Product Description

High Tech and High Heels in the Global Economy is an ethnography of globalization positioned at the intersection between political economy and cultural studies. Carla Freeman’s fieldwork in Barbados grounds the processes of transnational capitalism—production, consumption, and the crafting of modern identities—in the lives of Afro-Caribbean women working in a new high-tech industry called “informatics.” It places gender at the center of transnational analysis, and local Caribbean culture and history at the center of global studies.
Freeman examines the expansion of the global assembly line into the realm of computer-based work, and focuses specifically on the incorporation of young Barbadian women into these high-tech informatics jobs. As such, Caribbean women are seen as integral not simply to the workings of globalization but as helping to shape its very form. Through the enactment of “professionalism” in both appearances and labor practices, and by insisting that motherhood and work go hand in hand, they re-define the companies’ profile of “ideal” workers and create their own “pink-collar” identities. Through new modes of dress and imagemaking, the informatics workers seek to distinguish themselves from factory workers, and to achieve these new modes of consumption, they engage in a wide array of extra income earning activities. Freeman argues that for the new Barbadian pink-collar workers, the globalization of production cannot be viewed apart from the globalization of consumption. In doing so, she shows the connections between formal and informal economies, and challenges long-standing oppositions between first world consumers and third world producers, as well as white-collar and blue-collar labor.
Written in a style that allows the voices of the pink-collar workers to demonstrate the simultaneous burdens and pleasures of their work, High Tech and High Heels in the Global Economy will appeal to scholars and students in a wide range of disciplines, including anthropology, cultural studies, sociology, women’s studies, political economy, and Caribbean studies, as well as labor and postcolonial studies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #170497 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
"High Tech and High Heels is a treasure trove. Freeman is among a handful of truly original thinkers in the field of social anthropology and she has produced in this book a major contribution to our understanding of the fluid relationship between gender, social class, and culture." Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, Princeton University

From the Publisher
“High Tech and High Heels is a treasure trove. Freeman is among a handful of truly original thinkers in the field of social anthropology and she has produced in this book a major contribution to our understanding of the fluid relationship between gender, social class, and culture.”—Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, Princeton University

“What Freeman’s innovative investigation of Barbadian women data-entry workers reveals is that cultural processes—globalization, identity(ies), constructions, consumerism—are informed in no small part by the ways in which paid labor is structured—and restructured. She alerts us to phenomena that should shake us out of our all-too-comfortable dichotomizing habits.”—Cynthia Enloe, Clark University

“Freeman helps us understand how new forms of labor power are being tapped in old places. This is a penetrating demonstration of the genuine relevance of anthropology to the modern world. It also shows us in what ways change and persistence are subtly interwoven, in a world that is not quite so new as others tell us.”—Sidney Mintz, Johns Hopkins University

From the Back Cover
“High Tech and High Heels is a treasure trove. Freeman is among a handful of truly original thinkers in the field of social anthropology and she has produced in this book a major contribution to our understanding of the fluid relationship between gender, social class, and culture.”—Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, Princeton University

Customer Reviews

Full of great information but can be wordy
I enjoyed this book for the most part. It had great information and opened my eyes to areas I had not realized before. However, I noticed that in between interesting pieces of information there were alot of unnecessary words...like the author wanted to make the book longer. I found myself saying "didn't she just make this point but the wording is different this time." I gave it 3 stars because I think it should be read but I think there is alot of skimming you could do between paragraphs.

Globalization and Transnationalism in Anthropological light
High Tech and High Heels in the Global Economy is an ethnography of globalization positioned at the intersection between political economy and cultural studies. Carla Freemans's fieldwork in Barbados grounds the process of transnational capitalism - production, consumption, and the crafting of modern identities in the lives of Afro-Carribean women working in a new high tech industry called "informatics". It places gender at the center of transnational analysis and local Caribbean culture and history at the center of global studies.
Freeman examines the expansion of the global assembly line into the realm of computer-based work; focusing on specification of the incorporation of young Barbadian women into high-tech infomatic jobs. These women workers are not simply integral to the workings of globalization but help to shape it's very form. By the inactment of "professionalism" in both appearance and lobor practices, and by their insistence that motherhood and work go hand in hand, they redifine the corporate profile of "ideal" workers and create their own "pink-collar" identity. Through new modes of dress and image making, the informatics workers seek to distinguish themselbes from factory workers, and to adopt new modes of consumption, they engage in a variety of extra income-earning activities. Freeman argues that for the new Barbadian pink-collar workers, the globalization of production cannot be viewd apart from the globalization of consumption. By showing the connections between formal and informal economies, she challenges long-standing oppositions between first world consumers and third word producers and between white collar and blue collar labor. She does so quite elogantly and educationaly in a way that is a refreshing change from traditional ethnographic work. I would truly recommend this literature as it appeals to anthropological scholars and students, Women, and Carribbean fields of study.