Female workers in garment industry in Bangladesh: does economic independence transform into ‘Empowerment’?

Abstract

Introduction

Garments industry of Bangladesh can be distinguished as the most crucial source of inclusive economic growth as this sector engages the largest number of poor women in the formal sector of the economy. Even though these employment opportunities have given positive benefits to the low skilled women workers through better standard of living, a puzzle that still remains unanswered is that to what extent their economic freedom is translating into power of exercising their choices in lives? The existing literatures of garment workers of Bangladesh can be grouped in two. One group argues female garment workers are being empowered and their living standard are being improved even though there is unfriendly environment at work place. The other group of the literature argues, garment workers are being severely exploited in their workplace. Only limited number of studies is available on the issue of their empowerment dynamics that specifically opt for inquiring to what extent female garment workers are empowered after being economically independent. This is an important issue to look into since the future of these women workers is going to be an important sign of future economic development of Bangladesh via indirect route of growth (Kabeer and Natali, 2013). Therefore, this research will try to dig into the empowerment dynamics of the female garment workers of Bangladesh to understand to what extent these women labor are empowered.