Unmasking the Masked Gendered Sociability: A Case of the Indian Software Industry
Information Technology Sector, an offshoot of new economy, unleased a new form of workplace situation and work conditions and mirrored the global image of being an egalitarian one. This study contests the claim that this sector, as being a non-discriminat
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Unmasking the Masked Gendered Sociability: A Case of the Indian Software Industry Asmita Bhattacharyya
13.1
Introduction
The late twentieth century witnessed a wide explorations of the marginality studies for those who are in the ‘margins’ by virtue of their primordial identities of caste, class, race, gender etc. This field has gradually evolved by subsuming new frontiers of marginalised groups. The term ‘marginality’ is synonymously related to conditions of social exclusion or deprivation or discrimination or segregation of individuals and groups for availing themselves of certain opportunities in the field of economy, politics, culture and social domain. The present discourse discusses ‘gender’ as a causal factor of marginalisation by which the ‘other sex’ discriminated against men by means of subjection, social exclusion and differential gender-biased treatments. The denomination of ‘gender’ for women bears semblance with norms of femininity, involving compliance to patriarchy is widely prevalent even in contemporary times. The new configurations of women’s identity and practices are also affected by the gender hierarchies. Furthermore, the issues concerning marginal position of women in the labour market, where they encounter gendered division of labour, job segregation by sex, unequal wages, etc., have not lost their relevance even today. This paper situates the paradoxical contexts between empowerment versus disempowerment and opportunities vs opposition faced by women workforce in the neo-liberal workplace conditions. It further interrogates the dichotomous context between the core and the periphery, the dominant and the subjugated, the privileged and the less-privileged, This paper has been adapted from the paper ‘Marginality Perception of Women Techies in Kolkata: A bottom-up Approach’ presented at the 3rd ISA Forum held in Vienna, Austria, July 10–14, 2016. A. Bhattacharyya (&) Department of Sociology, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, West Bengal, India e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 A. Bhattacharyya and S. Basu (eds.), Marginalities in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5215-6_13
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the self and the other and the vociferous and the voiceless among the technocrats in their gendered interpersonal relationship in this newly emerged egalitarian workplace. This research engages with the women-centred methodological standpoint by articulating life experiences of the women technocrats and to learn their so far unheard voices. This study captures ‘live’ experience of the ‘privileged class’ of women software professionals in a neo-globalised egalitarian workplace. The study reveals intersection of visible and invisible factors for gender, class, marital status, patriarchal ideologies and capitalistic motives that explains the prevalent system of gendered subjugation in the workplace under reference. The context of understanding of the present scenario demands looking back as to how women were treated in early historical periods.
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