Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

As dynamic today as it was in its first decade, feminist geography continues to undergo significant change. Shifts in institutions of higher education have been fueled by a set of economically driven principles that corresponds to a corporate model of rewards and market-based learning outcomes (Dastree & Sparke, 2000). Feminist geographies challenge these developments in academia through analyses of, for example, hierarchical divisions of labor in the context of changing sociocultural and political-economic structures. This is part and parcel of an effort to transform patriarchal structures in, and the corporatization of, higher education (McDowell, 1990). As we know, feminist course …

 Gender relations have influenced the distribution, causes, and consequences of social and economic inequality in the Appalachian region.  Labor market studies that examine gender-based sources of inequality  greatly expanded our understanding of poverty in Appalachia for both  women and men (Billings and Tickamyer 1993). Researchers, who incorporate gender into their analyses, consistently have documented that  women are more vulnerable to poverty than men in this region (Latimer  2000; Tickamyer and Tickamyer 1991). The increased attention to gender  issues within Appalachian studies reflected the heightened awareness of  how gender - in addition to race, class, and ethnicity - shape economic  development …

This paper analyzes the relationship between industrial restructuring and women's homework in Appalachia. Since the early 1970s, industrial restructuring in this region has led to substantial job loss in mining and manufacturing industries and increased employment in the service sector. These employment shifts, coupled with Appalachia's long tradition of informal sector activities, make homework a viable income-generating strategy for women. This paper first addresses some of the literature on the geography of gender and industrial restructuring. Second, women's homework is analyzed as an economic strategy in response to industrial restructuring. In the third section, the types and significance of women's …