UM E-Theses Collection (澳門大學電子學位論文庫)
- Title
-
An autonomous and unautonomous body : the making of Macau's female working class, 1957-1989
- English Abstract
-
Show / Hidden
Previous scholarly works emphasize that the formation of the working class is a historical practice of the collective consciousness of being exploited and is a collective, organized and hostile political action towards the capitalists to change the unjust condition. With a brief description on the historical evolution of Macau‟s garment industry and unique social environment, my thesis offers a detailed historical depiction on how Macau‟s female workers collectively challenged the capitalists‟ power and the patriarchal society‟s structure. I argue that the challenge was not as fierce as for the purpose of overthrowing the capitalists and patriarchal society as Marxists mentioned, but was merely to fulfill the new social and familial expectation of all-around female‟s triple role: a worker, a mother, and a family‟s important economic contributor at the same time. Thus, Macau‟s female workers‟ unity should be considered as the class-in-itself in the Marxian context, and the making of class was based on their sense of autonomous body fostered by the capitalists‟ continued formal and informal concessions. Despite their good feelings, Macau‟s female workers were unconsciously restricted by the new social and familial expectation. Paradoxically, their sense of autonomous body was the base of class making, but their unautonomous triple role was the very basic motivation behind the 2 class making. It is very complex that they were with an autonomous and unautonomous body at the same time to pursue the formation of the female working class.
- Issue date
-
2012.
- Author
-
Chan, U Wai
- Faculty
-
Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
- Department
-
Department of History
- Degree
-
M.A.
- Subject
-
Women textile workers -- Macau -- History -- 20th century
Clothing trade -- Macau -- Employees -- History -- 20th century
Textile industry -- Macau -- History -- 20th century
- Supervisor
-
Wei, C. X., George
- Files In This Item
- Location
- 1/F Zone C
- Library URL
- 991001180509706306