I received my BA from the University of California at Berkeley, and my PhD from Stanford University in Sociology, and I have taught at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. My research explores the rise of the global information technology workforce, and how it impacts women, ethnic groups, and low income communities around the world. Sponsored by grants from the National Science Foundation, I have conducted some of the first in-depth ethnographies of outsourcing by U.S. firms to India. My broader interests are in global inequalities of race, class, gender, and sexuality, and how they play out in employment, work-family dynamics, transnational corporations, and activism. South Asia is my regional focus, with additional studies of North Africa and Eastern Europe.
RECENT ACTIVITIES
I’m so excited to mix with the art world through the wonderful photographer and scholar Annu Palakunnathu Matthew. See her website exhibit "Virtual Immigrants" on shifting visuals and identities in Indian call centers. I’ve been joining the lectures and discussions for her photo installation exhibits at the University of Rhode Island and Stockton College in New Jersey.
See the Special Issue of American Behavioral Scientist that I co-edited with George Wilson on "Race, Class, and Gender in Transnational Labor Inequality," with contributions from Saskia Sassen, Arlie Hochschild, Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, Edna Bonacich, Lise Widding Isaksen, Sambasivan Uma Devi, Sabrina Alimahomed, Jake Wilson, Eileen Otis, and Elizabeth Aranda.
"Introduction: Race, Class, and Gender in Transnational Labor Inequality," with George Wilson, 2008. (November) 52(3):295-305.
"Filtering Diversity: A Global Corporation Struggles with Gender and Race in Employment Policy," 2008. (November) 52(3):307-341.
Jeff Hearn and Nina Lykke were gracious enough to host me at Linkoping University in Sweden through a fellowship at the Centre for Gender Excellence. The theme for the research group was "Deconstructing the Hegemony of Men and Masculinities," and here’s a copy of my work in progress:
"Subversions of Techno-Masculinity in the Global Economy: Multi-Level Challenges by Indian Professionals to US ICT Hegemony," pp. 123-135 in Jeff Hearn, ed., GEXcel Work in Progress Report, Institute of Thematic Gender Studies, Linkoping University, Sweden, 2009.
Many groups are working on promoting women in technical, scientific and engineering fields. Lately I’ve joined groups such as the European Commission’s Prometea, and Women in Engineering Proactive Network (WEPAN) in discussing how to improve women’s access and retention in these positions globally. Here’s a copy of the presentation that I’ve given at these events on women technical workers in India and the U.S.:
"Global Circuits of Gender: Women and High-Tech Work in India and the U.S.," Chapter in Godfroy-Genin, Anne-Sophie, ed., Women in Engineering and Technology Research, Proceedings of the PROMETEA Conference, Paris October 26-27 2007. Zurich Lit: Verlag. Forthcoming.
I've joined the editorial board of the International Feminist Journal of Politics. Submissions on issues of globalization, politics, and gender are welcome and eagerly awaited! Email me if you have questions.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
"Who's On the Line? Indian Call Center Agents Pose as Americans for U.S.-Outsourced Firms," Industrial Relations, 46(2):271-304. 2007.
"Saying 'Good Morning' in the Middle of the Night: The Reversal of Work Time in Globalized ICT Service Work." Pp. 55-112 in Research in the Sociology of Work, Vol. 17: Workplace Temporalities, edited by Beth Rubin. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. 2007.
"Work-Family Relations in Transnational Perspective: A View from High-Tech Firms in India and the United States," with Srirupa Prasad. Social Problems, 52(1):122-146. 2005.
"Organizational Change, Globalization, and Work-Family Programs: Case Studies from India and the United States." Chapter 7, pp. 173-209 in Work-Family Interface in International Perspective, edited by Steven Poelmans. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Press. 2005.
"Three Reasons for a Transnational Perspective on Work-Life Policy." Chapter 17, pp. 375-400, in Work and Life Integration: Organizational, Cultural, and Individual Perspectives, edited by Ellen Ernst Kossek and Susan J. Lambert. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Press. 2005.
"Dangerous Places and Nimble Fingers: Discourses of Gender Discrimination and Rights in Global Organizations." International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 15(1):77-105. 2001.
"Racialism, Sexuality, and Masculinity: Gendering the 'Global Ethnography' of the Workplace." Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State, and Society, 9(1):126-158. 2002.
"The Limits of Micro-Credit: Transnational Feminism and USAID Activities in the United States and Morocco," with Zakia Salime. Chapter 12, pp. 189-219, in Women’s Activism and Globalization: Linking Local Struggles and Transnational Politics, edited by Nancy A Naples and Manisha Desai. New York: Routledge. 2002.
WORKS IN PROGRESS
"The Politics of Terror and Cooperation on the Indian 1-800 Helpline: Managing Globalization in U.S. Outsourced Call Centers in India," Presentation to the International Studies Association, New York, 2009.
"The Case of the U.S. Mother / Cyberspy / Undercover Iraqi Militant: How Global Women Have Been Incorporated in the Technological War on Terror," Chapter Proposal for Gender, Globalization, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Edited by Rekha Pande, Theo van der Weide, Nicole Flipsen
"Emotion Detectors, Answering Machines, and eUnions: Multisurveillances in the Global Interactive Service Industry," Manuscript Under Review.
"Global Circuits of Gender: Confinement and Normalization in High-Tech Work Across India and the United States." Book manuscript under contract with University of Chicago Press.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Global Inequality; Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Class; Information and Communication Technology; Transnational Corporations and Labor; Work-Family Dynamics; Activism and Social Change
COURSES TAUGHT
At Washington University:
- Globalization and Gender
- Sex, Cyborgs and Society
- Indian Barbie, Asian Tigers, and IT Dreams: The Politics of Globalization and Development in South Asia
Elsewhere:
- Technology, Bodies, and Globalization
- Gender and Society / Gender Stratification
- Race, Class and Gender
- Social Stratification
- Industrial Restructuring, Work, and Occupations
- Social Movements
- Deviance and Crime
- Critical Ethnography of Student Life: Intersections of Race, Class and Gender on Campus
- Qualitative and Field Methods
CURRICULM VITAE
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CONTACT
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Campus Box 1078
McMillan Hall, Room 210
Washington University
St. Louis, MO 63130
(314) 935-4417 - office
(314) 935-8678 - fax
Email
Last Updated November 2009
