisation of Economic Development and Corporation SAP ...................................................................................... Structural Adjustment Programmes UNCTAD ............................................. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNDP ......................................................................... United Nations Development Programme UNIDO ..................................................... United Nations Industrial Development Organisation University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The restructuring of the global economy associated with globalisation and the New International Division of Labour (NIDL) has had marked effects at the global, national and local levels (Momsen, 2004). Evident among its effects is the setting up of Export Processing Zones (hereafter referred to as EPZs) in most parts of the developing world (Frobel et al., 1980; Chant & McIlwaine, 2009). According to estimates from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in March 2007, there were about a total of 2700 EPZs across the world; most of which are located in the developing world. This was a remarkable increase from the 1975 figure which stood around only 79 EPZs globally (Gereffi, 2005). In this process, it is argued that globalisation and its associated NIDL and the setting up of EPZs have brought about higher rates of employment in developing countries as the locus of manufacturing has shifted from the North to the South (Frobel et al., 1980; Munck, 2004). Closely related to the spurring up of EPZs in the developing world is the global drift of women into paid employment in the global-market factories located in these zones. The debate that females dominate employment in EPZs is widespread (see for instance Standing, 1989; Ofreneo, 1999; Razavi & Pearson, 2004; Gunadasa, 2009). It is estimated that the female composition of the global EPZ workforce ranges from 60% to 80% (UNIDO, 1994; ILO, 2004) and is even more evident in garment manufacturing. Globally, it is estimated that there are about 50 million jobs in EPZs out of which about 80% are held by women (ICFTU, 2005). The link between the globalisation of trade and the predominance of women in manufacturing employment is so strong that Joekes (1995) speak of industrialisation in the developing world University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 as being “female-led” as much as an export-led process. Writers have ascribed both economic and socio-cultural reasons for this feminisation of EPZ employment and an attempt has been made to explain some of these reasons in the chapter on literature review. In most parts of the developing world, where the quest to achieve women’s empowerment is of utmost importance, any sector which has a predominance of women attracts the attention of many stakeholders including academic researchers. When one considers the predominance of women in the EPZ sector one important issue that comes to fore is the implication this employment has on the status of women in society -whether there is a positive link between paid employment in this sector and the empowerment of women who are the dominant workforce. Although the various advantages that employment brings to the individual and by inference for women are well-established (see for instance Sen, 1997), the nexus between employment of women in EPZs and their empowerment has presented debates which fall into two main opposing camps (Chant & McIlwaine, 2009). Just as other paid works, it has been argued that EPZ employment presents women with the opportunity of earning income and improving their own self-worth and relative status within the domestic setting thereby leading to their empowerment. Such positive effects are well documented by several writers (see for instance Oxfam, 2004; Hancock, 2006a, Hancock et al., 2011). Research shows that women workers in EPZs explicitly or implicitly experience empowerment in the following ways: the new knowledge, experiences and attitudes gained from formal factory employment and associated lifestyles away from rural society; the earning of higher incomes and thus making significant financial contributions to their family; the ability to solve problems with regular income; increased decision making within the family and at the societal levels; exposure to modern production methods; postponing marriages and having University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 fewer children; and gaining self-esteem (Hancock, 2006a; Chant & McIlwaine, 2009; Hancock et al., 2011; Peedoly, 2011). In contrast to the obvious material and non-material benefits of paid work, the nexus between paid employment and women’s empowerment is not straightforward (Joekes 1995; Kabeer, 2000), more especially when discussed in relation to EPZ employment. Some writers argue that the extent of empowerment if at all, most certainly depends on the nature of the activity and the work environment (Beneria & Roldan, 1987). In fact Peedoly asserts that “regular, well remunerated and what the ILO term as decent work is more empowering for women while irregular, low or non-paid work with poor or no contractual conditions is deemed as less empowering, if at all” (Peedoly, 2011:17). Critics noted that women are highly exploited in the EPZ sector due to some stereotypes to employment (Chant & McIlwaine, 2009). Some of these stereotypes are discussed in the literature review chapter. Generally, EPZ employment depicts images of poor and harsh working conditions such as exploitation of the labour force and a repression on any form of unionisation among the workers that can press for better working conditions (Peedoly, 2011). To this effect, there is copious literature that shows what this form of employment entails in terms of the inferior working conditions, lack of job security and health and safety issues (see for instance, ICFTU, 1996; Wills & Hale, 2005; Carty, 2006; ILO, 2008). Some of the challenges to women’s empowerment recorded in EPZs include: sexual and verbal abuse in the workplace; lack of time to engage in household, community, social and political activities due to long working hours; continued exclusion from decision making at community levels (Mies 1986; ILO, 2004; Hancock 2006b; Engman et al., 2007). Akin to this, Horgan (2001, as cited in Peedoly, 2011) asserts that working in EPZs also threatens the right of some of the women to ever have University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 children or for others, it ironically means neglecting the very children they are working so hard to feed. In reality however, the outcomes of being employed in global-market factories located in EPZs are context specific and both negative and positive (Chant & McIlwaine, 2009). Research makes it evident that the extent of empowerment or disempowerment depends on the particular context and how the women employed in this sector turn their employment into opportunities or drawbacks (see for instance Hancock, 2006a; Engman et al., 2007). Hence, knowing what is happening within different contexts is critical for this global debate. Since Ghana has been affected by this tidal wave of establishing EPZs, it is necessary to know what is happening in the Ghanaian context in relation to EPZ employment and women’s empowerment. 1.2 Problem Statement Ghana has experienced its share of the broad process of globalisation in its socio-cultural, political, technological and economic spheres of life. Indeed, Aryeetey et al. (2001) assert that one of the most significant influences on the Ghanaian economy has been derived from the greater interaction between the country and other economies. Thus following the reforms that focused on opening the economy to external trade, globalisation has been a major aspect of Ghana’s economy and society (Aryeetey et al., 2001). In the politico-economic dimension just like most nations in the developing world, the most remarkable influence has been in the adoption of structural adjustment policies and export oriented industrialisation (Boafo-Arthur, 1999). In line with the objectives of diversifying the economy, opening up major areas for investment and creating more jobs (GFZB, 2013), Ghana has also adopted the EPZ programme. In Ghana, industries operating in free zones have been in existence since the Free Zones Act, 1995 (Act University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5 504) was established and a free zones programme commenced in 1996. As at December 2013, there were 234 companies registered under free zones licence in Ghana (GFZB, 2013). In the midst of the global debate on EPZ employment and working conditions and especially its effects both negative and positive on women’s empowerment (Hancock et al., 2011; Peedoly, 2011) there has been an increasing quest to know the situation in different contexts. To make a contribution to this global debate as well as in Ghana’s own quest of achieving the Millennium Development Goals, especially in relation to women’s empowerment, knowing what is happening in the Ghanaian context is necessary since free zones have been in existence in this country for almost two decades. However, academic research on the specific context of EPZ employment and women’s empowerment in Ghana is relatively scarce. As part of an international study sponsored by the ILO, Botchie (1984) conducted a study on employment and multinational enterprises in export processing zones which focused on how multinational companies located in EPZs are helping in the creation of employment in Ghana and Liberia. While Botchie’s (1984) study focused on EPZs’ role in employment creation in Ghana, little is known on its relationship with women’s empowerment. This study therefore is timely to fill this gap in knowledge and to make a contribution to this global debate by critically analysing whether paid employment in Ghana’s EPZ leads to the empowerment of women workers at the personal, household and workplace level or indeed to a further deterioration of their conditions from the perspective of the women themselves. 1.3 Research Objectives The research seeks to critically examine the nexus between EPZ employment and the empowerment of women in Ghana. It specifically: 1. Examines the conditions of work in Ghana’s EPZ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6 2. Examines the extent to which the economic status of women has changed as a result of EPZ employment 3. Analyses how EPZ employment has influenced the interpersonal and organisational empowerment of women within the household and workplace 4. Assesses how EPZ employment has affected skills and knowledge acquisition and the psychological wellbeing of women 1.4 Research Questions The following broad research questions guided the research. 1. What are the conditions of work in Ghana’s EPZ factories that present major opportunities or hindrances to the empowerment of women? 2. In what ways have women translated their EPZ employment into economic empowerment or drawbacks? 3. To what extent has the decision making status of women at the household and workplace changed as a result of EPZ employment? 4. What are the effects of EPZ employment on women’s skills and knowledge acquisition as well as psychological wellbeing? 1.5 Research Propositions 1. The opportunities in Ghana’s EPZ employment brings about an improvement in the finances and knowledge acquisition of women 2. Women’s improved finances and knowledge acquisition enhance their psychological wellbeing and decision making status in the household and workplace 3. The challenges of Ghana’s EPZ employment present major hindrances to the empowerment of women University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 1.6 Justification of Study In recent decades, the rapid growth of transnational corporations and the rise of transnational networks of production have been regarded as hallmarks of the process of economic globalisation (OECD, 2005). Though most studies of these trends tend to neglect the role of women within this process, a critical look at issues such as the increasing cross-border mobility of capital as production processes have spread in order to take advantage of low cost labour makes it evident that we cannot ignore the fact that these processes involve vast numbers of women (Elias, n.d.). Thus within the broader theoretical domain through a critical review of literature, the thesis shows how women in the third world are major contributors to development and major operators in the globalisation of production through their employment in global-market factories located in EPZs. More so, the study makes it evident how this broad process of globalisation has had marked impacts on the lives of ordinary women living in the third world with respect to their empowerment. It is expected that the findings of this research offers an opportunity to discuss theoretical and empirical insights of EPZ employment and women’s empowerment in Ghana. At the empirical level, the insights gained from this research can help make enormous contribution to the global debate of EPZ employment and women’s empowerment with evidence from Ghana. EPZ industries have been in operation in Ghana since 1996, and in the midst of such global debate on the impact this form of employment has on the status of women who are the dominant workforce in this sector, knowing what is happening in the Ghanaian context is of utmost necessity. This study therefore has been crucial to fill this gap in knowledge. More so, it is projected that this research through empirical findings can help enrich the existing knowledge and understanding of women’s empowerment by showing the complexities of paid work and women’s empowerment. It is envisioned that the study would help discover University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 some of the underlying reasons why women empowerment when linked with paid work in EPZs presents diverse outcomes for different groups of women. It is also believed that the study will help identify some vital areas for new inquiry and to establish contacts with those having related interest. 1.7 Organisation of Chapters This introductory chapter gives a background of the study before ushering in the need to know the situation in the Ghanaian context which is the problem the study seeks to investigate. The broad and specific objectives, the research questions and propositions that guided the study as well as a justification for the study have also been presented in this chapter. Chapter two presents a thorough literature review on the current knowledge in this body of research from the global perspective. Sections covered in the literature review include; an explanation of the globalisation concept and the broad debate on the nexus between globalisation and gender; the establishment of EPZs especially in the developing world as a remarkable feature of economic globalisation/trade liberalisation; feminisation of EPZ employment and the link between EPZ employment and the empowerment of its dominant female workforce drawing heavily on researches conducted in other parts of the globe. This chapter also presents an overview of Ghana’s EPZ and ends with a conceptual literature on empowerment and how the concept is used in relation to this study. A conceptual framework for understanding EPZ employment and women’s empowerment nexus in Ghana is then explained. Chapter three explains into detail the study sites, methodology and specific methods that were employed during this investigation. There is a conscious effort to explicitly state and explain the philosophical considerations underlying this research in the quest to provide a rationale for University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 the choice of strategy and specific methods of inquiry adopted for the study. The sequential mixed method strategy, specifically the sequential exploratory strategy that was adopted for this study is then explained and an outline of the primary data collection process, data analysis and presentation is explained at the end of the chapter. Chapters four, five and six are dedicated to presenting the results and discussions of this study. Chapter four discusses the working conditions of factory women that present both opportunities and challenges to their empowerment. Chapter five specifically talks about how women have achieved empowerment or faced challenges in their economic wellbeing as a result of EPZ employment while chapter six discusses the women’s empowerment or otherwise in decision making and psychological wellbeing. The study ends with chapter eight which is dedicated to the summary, conclusions and recommendations generated from this study. It further highlights critical areas which require further research as a way of establishing contact with other researchers with related interest. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction Before delving into the empirical and analytical discussions of the link between EPZ employment and women’s empowerment in Ghana, it is important to situate the argument within the current knowledge in this body of research. This literature review seeks to provide arguments for the nexus between employment of women in EPZs and the empowerment or otherwise of these women. This chapter discusses the essence of current knowledge in this field of research while commenting critically on where interesting questions and inconsistencies lie. It provides the theoretical background as well as a guide to the direction of reasoning in this research. A brief review on how development themes have changed over the years has been done to provide the context for how economies especially in the third world came to be concerned with export oriented industrialisation. This is situated in the broad context of globalisation and the special role EPZs play in this process. Particular attention is given to the feminisation of labour in EPZs and its eventual consequence on the empowerment or otherwise of women. An overview of Ghana’s EPZ is given as well as a review of the various conceptualisations of empowerment after which a conceptual framework that is adopted for this study is explained. 2.2 Changing Themes in Development The focus of development has changed over the years with various themes dominating. The creative economic writing of Sen -development as freedom- shaped development thinking in the 1970s and changed the focus of the concept from technological advancement and trickling down effects associated with modernisation that had dominated the 1960s. Human development University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 therefore came into the limelight of development when the Cocoyoc Declaration in 1974 further reinforced this aspect of development. Human development was/is spearheaded under the notion of giving development a “human face” and putting people at the centre of it. Its central theme is about people realizing their potential, increasing their choices and enjoying the freedom to lead the lives they value. First articulated in 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), human development was seen as an inspiring start to what practitioners, academics and policy makers hoped would be a challenge to the dominant perspective of development as economic growth (Desai, 2010). In spite of its promise to put people at the centre of development in order to realize their choices and freedom, many of the approaches adopted by governments and organisations to achieve human development still focus on economic growth as a crucial means to development (Desai, 2010). Thus, “human development has been in ways co-opted by the dominant mainstream that in the end put economic growth ahead of people’s choice” (Desai, 2010:2). Although there was a decline in market fundamentalism globally in the 1990s, the policies of poverty reduction, good governance and social capital formulated by the World Bank and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are still based on a paradigm of economic growth as an engine of social change. Economic growth however may not serve as an anti thesis to human development since improving people’s access to choices is more efficient in an economy that is growing. In Sen’s (1999) arguments for development as freedom, he acknowledges the importance of economic growth to improving people’s choices and freedom and sees this as a domain of freedom that is central to development for individuals. Hence, economic growth is still a central component which for many development practitioners is necessary in achieving overall development in any country. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12 Improving access to economic opportunities for people is important but more crucial for women in particular because of their vulnerable position in society (Kishor, 2000) and the trickling down effects it has on other members of the household especially children (Kabeer, 2003). Sen (1999:202) has argued that increasing women’s opportunities to work outside the home is very crucial for strengthening their agency and further claimed that the ‘‘changing agency of women is one of the major mediators of economic and social change, and its determination as well as consequences closely relate to many of the central features of the development process’’. One process that has been highlighted by its proponents to have a tremendous effect on women’s access to economic opportunities is globalisation. It has often been argued that women especially in the third world have been offered a lot of economic opportunities through the process of globalisation (Frobel et al., 1980). The next section attempts to provide an understanding of this debate on globalisation and its effects on third world women with a special focus on EPZ employment. 2.3 Globalisation, Gender and EPZ: The Global Debate Globalization has become a catchall term in academia for decades, yet one that still remains obscure and eludes a single definition due to the myriads of conceptualization that has been given to it by different scholars across different disciplines (Reich, 1998). Though the notion of globalisation is an old one, the term itself was coined in the 1980s (OECD, 2005). Broadly, globalisations is seen as a process that seeks to bring the world together within different spheres and dimensions; be it cultural, political, economic or for security reasons. It constitutes a multiplicity of linkages and interconnections that transcends the nation states which make up the modern world system (McGrew, 2005), and defines a process through which events, decisions and activities in one part of the world can have a significant consequence for individuals and communities in quite distant parts of the globe (Frobel et al., 1980). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 One dimension of globalisation that has been eminent in global integration is the economic dimension. This dimension of globalisation is signified by a convergence of economic phenomena characterized by an intrinsically related series of economic activities. This includes the liberalisation and deregulation of markets, diffusion of technology, cross national distribution of manufacturing production, foreign direct investment (FDI) and the integration of capital markets (Reich. 1998). It epitomises the increasing interdependence of the world economies as a result of the growing scale of cross-border trade of commodities and services, flows of international capital as well as a wide and rapid spread of technologies. Thus globalisation in its economic sense refers to the worldwide spread of sales, production facilities and manufacturing processes all of which constitute the new international division of labour (OECD, 2005). This continuing expansion and mutual integration of market frontiers, boosted by forces such as the liberalisation of capital movement and deregulation of financial services in particular; the further opening of markets to trade and investment, spurring the growth of international competition; and the pivotal role played by information and communications technology (ICT) in the economy (OECD, 2005) is seen as an irreversible trend for global economic development (Frobel et al., 1980). The process of economic globalisation is also marked by the process of global industrial restructuring and readjustment in which FDI has become crucial in the development of genuinely global industries (OECD, 2005). In recent years, developed countries are gradually entering into an era of knowledge economy and have started to shift to developing countries, many labour intensive industries of weak international competiveness (Chant & McIlwaine, 2009). This geographical rationalisation of the location of labour intensive aspects of production process has also implied the search for low wage, tax havens and especially the search for female labour (Neumayer & De Soysa, 2011). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 The gendered impacts of globalisation have presented debates which remains unsettled (Neumayer & De Soysa, 2011). Research has shown that economic globalisation in particular has transformed the labour market in most parts of the developing world with differences in impacts for men and women (Sen, 1999). The literature deals especially with the many benefits and drawbacks that the process of global integration has presented women especially within the sphere of employment creation in the manufacturing sector. It is often said that globalisation has generated a lot of economic opportunities and especially employment for third world women while at the same time increasing the concern for the deterioration in wages as competition for exports and investment increases (Dejardin, 2008). This global competition, according to Dejardin (2008:3) has “fuelled ‘a race to the bottom’ in labour standards and because women are usually concentrated at the lower segments of global supply chain, they bear the greater cost of this race”. To critics of the broad globalisation promoting policies, it has worsened the already disadvantaged position of third world women (Thorin, 2001). These debates are particularly evident in feminist literature that shows how the broad process of globalisation can have detrimental effects on the social, cultural, economic and political situations of third world women relative to their male counterparts (Baneria & Lind, 1995; Baden, 1998). A review of the literature suggests that women already occupy a subordinate position in most societies and since most of the globalisation policies are gender blind and assume neutrality, they tend to exacerbate the already precarious situation third world women face (Thorin, 2001). Contrary to these arguments, enthusiasts of globalisation see the enormous opportunities it offers women in the third world especially in relation to their access to employment. These arguments presented against sceptics of the globalisation process are advanced under the assumption that “women are not mere passive receivers of hardship but are active agents that University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 navigate social, economic and political life and to whom globalisation offers new opportunities for challenging existing injustices” (Neumayer & De Soysa, 2011:7). These advantages are often discussed within the framework of trade liberalization that tends to create employment in countries with comparative labour cost advantage (Thorin, 2001). In these countries, it is often argued that women are the preferred labour force for employment in these labour intensive production units (Elson & Pearson, 1981; Standing, 1999; Chant & McIlwaine, 2009). This has led to the overall improvement in the economic status of third world women contributing to an improvement in their relative status in the household and community. Globalisation enthusiasts further argue that overall, it is easier to redistribute employment, knowledge and skills which are increasingly being recognised as important assets than to redistribute traditional assets such as land or accumulated wealth (Keller-Herzog, 1996). To Keller-Herzog (1996:11) therefore, “where globalisation is associated with new investment, new manufacturing production locations, new employment opportunities for large numbers of women, and additional demand for the paid labour of women there are positive direct effects for women”. This brings the issue of export processing zones to the limelight because of its strong relationship with new investments in developing countries and the massive employment opportunities it provides for women in the third world. 2.3.1 Export Processing Zones (EPZs) Export Processing Zones (EPZs) have been frequently used by developing nations’ governments as an engine of growth in their economies (Engman et al., 2007). As much as the EPZ concept has been frequently used, it is one that defies a single definition. Though the notion may be the same, the concept has been explained differently by various stakeholders. UNIDO (2008:6) defines EPZ as University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 “A relatively small, geographically separated area within a country, the purpose of which is to attract export-oriented industries, by offering them especially favourable investment and trade conditions as compared with the remainder of the host country. In particular, the EPZs provide for the importation of goods to be used in the production of exports on a bonded duty free basis” In a similar fashion, the International Labour Office [ILO] (2008) explains EPZs as industrial zones with special incentives set up to attract foreign investors in which imported materials undergo some degree of processing before being exported again. These definitions of EPZ conform to the conventional explanation of an EPZ being a specially demarcated enclave. However, increasingly more countries are introducing single factory units or what we call “Export Processing Units” (EPUs) where single factories can operate within their specified location but still under EPZ license. Thus, what an EPZ constitutes now is more than an enclave location. Broadening the scope of definition of EPZ therefore, Engman et al. (2007:11) comprehensively defines an EPZ programme as: “a government policy to promote exports of goods and/or services by offering a more competitive business environment through provision of special incentives including in particular tariff exemptions to inputs either in a geographically defined area or through a specification process” It should however not be assumed that Engman et al.’s definition captures the entire essence of an EPZ model. More recently, the EPZ model is widened in scope to include several aspects that traditionally did not fall within the scope of the model. For example there is evidence of countries such as Mexico and Dominican Republic that allow industries in the EPZ to sell between 20 to 40% of their goods in the domestic market while in Papua New Guinea, there is an unlimited access to sales of goods by EPZ enterprises in the domestic market. These pieces University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 of evidence do not conform with the traditional definition of EPZ goods being exported to the foreign market. More so, the EPZ model has moved beyond the era when it was a government’s development agenda where government bore the responsibility of constructing and developing a zone for investors. Recently in some countries, the private sector has entered into the business of constructing and developing zones for export processing purposes (IOE, 2008). Moreover, there is evidence to show that in countries such as Mauritius and India, domestic/local investors have been dominant in EPZs than foreign investors (LaRRI, 2000). Thus, though the intention of developing a zone might be to attract FDI, increasingly, the dominance of local investors is challenging the status quo. EPZs are by no means a recent phenomenon since the ILO records the establishment of the first zone in Spain in 1929. However, the 1970s saw a boom in the number of EPZs especially across most parts of the developing world and since then, EPZ growth has been tremendous. According to the ILO (2008), the numbers of EPZs have increased from just 79 zones in 25 countries in 1975 to about 3500 zones in some 130 countries in 2006 of which most are located in the developing world. It is this boom in the springing up of zones across the developing world that has sparked an interest in this phenomenon among researchers. EPZ research has focused on broad aspects such as motivation factors as well as cost and benefits of establishing a zone. While this review is not claiming a thorough explanation of all the literature on EPZs, an attempt is made to summarise the major arguments in this body of research to put this study in perspective. Many reasons have been ascribed by different scholars as influential in the increasing emphasis that governments in developing countries have placed on EPZs establishment. Employment creation has been often cited as a common justification for establishing an EPZ (LaRRI, 2000). Other important factors include; the increasing emphasis on export oriented industrialisation; the new international division of labour which has led to the transfer of labour intensive production to low wage economies; an increasing University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 emphasis on FDI for growth (Aggarwal, 2005; Engman et al., 2007). The preceding reasons, coupled with the successes of developmental states of South East Asia that promoted an export- oriented development strategy further boosted the adoption of EPZs as a model of development in the developing world. Overall, factors that explain why investment in general flow from the global north to the global south are very palpable in addition to the above outlined factors explaining flow of investment into EPZs. Similar to the broad process of globalisation, some writers and advocates have lauded the advantages EPZ creation brings to the economies of countries that establish them especially countries in the third world. The benefits that enthusiasts of the EPZ model often enumerate include the obvious increase in foreign exchange through the attraction of FDIs and exports, the creation of employment and transfer of technology (IOE, 2008). FIAS (2007) indicates that globally, EPZs account for 177.7 billion dollars and 8% of exports of manufactured goods and 38.2 million direct employments across the world. It specifically contributes 19.5% and 16.7% of total manufactured goods in sub-Saharan Africa, and Middle East and North Africa respectively. With 35 million direct employments in Asia/Pacific, EPZs take 2.3% share of total employment in that region. However, sceptics of the EPZ model on the other hand argue that the cost of establishing an EPZ whether in the form of direct cost of expenditure on constructing a new zone or indirect cost of revenue that is lost due to tax exemptions do not make the EPZ model very viable for development (LaRRI, 2000). Often governments establish EPZs with the expectation of the zones leading to job creation, technology transfer as well as sparking some growth impulses in other parts of the economy through backward and forward linkages. However, research shows that these expectations are usually not met. Typical examples that critics of the EPZ model in Africa cite are the cases of Kenya and Namibia. In Kenya, the government spent about 40 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 billion Kenyan Shillings on establishing EPZs but only 2000 jobs had been created by the mid- 1990s (LaRRI, 2000). In Namibia too the government spent millions of dollars in developing zones with the aim of creating about 25,000 jobs in the first five years as well as increasing the amount of manufactured goods and assisting in skill transfer. However, in 1999, five years after the establishment of EPZs in Namibia, a research conducted by the Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRI), revealed that only 400 jobs had been created (Jauch, 2002) even though Namibia had joined in the “race to the bottom” in labour standards to attract foreign investors into their zones. Critics say these monies if spent on other sectors of the economy such as small scale enterprises will yield much result than on EPZs. One aspect of the several criticisms against EPZs that has generated much debate is employment creation. While proponents of the EPZ model lauds the number of jobs that are created in a country, critics on the other hand cite the contentious issue of EPZs not abiding by global labour standards and thus not making any positive impact at all. The EPZ employment conundrum creates much attention when critical view is given to the sheer number of women employed in these zones. The next section takes a critical look at the issue of ‘feminisation of employment” in EPZs and its impact on the status of women. 2.3.2 Feminisation of EPZ Employment Closely related to the spurring up of EPZs across most parts of the developing world is the global drift of women into industrial employment in global-market factories located in these Zones. It is widely accepted that women dominate employment in EPZs (see for instance Standing 1989; Ofreneo, 1999; Razavi & Pearson 2004; Gunadasa, 2009). Globally, it is estimated that the female composition of the global EPZ workforce ranges between 60% and 80% (UNIDO, 1994; ILO, 2004) and is even more pronounced in garment manufacturing. Across the world, there is an estimated 50 million jobs in EPZ and 80% are held by women University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 (ICFTU, 2005). The link between the globalisation of trade and the predominance of women in manufacturing employment is so strong that Joekes (1995) posits that no country has achieved a strong performance in export manufacturing that relies on labour intensive production without a reliance on female workforce. In the EPZ sector, this large proportion of female workforce in industries has resulted in a process commonly referred to as “feminisation of labour/employment” in EPZs (Standing, 1999). Very often, the question is asked of why women are thought of as more suitable and preferred for employment in EPZs. Several writers ranging from economists to feminists and to political scientists have attributed diverse reasons for this feminisation of EPZ employment which are sometimes cultural, social, economic or political (Pepper, 2012). First it is argued that women offer cheap labour than men because they are willing to accept long working hours with poor payment (Standing, 1999; Chant & McIlwaine, 2009; Khan, 2012). True to this case, there is nowhere in the world that women are paid more than men on the average even in the same job (Ackah et al., 2012). The United Nations has estimated that women’s nominal wages are 17% lower than men’s (UN Women, n.d). Thus, for labour-intensive aspects of production which the majority of EPZ work symbolizes, it is economically prudent to employ females because they offer cheap labour which in turn helps to reduce production cost. It has therefore been argued that young unmarried women in the third world who migrated from rural areas are preferred as EPZ workers as they offer cheap but effective labour with high levels of productivity (Marchand, 2002; Salzinger, 2004). In deed Ross (2008, cited in Pepper 2012) asserts that: “Export-oriented firms produce goods for highly-competitive global markets, and wages constitute a large fraction of their production costs; this places them under exceptional pressure to seek out labour at the lowest costs. Since female wages are lower than male wages, export-oriented firms often target them for recruitment” University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21 In addition to the economic reasons that have been expounded for employing females are some cultural and social stereotypes that place women in an advantage position for EPZ employment. It is argued that females have nimble fingers and gentle hands and hence they are best suited for jobs in these zones which are repetitive, monotonous, boring and very unstable (see for instance Elson & Pearson, 1981; Khan, 2012). More so, women are thought of as being docile, malleable, and submissive and thus yielding to instruction and supervision more easily than men (Peedoly, 2011). As well, they are less likely to unionise. According to Khan (2012), they are therefore easier to hire and fire at will and according to external demand conditions, and also, life cycle changes such as marriage and childbirth could be used as proximate causes to terminate employment. Standing (1999) has also argued that this feminisation of labour is more so because increasingly, more work in the global-market industries bears the features of traditional female household jobs which are unskilled, precarious and unpaid or poorly paid if at all. In this view, He further explains the feminisation of employment to describe the flexibilisation of labour for both women and men in which there is a change in the nature of employment where irregular conditions are thought of as synonymous to women’s secondary employment (Standing, 1999). A review of the employment and recruitment practices of EPZ firms reveals that employers utilise ideas about the appropriate role of women (for example as secondary income earners or their innate suitability to monotonous work) to justify the low wages and lack of career advancement available to women employed in these sectors (Elias, n.d.). However, Elson and Pearson (1997) are critical of the often held but largely incorrect assumption that women’s jobs in EPZs are unskilled and therefore worthy only of low wages. In fact, paradoxically, they argue that it is women’s disadvantaged position that becomes an advantage for them in securing jobs in these global-market factories. According to Standing University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 (1989), the feminization of work in this sector represents a concerted effort by employers to replace male workers by more flexible, docile and cheap female labour as global competition increases. He argues that labour deregulation in the 1980s accompanying structural adjustment policies and export-led industrialization in many countries of the South led not only to an increase in the proportion of women in the paid labour force but also to the feminization of what hitherto had been considered male occupations. In effect, women are seen, and hence favoured, as a passive and flexible workforce that will accept low wages without demanding labour and human rights (Elias, n.d.). However, within this discourse, the reasons for female employment in this sector present arguments that are complicated and fall into two major camps. While the formal economic position espouses ideas of efficiency of the female labour force and hence their preference in employment, the feminist literature criticises this efficiency argument on several socio- economic grounds (Pepper, 2012). Whatever the reasons are, – whether negative or positive- as long as flexible labour strategies continue to be the norm in these global-market factories and the numbers of such factories operating in these zones continue to increase, more and more women will continually be drifted into paid employment in EPZs. This massive entry of women into paid employment has increased the interest of researches as to what benefits it holds for women in society. Whether there is an improvement in the status of women in the household and community because of EPZ employment is the major question that is frequently asked. This has prompted academic research on the link between EPZ employment and the status of women in society. The next section presents some of the major findings and arguments presented by such researches. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 2.3.3 EPZ Employment and Women’s Empowerment A critical review of the literature suggests that the employment of women in EPZs have in many ways brought about an improvement in the overall conditions of women within the household and in the community (Lim 1985; Lim, 1990; Hancock, 2006a; Peedoly, 2011; Hancock et al., 2011). Earning regular income, which EPZ employment offers many women, has been seen by many researchers as an avenue to increase women’s autonomy and improve their economic and social status (Esplen & Brody, 2007) as well as shift power relations in the household in favour of women (Kishor, 2000). One major proponent of the thesis of EPZ employment offering women with liberating forces is Lim. Examining data from 30 developing countries especially on the various conditions of employment offered by multinational companies for women, she argued that the employment of women in EPZs is indeed an improvement on the local employment opportunities (Lim, 1985). According to her, this form of employment has improved women’s working and living conditions and has expanded their opportunities and horizons thereby providing them with some escape from domestic exploitation. She further contends that apart from the obvious economic benefits derived from employment in terms of earning an income, saving for marriage or further education and the ability to support families financially, the opportunity to enjoy personal freedom and the companionship of other women are other benefits that EPZ employment offers women (Lim, 1985). Building on the findings from her 1985 research, Lim (1990), also contested the stereotypical view that female workers in EPZs are mainly young, unmarried and usually immigrants from rural areas who are exploited in harsh working conditions and with constant harassment from employers and supervisors. She argues that these stereotypical ideas are propounded and perpetuated by Marxists, Feminists and Trade Unionists. Even though she does not disagree University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 totally with this view, her sceptism towards it is very eminent. She argues that the reality of women’s employment in EPZs across countries, time and industry is complex, varied and context specific (Lim, 1990). In her 1994 work, Rosa also argues that in spite of the precarious conditions of work that prevail in EPZs, this form of employment offers women with a unique environment for cooperation and other forms of solidarity. This form of solidarity she argued, offers women with the opportunity to achieve empowerment at the collective level (Rosa, 1994). In 2010, Hancock and Edirisinghe conducted a study in Sri Lanka aiming to find a nexus between EPZ employment and women’s empowerment involving 22 EPZ stakeholders. In a 2012 publication of the findings of this study, they identified various forms of empowerment at the personal, family and workplace level that the female workers achieve as a result of EPZ work. At the personal level, they identified that women achieve empowerment through an improvement in their economic conditions, new knowledge and skills as well as life style changes (Hancock & Edirisinghe, 2012). In the economic dimension, it was reported that the women were earning significantly higher incomes than the minimum wage and the availability of allowances and bonuses help to increase these amounts. This then offered the women a stable, regular and higher source of income unlike other seasonal occupations (Hancock & Edirisinghe, 2012). The study also reported that the women had control over their income and had the power to decide what to use the money for. Women were therefore no longer dependent on their families (Hancock & Edirisinghe, 2012), and financial independence has been established by scholars as a major form of empowerment for women (Sen, 1999; Kishor, 2000; Kabeer, 2003). The study also reported women gaining new knowledge as an outcome of their opportunity to participate in induction training programmes and a variety of other training programmes which University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 discusses different issues in relation to life (Hancock & Edirisinghe, 2012). Women were also reported to have benefited from vocational trainings such as sewing, cookery, beauty culture, housekeeping, making of accessories besides classes in English language. The study also reported the cases where some women were even sent to Japan for training programmes because they were working for a Japanese company. This exposure to new knowledge, skills and foreign life, it is argued, presents women with opportunities to improve their self-worth and esteem thereby achieving psychological wellbeing and empowerment (Hancock & Edirisinghe, 2012). As trained and productive workers living away from their hometowns, the women had learned to build team work, social networks and learned to cope with the risk factors prevailing in urban society. This and many other issues including collective bargaining within the workplace were reported as ways in which women were achieving collective empowerment. A joint study conducted by researchers from the Edith Cowan University in Australia and the Centre for Research on Women (CENWOR) in Sri Lanka from 2008 to 2011 involving 2304 women EPZ workers in Sri Lanka also reported similar findings. Hancock et al. in their 2011 report of that study also acknowledged that though women EPZ workers were facing challenges within the political dimension of empowerment, they had achieved a lot in terms of improvement in their social status especially within the household. They highlighted that through savings, contributions to family income and wellbeing, women were able to translate their economic capital into social capital. Most of the women sampled, about 82.3 % of them said they were saving money in both formal and informal schemes and 75.6% said they were sending money home to their families at the end of each month. There was also a positive shift towards an increase in decision making especially in the household. This was largely attributed to the financial contribution women were making in the family economy. For most of the women, it was reported that there has been an increase in their self-esteem and self-worth due University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 to their ability to support families and improve their homes and living conditions with regular incomes (Hancock et al., 2011). This, the women reported had earned them respect and social inclusion within the household and broader society. Peedoly (2011) also conducted a research in Mauritius involving female EPZ factory workers to find out if EPZ employment is a stepping stone or a stumbling block towards women’s empowerment. While acknowledging the many challenges that the harsh working conditions presents to the empowerment of the female workforce, he concluded that over all, the benefits of this form of employment for the empowerment of women especially in terms of their self- esteem and their ability to tackle poverty far outweighs its drawbacks. This he did, by contrasting the experiences of working women with the experiences of other women who had been laid off from EPZ factory work. He reported that not only have the experiences of being laid off factory work dinted the self-image and aspirations of the women, but had immensely affected their ability to juggle with poverty and its numerous outcomes (Peedoly, 2011). He then concluded that “despite being a relatively difficult sector to work in, its benefits outweigh its limitations” (Peedoly, 2011:9). Similar findings on how EPZ employment has helped in women’s empowerment have been recorded by researchers in Bangladesh, India, Mexico and Namibia (Madani, 1999). These pieces of empirical evidence on how the economic, psychological and socio-cultural status of women improve as a result of EPZ employment is in support of neo-liberal arguments that associate paid work with empowerment. Most scholars have lauded the liberating forces that earning a regular income from employment presents any individual in terms of material and non-material as well as the trickling down effects it has on other members of that person’s household (Kabeer, 2003). Indeed, in Sen’s (1999) articulation of development as freedom, he acknowledges that increasing women’s access and freedom to work outside the home is crucial University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 for increasing their freedoms in other domains such as education, reproductive control and social and political life. He further postulates that clearly, the continued exclusion of women from the workforce has limited their freedom over the years and the reversal of this scenario is what is needed to expand the real freedoms of women. He therefore places a lot of emphasis on women’s access to employment as liberating for them and leading to their eventual empowerment in both socio-economic and political dimensions of life (Sen, 1999). Irrespective of the above mentioned benefits of EPZ employment however, there is abundant literature on the various challenges that this employment presents to women thereby limiting their ability to empower themselves if not out rightly disempowering them. What this form of employment entails and the major limitations it poses for women has resulted in many researchers becoming very critical about the empowering effects of EPZ employment. The next section captures some of the empirical evidence of the working conditions in EPZs that serve as major drawbacks to the empowerment of women workers in EPZs. 2.3.4 EPZ Employment and Working Conditions In spite of the many advantages that EPZ employment brings to a country by helping to absorb most of the surplus female labour, many have challenged the empowering effects of such an employment. The poor working conditions, low salaries and generally low skills required in EPZs render most of the dominant female workforce very vulnerable to the many changes in the globalised economy (Vercillo, 2010). The general lack of decent work in most EPZs across the world has often led to many researchers challenging the empowering effects of this employment. The dominant themes found in any discussion on EPZ working conditions are the low wages paid to employees, the long working hours in indecent environments, absence of contractual agreements, occupational health and safety issues, verbal abuse and the lack of unionisation among EPZ workers. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 The ILO has explained decent work as encompassing strategic objectives that ensures that any worker enjoys the full benefits of employment (ILO, 2012). Chief among these strategic objectives is workers’ rights that ensure greater opportunities at work and the securing of a livelihood with an adequate social protection and a voice in decision making (Vercillo, 2010) which are usually embodied in the labour laws of a country. However, the working conditions in most EPZs violate worker rights thereby impeding on the empowering effects of this form of employment. LaRRI (2000) indicated that in relation to EPZ employment, while countries such as Jamaica, Haiti, Mozambique and Mexico see to the full application of labour standards, others such as Mauritius, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines and Namibia partially implement such standards. In Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India however, labour standards were suspended in EPZs. This section critically reviews the empirical evidence on the various working conditions under the major themes outlined above. Long Working Hours and Low Wages Paid The most cited form of abuse of worker rights in most EPZs is the long working hours coupled with low wages that EPZ workers are paid (see for instance ICFTU, 2004; Hancock, 2006b; Amengual & Milberg, 2008; Vercillo, 2010; Hancock et al., 2011). The 2004 ICFTU report indicates that EPZ employees work for longer hours even excessively above the stipulated national overtime periods thereby violating the overtime legislation in most countries. This has further been buttressed by researches that have been conducted in EPZs in parts of the global south. In a study conducted in Sri Lanka’s EPZs, Hancock et al. (2011) posit that in Sri Lanka, EPZ workers work a minimum of 30 hours and a maximum of 88 hours per week. Hence averagely, EPZ workers work 45.73 hours per week excluding overtime. They also found that most of the workers work an average of 9.62 hours of overtime per week (Hancock et al., 2011). When compared with the national average, it was concluded that women in EPZs work University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 significantly more hours than women in other sectors of the economy. Amengual and Milberg (2008) assert that in most EPZs in developing countries, long working hours continue to persist beyond the mandatory acceptable overtime stipulated by the labour laws of such countries. Similar findings were reported by Russel-Brown (2002) in Jamaica, Rodriguez-Garavito (2005) in Guatemala, Best (2005) in Sri Lanka and Gopolakrisnan (2007) in Dominican Republic. Coupled with the long working hours reported in most EPZs that impinge on worker rights is the low wages paid to workers. It is often argued that EPZs in the global south attract the relocation of most of the labour intensive aspects of production from the developed world due to the generally cheap labour that are prevalent in these countries (Chant & McIlwaine, 2009). By inference therefore, this renders the argument that EPZ salaries are low irrelevant because the generally low salaries in such economies is what gives them a comparative advantage in attracting FDI into their EPZs in the first place (LaRRI, 2000). This argument notwithstanding, research conducted in EPZs of the global south prove that, even when compared with other sectors of the same economy EPZ salaries are still low. There are a lot of studies which report that salaries in EPZs are higher than salaries in other domestic industries and the informal sector of an economy. According to Madani (1999), minimum wage in EPZs is generally better than other domestic sectors. Similar findings have also been reported by Peedoly (2011) in Mauritius, and Amengual and Milberg (2008) also present evidence from countries such as Bangladesh, Madagascar, Costa Rica, Honduras and Sri Lanka that support this argument. However, there is also empirical evidence to show that this argument may not be entirely true. In Sri Lanka, Hancock et al. (2011) report that the average monthly salary in the EPZ is 71.92 dollars excluding overtime allowance and 95.97 dollars including overtime. They indicate that this figure is significantly lower than the national University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 mean population income per month as EPZ workers earn a significantly 31.13% lower than the national census average (Hancock et al., 2011). However, Hausmann et al. (2009) have argued that most national mean income comprises the salaries of both men and women, and in Sri Lanka, men earn between 20-28% more than women. Thus an average of 24% more of the mean national income can be attributed to the salaries of men. This leaves the percentage difference of salary between EPZ workers and other female workers in other sectors of the economy around 7%. This figure notwithstanding, when one considers the number of hours women in EPZs work more than their counterparts in other sectors of the economy, then one can conclude that earning 7% less is still significant. To this effect, Hancock et al. (2011) still assert that EPZ women work significantly more hours than the national average while earning a significantly less income. For some researches, there is a correlation between the low wages paid in EPZs and the long working hours that characterises such employment. To Amengual and Milberg (2008), the primary reason why most EPZ employees work overtime is to earn additional income which constitutes an important component of their income. Without it their monthly salary will be woefully low. Thus to them, the low salaries paid to workers is a motivation for them to work overtime (Amengual & Milberg, 2008). This long working hours apart from having effects on the health of EPZ workers as will be discussed in the following sections, it is also reported in some studies as the primary reason why EPZ women cannot engage in other activities especially in their villages and communities and even some times their inability to join workers union (see for instance, Hancock, 2006b; Peedoly, 2011; Hancock et al., 2011). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 Lack of Unionisation in EPZs Organised around the workplace and closer to the employees than employers, workers’ unions are supposed to counter-balance the inherently unequal relationship that usually exists between employees and employers and enhance the distribution of the outcomes of productive growth (ICFTU, 1996). However, due to the assumption that the operation of workers’ unions in EPZs may pose a challenge to the attraction of investment into most EPZs, some governments have passed legislation that prohibits employees to organise themselves around their status as workers and press for better conditions of service (Gopolakrisnan, 2007). Indeed in most countries, governments have passed laws that make the activities of workers’ unions in EPZs illegal. In countries like China, Nigeria and Pakistan, there are still in existence some legal restrictions on freedom of association in EPZs (Gopolakrisnan, 2007). In other countries such as Namibia, while workers can join labour unions, the labour laws have been altered to make strikes and other lockouts in EPZs illegal (Madani, 1999) and there is even evidence of situations where workers who join workers union in the EPZs being suspended or dismissed (ICFTU, 2004; Amengual & Milberg, 2008; Hancock et al., 2011). More so, in extreme cases where firms are not able to control the formation of workers union, those firms have closed down their operations in such locations only to re-open somewhere else (ICFTU, 2004). These forms of suppression on union activities in EPZs have been reported in several studies conducted in parts of the developing world such as Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, and Jamaica (see for instance Russel-Brown, 2002; Best, 2005; Rodriguez-Garavito, 2005; Gopolakrisnan, 2007). Health and Safety Issues in EPZs The various working environments that women find themselves in most EPZs have been a major source of concern for researchers. The very environment in which the women work is University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 very appalling as many workplaces in EPZs throughout the world still fail to provide a safe working environment for their predominantly female workforce. Poor ventilation, poor sanitary conditions, poor canteens and blocked emergency exits are some of the frequently cited difficulties in the literature (Madani, 1999). The ICFTU (2004) reports of an incident in Bangladesh where workers locked in factories to work subsequently caught fire on several occasions. Another example is the 1993 Kader industrial factory fire in Thailand where 240 workers died because of blocked exits (Dunn, 1994 as cited in Madani, 1999). More so, “in Lesotho, most workers employed in a Hong Kong EPZ company that produced gemstones died from lung cancer as a result of dust pollution” (ILRIG 1996:30 as cited in LaRRI, 2000) Reporting on his research in Mauritius, Peedoly (2011) asserts that the working conditions in the Mauritian EPZs are relatively better than the “sweatshop conditions” that are frequently reported to be a hallmark of most EPZs across the world. He however posits that the main occupational health hazards facing the women in Mauritian EPZ is noise pollution which many participants in his series of focus group discussions concurred often lead to severe migraines at the end of their shifts in the factory every day. Indeed the words of Lalita, a participant in one of the focus group discussion confirms this assertion; “the environment is not bad but it is so noisy that many of us are prone to headaches, every day I need to use coconut oil in my hair as soon as I reach home to soothe my migraine” (Lalita, FGD participant, as cited in Peedoly 2011:77). More so, Hancock (2006b) reports incidents of health problems primarily caused by the long working hours often encountered in EPZs. The majority of women who took part in his study also reported that whether they are suffering from fever, cramps, nausea, back ache, dizziness or lack of energy, the only drug that they are provided by health workers of the factories is “panadol”. Similar findings where one drug is prescribed and administered for all ailments University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 reported by EPZ workers in the workplace have been reported by Attanapola (2003). Although there have been measures to protect the health and safety of workers in some EPZs and even sometimes offered them health insurance and other benefits, there is evidence in countries such as Honduras and Dominican Republic that EPZs workers in general have worse health and safety conditions than other workers outside the zones. In addition to the above conditions of work, studies have also shown that owing predominantly to the lack of contractual agreement in the workplace women in EPZs lose their jobs more than men thus impeding on their empowerment. There have been reported instances where women have even lost their jobs because they embarked on maternity leave (Vercillo, 2010). Verbal abuse is also one of the major forms of abuse that are recorded in most EPZ researches. According to Hancock et al. (2011), most of this form of abuse occurs especially when workers are not able to reach their set targets for a day. Others even reported verbal abuse when asking for permission to take a sick leave. They also reported that the ones who were able to speak up to the generally unfair treatment of the workers in EPZs were more likely to lose their jobs or be suspended (Hancock et al., 2011). For most women, the above discussed conditions of work and the generally poor conditions associated with EPZ work, has given this form of employment a bad image in most countries. For example female EPZ workers in Sri Lanka mostly report of the societal harassment and humiliation they face in their communities. For most of them, they even keep their employment in EPZ a secret from their family because of the impression people have about these zones (Hancock et al., 2011). Even though there are some achievements that have been made in terms of governments establishing and enforcing labour laws in EPZs in countries such as Bangladesh and the pressure by some international organisations on labour standards in the South American and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 Caribbean regions, there still remains a general consensus that many countries lack the resources to enforce labour laws in EPZs (Amengual & Milberg, 2008). Citing an ILO research conducted in 2003 involving 20 multinational companies and 74 supplier firms, Mamic (2003) concluded that though most firms have made a lot of improvements in terms of occupational health and safety measures, issues such as freedom of association, as well as overtime and long working hours still prove to be a difficult issue for most firms to tackle. According to Burawoy (1985), the violation of labour rights in most zones is to be understood as part of the process of governments undercutting the standards for specific locations to become attractive sites for investments (as cited in LaRRI, 2000). These poor working conditions has been a major argument of sceptics of the EPZ model in explaining why EPZ employment has a detrimental effect on the empowerment of the predominantly women workers. 2.4 Ghana’s Export Processing Zones: An Overview In most parts of Sub Saharan Africa, the free zone concept is a recent phenomenon as compared to East Asia and the Caribbean regions. The trend towards free zones model dates back to the 1990s when most African countries sought to replicate the East Asian model of export led industrialisation (ACET, 2012). In Ghana, EPZs have been in existence since an Act of Parliament -the Free Zones Act, 1995 (Act 504)- established the Ghana Free Zones Board (GFZB) in 1995 and enabled it to establish free zones in Ghana for the promotion of economic development (GFZB, 2013). The implementation of the programme actually commenced in September 1996. Since then, the Ghana Free Zones Programme has come to represent an important instrument for government in the economic development of the country. The programme was envisaged as an integrated programme to promote the processing and manufacturing of goods through the establishment of EPZs and encourage the development of commercial and service activities at the seaport and airport areas. With the aim of opening up University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 Ghana to potential investors who can utilise the free zones as focal points to produce goods and services for export, the Free Zone Programme operates two schemes; the Export Processing Zone Enclave, and Single Factory Enterprise Free Zone schemes. This allows investors to either locate in the designated export processing zones or in any other location of their choice (GFZB, 2013). In Ghana, the free zone programme is completely private driven. The government’s role is limited to the facilitation, regulation and monitoring of zone developers/investors and enterprises. According to ACET (2012), the free zones facilities in Ghana includes; two free ports, an airport free zone, one hundred and fifty free points and four export processing zones. The four designated EPZ enclaves according to the Ghana Free Zones Board (GFZB) are the Tema EPZ, Ashanti Technology Park, Shama Land Bank and Sekondi EPZ. The Tema EPZ with a total area of 1200 acres (480 hectares) is located in Tema, a major residential and industrial city with the largest sea port in the country. The Ashanti Technology Park located in the centre of Ghana covers an area of 1099 acres and is dedicated to such activities as ICT, bio-technology development and other heavy and light industrial manufacturing. The other two zones located in the Western Region are the Shama EPZ covering an area of 3200 acres of sea front land and designated as an industrial park for the petroleum and petrochemical sector; and the Sekondi EPZ located in Ghana’s second largest sea port earmarked as a hub for mineral processing and other heavy industrial activities. However, currently, the Tema EPZ is the only enclave that is fully operational while the other three are still under development. In addition to these enclaves are the concentrations of enterprises with free zones licenses in the Tema heavy industrial area, Tema fishing harbour and the Accra industrial area as well as the many single factory units that are designated as free zone units for enterprises located across the entire country. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 Just as other free zones in most parts of the developing world, operating in Ghana’s EPZ also comes with some monetary and non-monetary incentives. These includes but not limited to: 100% exemption from payment of direct and indirect duties and levies on all imports for production in free zones, 100% exemption from payment of income tax on profits for 10 years which will not exceed 8% thereafter, no import licensing requirements, minimal customs formalities (GFZB, 2013). The priority sectors that the GFZB identifies for investment includes agro food processing especially fruit, vegetables and cocoa processing, information and communication technology, textiles and apparel manufacturing, sea food processing, jewellery and metal fabrication (GFZB, 2013). As at December 2013, there were 234 companies registered under free zones license. Among these companies, majority of them were operating under single enterprise free zone schemes. Also the dominant form of activities include, agro food processing (fruits, vegetables and cocoa); ICT (data processing and transmission, call centres, software development); textile/apparel manufacturing; sea food processing; light industry/assembling plant; metal fabrication; floriculture (GFZB, 2013). Though ACET (2012) has asserted that EPZs in Africa in general are not living up to expectation, it highlights Ghana’s model as one of the success stories in Sub Saharan Africa in terms of employment and exports. Evidently therefore, the Ghana’s free zone model has become an important instrument for the economic growth of the country. Thus in addition to studies that have been conducted to ascertain its contribution to exports and employment creation, there is the need to know what the situation is with regards to EPZ employment and the empowerment of its predominant female workforce in the wake of such a global debate. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 2.5 Conceptualising Women’s Empowerment Though not limited to women, but associated with all social groups which are experiencing some sort of vulnerabilities that place them in an unequal position in society and hence the need to improve their status, empowerment has frequently been discussed in relation to women. The empowerment of women as a group has gained much attention over the past decades among researchers and practitioners across various fields due to its necessity to global development. Apart from being a goal in itself, the UN (2000) recognises women’s empowerment as a means of achieving other development goals such as elimination of hunger, poverty and diseases. Indeed, the UN General Secretary asserts that women are not just the target of special measures to promote development but are also the driving force to overcome poverty, reduce hunger, fight illiteracy, heal the sick, prevent the spread of disease and promote stability (UN, 2008). The empowerment of women has become a critical development objective over the past four decades since the path breaking work of Boserup (1970) and many others in the early 1970s drew attention to the relatively unequal situation of women in spite of their immense contribution to development (Dolphyne & Ofei-Aboagye, 2001). The importance of women’s empowerment is underscored by its inclusion in the Millennium Development Goals. First recognized by the World Bank in its World Development Report 2000/2001 as one of the three pillars of poverty reduction, women empowerment is now found in the documentation of over 1,800 World Bank-aided projects (Alsop & Heinsohn, 2005), and it is the subject of debate and analytic work within the development community. However, just like many concepts in the social science, empowerment is one that defies a single definition and usage. In fact, Batliwala (1994) asserts that of all the many social science concepts that have become buzzwords, empower