Exploring female garment workers' economic well-being decisions & trade-offs : a case study from Cakung, Jakarta, Indonesia

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Master’s Thesis: Kia Muukkonen International Development Studies Graduate School of Social Sciences

University of Amsterdam

Graduate School of Social Sciences Image 1: Female Garment Workers during Women’s Day March in Jakarta.

Exploring Female Garment Workers’ Economic

Well-Being Decisions & Trade-Offs

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1 MSc International Development Studies

Master of Science Thesis

August 2018

Kia Muukkonen

11771143

kia.muukkonen@student.uva.nl

Supervisor: Esther Miedema

Second Reader: Nicky Pouw

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Dedication

I would like to dedicate this research to the amazing women that I was in contact with during this research and who not only made this research possible but also taught me many things about the global garment industry, politics and power and the role of gender and being a woman in all of this. Their life stories motivated me throughout the research process while they also proved the relevance and importance of better understanding the realities behind female garment workers lives. This research is dedicated for their voices and showing that they have the right to be heard and the ability to choose to speak up. I would like to thank them for the time they dedicated to this research and the way in which they welcomed me to better understand their realities.

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Acknowledgements

Firstly, I would like to thank Esther Miedema, my supervisor, for all the support, valuable opinions, guidance and patience that she provided throughout the research process. I would also like to thank my second reader, Nicky Pouw, for her amazing writings on the economics of well-being that inspired this whole thesis research as well as all the valuable help that she provided on the way. Secondly, I owe a big thank you to Ika from Perempuan Mahardhika who not only showed me the passion and experience she has with the KBN female garment workers but also helped me to navigate in Jakarta and find my way to the garment workers. Thirdly, I thank my amazing translator, Aliefah Permata Fikri who not only translated all the interviews of this research but also helped me to understand the amazing culture in Indonesia and became an amazing friend. Lastly, I would like to thank my IDS course mate Anna Linders who was incredibly supportive throughout our stay in Jakarta and made my time there even more enjoyable.

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Abstract

Although the exploitative nature of the global garment industry and its impacts on the workers have been discussed by critical scholars and feminist writers and acknowledged in the SDG number 8 “Decent work and Economic Growth” as well as in the ILO core labour standards, there is a lot to improve to ensure that the female workers are treated fairly and equally. Indeed, this thesis argues that the aspirations and priorities of the women workers and the trade-offs that they constantly make when balancing their well-being related decisions are key in understanding the life and working situations of the garment workers. The purpose of this research is to explore the lives of the female workers as not only a source of ‘exploitative labour’, but as people with their own aspirations and agency. By interviewing female workers in the garment factories in Cakung, Jakarta, Indonesia, and consulting local organisations and workers’ unions that work together with these women, this research aims to contribute to the qualitative and participatory literature on human well-being by exploring the well-being decisions and trade-offs of the female garment workers. This research uses the ‘Capability Approach’ as well as the ‘Human Well-Being’ approach to analyse the trade-offs that the female workers make between different dimensions of well-being, over time as well as between individual and collective well-being.

The data gathered during the research illustrates first how family and especially children play an important role in influencing women’s well-being related decisions together with gender roles found in the Indonesian society, especially on women’s role within the unpaid economy. Second, the research highlights the importance that short-term regular income had over long-term work benefits or better working conditions, as the income gained from working was necessary for the women to be able to take care of their children and afford basic needs. Third, working in the garment sector appears to increase women’s decision-making power at home due to the monetary contributions that working brings into the household, and at the workplace via trade-union activities. To conclude, this research argues that although working in the garment sector does have an influence on the economic well-being of the women, the cultural and societal expectations of being a woman and a mother also play a vital role in

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5 influencing the decisions the women make and the options they have. Without a shift in the cultural conceptions of the garment sector globally and the role of women in the Indonesian society more locally, that is, the way in which their work is undervalued, the problems faced by women working in the garment sector will not disappear.

Keywords: Human Well-Being, Capabilities Approach, Garment Industry, Indonesia, Female Labour Force Participation, Gender

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List of Figures

List of Figures

Figure 1: The Interrelated Nature of the Unpaid and Paid Economy. Source: McGregor & Pouw, 2014.

Figure 2: The Three-Dimensional Approach To Well-Being. Source: MsGregor & Pouw, 2014. Figure 3: Conceptual Scheme

Figure 4: SIGI Score for Indonesia List of Maps

Map 1: Map of the research location. Source: Google Maps, adaptations by author. Map 2: Close-Up of the Cakung Industrial Area

List of Images

Image 1: Female garment workers during Women’s Day March in central Jakarta. Image 2: The Café in which the interviews were conducted.

Image 3: Women’s Post in the factory area. Image 4: Woman worker covering shirt with tape Image 5 & 6: Women During the Women’s Day March List of Tables

Table 1: SIGI Score Indonesia, Source: SIGI, adaptations by author.

Table 2: Indonesia GDI score breakdown, Source: UNDP, 2015. Adaptations by author. Tabe 3: The Garment Worker Age Distribution

Table 4: Household information and opinions on the level of income as based on the interviews.

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1. Introduction

1.0 The Problem

Women working in female dominated sectors, such as the garment sector, are some of the lowest paid workers while their work remains highly labour intensive. The undervalued nature of their work has been reflected in the lack of rights and recognition that these workers face in Indonesia and elsewhere in the Global South. Examples of the implications of this can be found in forms of sexual harassment, unpaid overtime work, lack of maternity leave and reproductive health checks, lack of clean air and toilets, and insecure working contracts (Zely et al., 2014). At the same time, the cultural and social nature of Indonesian society considers women as secondary earners. Women’s rights as heads of household have not been recognised and the double burden women face while balancing domestic work at home and working in the factories remains unnoticed. Societal expectations of early marriage, cases of domestic abuse and difficulties with divorce process are examples of some of the struggles the women face in the domestic sphere. Thus, female garment workers in Indonesia suffer from discrimination, both at home and at the workplace, which is a result of both societal values regarding gender roles that devalue women’s work as well as lack of legal and social protection.

Indeed, Indonesian women do not participate equally in the labour market. Although the female labour force participation has risen by approximately 51% over the last decade, it is still significantly lower than the 85% labour force participation of men. On top of this, the wages of women lag behind men’s by 25%. This inequality is visible in the gendered division of labour across Indonesia. Female workers are more likely to engage in low productivity activities and are concentrated in the so called “female” occupations and sectors such as domestic work and manufacturing. Women are also more likely to be in wage or unpaid family employment and have a disproportionate share of caring and household work (MAMPU, 2017).

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12 1.1.1 Practical Relevance

Although the 2003 Labour Law guarantees equal opportunities and equal treatment to male and female workers, the rights of the female workers are often ignored (Diella, 2017). Despite the fact that Indonesia is compliant with the ILO core conventions and other human and labour rights instruments, it continues to have serious problems with the implementation of these legal frameworks. Further research on female garment workers is necessary, considering the current lack of social, political and legal rights, and the negative impact that the lack of rights and recognition has had on their well-being and life situation. Deeper understanding of female garment workers’ lives will also help to better understand the reasons that women have for taking part in such precarious work and the trade-offs that they have made in order to pursue this decision.

The importance of paying more attention to women’s economic participation and well-being has been visible in the Sustainable Development Goals, especially with Goal 8 ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’, that calls for achieving “full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value”, as well as Goal 5 ‘Gender Equality’, that emphasises the need to eliminate all violence against girls and women, recognizing the value of unpaid and domestic work and giving women equal rights to economic resources, just to name a few relevant targets (sustainabledevelopment.un.org, 2018). The United Nation’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) together with International Finance Corporation (IFC), have also recognised the need to improve working conditions in the garment industry with the ‘Better Work’ programme. Better Work Indonesia country programme, for example, aims to engage with workers, employers and governments to improve working conditions (Better Work Indonesia, 2018).

The ILO overview of research on gender and the informal economy particularly calls for more research on gender, agency and choice in work, including the impacts of increased labour force participation on women’s wellbeing and self-esteem (Chant & Pedwell, 2008: 7) This type of research has empirical relevance through a better understanding of the realities of women in the garment manufacturing sector and how to create policy change accordingly

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13 while also providing more academic insight into the contested areas of the duality of the economy and the gendered nature of the global political economy. This is the gap that this research also aims to address by analysing the bottom-up qualitative accounts from the female workers themselves. So far, there is not enough literature that analyses the well-being decisions and trade-offs of the female workers, especially in the context of Indonesia.

1.1.2 Academic Relevance

Female employment in multinational factories in the Global South has been a subject of increased academic interest in the past decade with different studies analysing the impact that the increase of women’s employment in the garment sector has had on women, with findings either pointing at the exploitative nature of the industry, or on the contrary, emphasising the positive impact that working can have on women’s empowerment and freedom. For example, research on Bangladeshi garment workers in 2014 emphasised the positive aspects of employment in the garment sector as women were now able to earn their own salaries and have more freedom in deciding over aspects such as marriage and education (Imron et al., 2017). In a similar manner, World Bank (2012) argues that growth in the textile industries has not only increased women’s wage work but also improved female and child education outcomes.

On the contrary, the critical writers have pointed at the exploitative nature of the industry. As argued by Enloe (2004: 59) the globalised nature of the economy has not only shaped women, but women have also shaped the economy. Many industries, including the garment industry and the textile industry, depend on the ability to make cheap labour and keep it cheap. Thus, the global economy is dependent upon the local constructions of femininity. When researching the struggles that the women are facing, it remains important to question and challenge the social constructions of what it means to be a good woman or respectable wife, and how these constructions are reflected in women’s role in the economy (Enloe, 2004).

The current academic literature thus tends to fall into one of the two categories. The first one focuses on the direct impact of working on well-being by either emphasising the positive impacts of employment and the way in which working can contribute to women’s

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14 empowerment or analyses the different ways in which women are abused in the factories. However, these accounts do not adequately look at the various social and cultural aspects that also have an influence on women’s lives and how these are all connected to each other. The second category on the contrary focuses on the exploitative patriarchal power relations both globally and locally and how these are affecting women. Although this approach is more aware of the social constructions of meaning and their interconnectedness, it tends to ignore the agency of the women and the trade-offs they are making when making decisions that have an impact on their lives.

This thesis aims to address the existing gap in the academic literature that does not include enough qualitative accounts from the workers themselves, and wants to highlight the meanings that the workers give to the concepts that are used in the literature, and the life experiences that they have had that have influenced their decision to work as well as the several trade-offs that they are constantly making in order to better understand the interplay of both positive and negative trade-offs and their sources. This thesis uses the Multidimensional Human Well-Being Approach (Pouw & McGregor, 2014) to analyse how the garment workers make trade-offs within the different dimensions of well-being (subjective, material and relational), over time (past, present and future) and between individual and collective (family, friends and colleagues) dimensions of well-being. By doing this, the thesis aims to add to the critical scholarship of pluralism in economics as well as to the lacking account on female garment workers in Indonesia.

1.2. Outline of the Thesis

This thesis consists of 7 chapters which aim to explore the main research question. The first chapter will look into the current theoretical approaches and debates in relation to female garment workers’ well-being, with special focus on the Capability Approach and the Multidimensional Human Well-Being Approach. Chapter 3 will introduce the research methodology, the main research question and sub-questions as well as the ontological and epistemological foundations of the research. Chapter 4 introduces the economic, social and cultural context of Indonesia especially in relation to the manufacturing industry and

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15 women’s increased labour force participation in the past decade. It also analyses the current state of workers’ rights in the factories and the trade union activity in Indonesia. Chapter 5 presents the research findings in relation to the domestic sphere and workers’ living conditions. It looks at the ways in which women make well-being trade-offs and the priorities they have as well as the social and cultural expectations and their impact on their decisions. Chapter 6 analyses the findings in relation to women’s working conditions and the trade-offs women make at the workplace. Finally, Chapter 7 concludes this thesis by answering the main research question, reflecting on the theory and the findings of this research and giving some recommendations for future research and policy.

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2. Theoretical Framework

This chapter introduces the theoretical underpinnings of the research which are useful for analysing the well-being decisions made by the female garment workers. First of all, the chapter looks into the evolution of the policies in relation to women’s labour participation, and how the shift towards well-being in development thinking has and can be incorporated in the analysis to make the research and policies more accurate. Second of all, the chapter shortly introduces the mainstream theories that have shaped the current literature and theories on multidimensional well-being. After this, the chapter introduces the two theoretical approaches that have shaped the theoretical framework of this research, namely Amartya Sen’s ‘Capability Approach’ (1993) as well as ‘the Multidimensional Human Well-Being Approach’ by McGregor and Pouw (2014, 2017). It argues that the three-dimensional conceptualization of well-being is a necessary addition to the capabilities approach in order to be able to adequately incorporate the role of constructed social values and the well-being related trade-offs into the economic analysis of the research agents. Finally, this section concludes with the conceptual scheme incorporating these two frameworks together.

2.1 Current Literature

2.1.1 Women’s Work and Impact on Well-Being

The current literature on the impacts that working in the garment manufacturing has on women’s well-being has usually been either tilted towards criticism of the global garment industry and the way in which the workers are abused, or alternatively, the focus has been on the benefits that working can bring to the women (Lim, 2018). It has been argued that there are several gains that women get from working in the factories since working is a way of generating income which can also benefit women in terms of their reproductive rights as well as liberate women from some of the unwanted gender roles assigned to them due to their gained independence (Pessar, 1994) Whether through credit programmes, encouraging women to join industries, or giving women more say in the local politics through different

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17 empowerment programmes, the ultimate measurement of success has often been an increase in income or economic growth in general. For example, looking at the UN Women website first state that “when more women work, economies grow. An increase in female labour participation – or a reduction in the gap between women’s and men’s labour force participation – results in faster economic growth” (UN Women, 2018).

Kabeer (2016: 312-313), however, argues that although growth does play a vital role in bringing people out of absolute poverty, it does not always lead to improvement in the broader conception of well-being. An increase in material conditions might have adverse impact on one’s work-life balance or the environment in which one lives in. Given the limited explanatory power of participation in the labour market, Kabeer argues that relational and subjective aspects of well-being need to be incorporated further into development processes. The reasons behind women’s decision to participate in the workforce are often constrained by personal and contextual factors, and economic decisions are made on the basis of social and personal customs and beliefs, collective interests as well as moral, emotional and psychological motivations (2016: 313-314). As most economic theories on female labour force participation approach the topic from a rational economic agent approach, in which women respond to the labour demand and supply, they have failed to consider the way in which socio-cultural, political and economic institutions influence people’s codes of conduct. Agency and the surrounding structure together interact and shape human decisions and behaviour (Pouw & McGregor, 2014).

2.1.2 The Role of Gender in Economic Well-Being Analysis

Kabeer (2016: 297) argues that the role of gender in economic analysis is highlighted in the division between productive and reproductive work and the way in which the primary breadwinning responsibilities are usually assigned to men and the primary responsibility for unpaid reproductive labour is ascribed to women, which also explains the higher male labour force participation rates. Being able to participate in the labour force usually indicates greater public mobility, greater female autonomy and lower excess in female mortality. This has also been used as an argument in countries that have pushed for labour-intensive growth as it might have a positive impact on women’s well-being (Kabeer, 2016).

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18 Although it has been argued that increasing women’s access to material resources could strengthen their bargaining power within the domestic domain, the findings are highly mixed. Paid work outside of the home can also trigger domestic violence as norms and culture regarding women’s and men’s roles in the family are highly influential. Indeed, women who take part in economic activities often do so to support their husband, brother or father in productive activities or to manage the household. In these cases, women’s labour is considered as free, which results in much of the work of women not being recorded in the national statistics (Kabeer, 2016). When women have their own income, too many times they are occupying lower rank positions, they are underpaid, exploited or even abused. Therefore, working can be threatening and risky to women’s health and life. These inequalities can also go the other way around and many men face hardships and injustice in the society (Pouw, 2018: .7-8).

Gender thus matters in the economic analysis. The decisions that women make every day affect their state of well-being as well as the well-being of people around them and the environment around them. Unless the economic institutions and policies are not aware of the gender inequalities they will reproduce or deepen them (Pouw, 2018: 5). Power relations are visible through the kinds of choices that people make. These are inscribed by the taken-for-granted rules, norms and customs that shape the everyday life of people. These rules can be changed when competing ways of being and doing become available and the culture loses its naturalised order (Kabeer, 1999: 440-441).

2.1.3 Shift Towards the Multidimensional Conceptualisation of Well-Being

While there has been an increased interest in the concept of well-being within development studies, the difficulties of defining something as personal as well-being and translating it into policy and practice have remained (White, 2009). At the core of the concept of well-being is the sense of having what you need for life to be good. Although this domain of well-being can be seen as sufficient, it is problematic to compare people’s views on how they feel or how the responses are affected by people’s personality and country context. Thus, including several domains, such as social relationships and material conditions add more depth into the

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19 analysis (White, 2009). Though well-being is a rather novel concept, it draws on the movement that recognises the multidimensional aspects of poverty and development. It has also been inspired by livelihoods approaches that look at people’s economic activities as a mix of different strategies, influences and activities from which have an impact on social and material resources. It recognises the importance of power, personal relationships as well as agency and participation, and how these influence how decisions are made. The concept of well-being has shifted the focus from the material to the subjective and psychological aspects of life and thus it can be argued that is has shifted the whole meaning of development (White, 2009).

There are several different ways to conceptualise and operationalise well-being, some concentrating more on the ability to access resources while others put more emphasis on the subjective factors. For example, the Psychological Assessment of Humanitarian Interventions (PADHI) framework places social justice to the centre of development while the Oxfam Hong Kong (OHK) approach emphasises the importance the individual responsibility. Although the approaches and indicators differ to some extent, there has been a consensus on certain aspects that need to be included in the analysis and conceptualisation of well-being. Well-being needs to be assessed across different indicators that have subjective as well as objective dimensions and involve issues of power, agency and capability as well as how people relate to each other (White, 2009 :7).

The concept of well-being needs to be recognised as highly value-driven which makes it personal and contextual. Well-being is also not static but rather a process, and different approaches focus more on the relationships between people and environment, individuals and collective, subjective and objective and so on. What remains important is measuring well-being as an outcome of an interaction between the unit that is measured and the environment in which it is located in. It follows that well-being depends on the characteristics of the individual but also the context the person finds her/himself. When creating well-being related policies, it should be realised that services, infrastructure, the organisation of the economy, human rights or the policy regime are all part of the structure that influence people’s well-being. Finally, well-being is highly political - whose well-being counts and how well-being is

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20 defined or achieved are all highly political questions that do not have single answers (Bache, 2017: 3)

Although poverty reduction and the importance of economic and material well-being remain a crucial aspect of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developement (OECD) global forum on development, there has been a clear shift towards the concept of human well-being (OECD, 2013: 1-3). Income alone has not been a sufficient indicator of development of well-being (or ill-being), and it has become more evident that poverty cannot be explained in income terms solely. This understanding, that poverty is multidimensional, has also had an impact on local and global policies which are now focusing on a different set of indicators, including aspects of well-being such as health status, education and skills, work and life balance and social connections, just to name a few (OECD, 2013: 3-8). These indicators have inspired several frameworks, such as the Human Development Index (HDI), the OECD “How is Life”- framework, as well as several national level frameworks for measuring development.

2.2 Dominant Approaches

2.2.1 Basic Needs Approach (BNA)

The Basic Needs Approach includes the Theory of Human Needs (THN) and Max Neef’s Fundamental Human Needs Matrix (FHN). According to THN, basic needs are defined as ‘goals that must be achieved if any individual is to achieve any goal’ (Doyal & Gough, 1984: 10). These include survival and health as well as autonomy and learning. In order to satisfy these basic needs, intermediate needs must be fulfilled. Intermediate needs consist of water, adequate food, protective housing, non-hazardous work, basic education etc. In order to satisfy intermediate needs, there needs to be a presence of opportunities for participation in social roles of production, reproduction, cultural transmission and political authority (King et al., 2013: 684). Neef’s FHN instead organizes needs and needs satisfiers into two categories: existential (needs of having, being, doing and interacting) and axiological (needs of subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participation, creation, leisure, identity and freedom). In this approach, human needs are seen as interrelated and interactive. It also

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21 recognizes the importance of simultaneities, complementarities and trade-offs as characteristics of the process of needs satisfaction (King et al., 2013: 684). BNA thus identifies the unmet needs of the poor and identifies basic minimum requirements for life. However, this approach has been criticized for its top-down approach in which policymakers and bureaucrats decide on people’s well-being needs (Owlcation, 2018).

2.2.2 Welfare & Utility Approach

The idea of the welfare approach or utility approach is to leave the individuals as the sole authors of what is good for them. The approach does not take positions on any specific goods, as this is all left to the individuals. This means that well-being should be measured on individual level and the things that people have preferences over should not be restricted (van der Deijl, 2017: 4). However, the utility approach does not recognize the different sources of pleasure and pain or the societal and moral impacts that different desires that people have have on others. This approach neglects the fact that there is more to life than achieving utility, as happiness is only one aspect of human experience. Other valuable things such as rights and positive freedoms should also be included. Utility can also be controlled by mental conditioning or expectations and thus not reflect personal circumstances or deprivations. This was the case for example in post famine India where the subjective impressions that widows had of their own health were very different from the externally observed physical state in which they were in (Clark, 2006: 6).

2.3 The Capability Approach (CA)

During the last decade, Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach (CA) has become a leading alternative to mainstream economic frameworks. Sen has developed an approach that is concerned with human capability and freedom and it has been used to tackle a wide range of ethical, economic and social dilemmas. Although the CA has a lot in common with the Basic Needs Approach (BNA), it manages to bring together the concerns of the Basic Needs theory while being able to go beyond the analysis of poverty and deprivation and look into the concerns of well-being more generally (Clark, 2006: 2). The conceptual foundations of the CA can be found in the criticisms of the traditional welfare economics, which usually confine well-being into either opulence (income and commodity command) or utility (happiness,

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22 desire fulfilment). Sen instead distinguishes between commodities, capabilities, functionings and utilities (Clark, 2006: 3). Although Sen’s approach recognizes the importance of income and commodities when analysing well-being, it sees income as a means to further human ends.

The main strength of the capability approach is that it is flexible and thus researchers can apply it and develop it in various ways. Sen does not provide a set list of capabilities but rather argues that the selection and weighing of the capabilities should be based on personal value judgements. Although he suggests that some capabilities, such as living long and being nourished and able to write and communicate, are intrinsically valuable, he does not argue for a certain set of capabilities for practical and strategic reasons (Clark, 2006: 5). CA has succeeded in broadening the informational base of evaluation in development practices by refocusing on people as ends in themselves, recognizing diversity and difference, drawing attention to group disparities such as those based on gender, race or class for example, and embracing human agency and participation, democracy and public action in shaping goals and influencing policy as well as acknowledging the different values that people in different contexts have (Clark, 2006: 5)

The CA has been criticized for the difficulties in operationalizing the approach, especially the way in which valuable capabilities can be identified (Clark, 2006: 6). Deneulin and McGregor (2010: 510) argue that CA does not sufficiently analyse the social construction of meaning and how these constructions enable people to make value judgements about what they will do and be as well as how people evaluate how satisfied they are about what they are able to achieve. Sen’s approach sees human freedom in an individualistic light and ignores the good of oneself in relation to others as well as the future generations. Due to this, social structures and institutions have been evaluated based on the virtue that they have for individual well-being. However, a person’s state of well-being must be understood as being part of a socially and psychologically constituted in specific contexts. The social structures and institutions that enable people to pursue individual freedoms in relation to others – as well as the power structures that enable certain forms of decision-making and distribution of power within contexts cannot be forgotten when analysing well-being (Deneulin & McGregor, 2010: 501). At

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23 the same time, CA has suffered from its focus on largely objective manifestations of human well-being in contrast to assessing how well people are living based on their subjective evaluations. Due to this there has been an increase in enthusiasm for subjective measures and how people themselves think about how well their lives are going (Deneulin & McGregor, 2010: 505).

Key Concepts

Commodity/Resources

Commodities and income or economic growth and the expansion of goods in general is indeed necessary for human development. However, Sen highlights the fact that wealth is only useful for the sake of something else – for what can be achieved with it. This differs in different societies and times as the capacity to convert income and commodities into achievements depends on the context. Different people and societies might have different requirements for achieving the same things. For example, a disabled person would need extra resources, such as ramps, lifts and wheel chair, to be able to move around as an able-bodied person can. Children, manual labourer and pregnant women all have different requirements for nutrition. When looking at the well-being of people, focusing only on the commodities that one could possible command is not enough information. Instead, considering how people are able to function with the goods and services they have at their use is more important (Clark, 2006: 3).

Agency

The concept of agency refers to the freedom involved in the process of accomplishing things that one finds valuable. This also shows the normative argument behind Sen’s approach as it argues that social arrangements should aim to expand people’s capabilities – their freedom to achieve valuable doings and beings (Deneulin & McGregor, 2010).

Capability (to function)

According to Sen (1985) resources and agency together constitute capabilities - the potential for people to live the lives they want and achieving valued ways of being and doing. A

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24 capability is the ability that a person has to achieve a given functioning (that is ‘doing’ or ‘being’). It refers to the alternative combination of functionings that a person has the possibility to achieve and from which the person will choose one collection (Clark, 2006: 4-5). Capabilities can also be understood as the substantive freedoms a person enjoys living the life that he or she finds valuable. This is closely related to Sen’s conception of freedom, which he defines as ‘the real opportunity that we have to accomplish what we value’ (1985, p.31). Sen also distinguishes basic capabilities which refer to the real opportunities to avoid poverty. They are the basic things that are necessary for survival.

Function(ing)

Functionings are the valuable activities and states that become a person’s well-being, such as being safe, having a healthy body, having a good job, being able to move and visit people and so forth (Deneulin & McGregor, 2010: 503). Thus, a functioning is what a person manages to do or be, or what one has achieved. Achieving a certain functioning such as being nourished, with certain commodities such as food, depends on a range of social as well as personal factors such as age, gender, education, access to medication etc.) (Clark, 2006: 4). Robeyns (2005) introduces three groups of conversion factors that influence the relation between commodities and the functionings to achieve them. First of them is personal conversion factors which include things such as metabolism, physical condition, sex, reading skills etc. Second of them is social conversion factors including public policies, social norms, gender roles, societal hierarchies as well as power relations and the third of them is environmental conversion factors, including climate and geographical location. Thus, knowing the commodities a person has is not enough to understand the possible functionings one can achieve and therefore much more is needed to know about the circumstances in which people live in (Robeyns, 2005: 99).

2.2.4 Multidimensional Human Well-Being Approach

This research uses the three-dimensional conceptualisation of well-being that incorporates material, subjective and relational aspects of well-being in a framework for understanding resource allocation, as put forward by McGregor & Pouw (2014). This approach incorporates

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25 material, relational and subjective dimensions of well-being, which are all defined more in detail below. This approach sees well-being as an interplay of people’s circumstances and their subjective evaluations of their standards of living which are influenced by values and culture. Within the three dimensions, people also emphasise different dimensions more than others. In order to challenge the Western individualistic view on well-being, this approach emphasises the relatedness that people have to others when defining their own situation. Well-being is thus not something that people have, or something that belongs to them, but rather, it a relationship, or something that happens. In this view, well-being is a constant flow of processes, both individual and collective as well as local and global (White, 2009: 11).

Key Concepts

The Paid and Unpaid Economy

The paid economy represents the public and corporative domain of the economy in which goods and services are produced. It includes both formal and informal economy and the state’s role in providing goods and services to citizens. The unpaid economy refers to the private domain of households and social groups, neighbourhoods and communities in which valuable goods and services are produced for free by household and voluntary work.

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26 Although these activities are not paid, they do not come for free as there are opportunity costs for producing unpaid goods and services (Pouw, 2018: 8-9). The unpaid and paid economies are interconnected as in order for the paid economy to function the unpaid economy is needed. Depending on the level of goods and services provided by the unpaid economy, the paid economy can be circumvented or vice versa. Although most women worldwide participate in the paid economy and earn an income, they do not face similar opportunities and constraints as men do. The types of jobs available for men and women might differ depending on the differences in the human capital of women and men. At the same time the performance of gender in the unpaid economy influences as women tend to be seen as the main caretakers at home (Pouw, 2018).

Resource Agent & the Allocation of Resources

According to McGregor & Pouw (2014) the allocation of resources within the household usually happens on the basis of social mechanisms such as love, mutual support in family relations and social and cultural ties. The principle of reciprocity supports co-operation and care within communities and families. However, as much as these things can be positive, they can also be negative and manifest in conflict, oppression and discrimination as is the case with the other domains of the economy. Decisions made in the households, communities and social groups also have an impact on the use of resources in the paid domain of the economy. Resolving a problem in one domain has an impact on the same as well as other domains (for example decision made in the community might influence the household). These decisions can also be made over time. Therefore, economic problems are complex, multi-layered and multidimensional (Pouw, 2018).

The idea of an economic agent or homo economicus, is based on a set of male-biased characteristics and behaviours that not many people in real life can relate to. Emotions, opportunity costs in the household, previous experiences, values and customs all have an impact on decisions made. This is why Pouw (2018: 7) decides to refer to economic agents as resource agents, to make sure all these aspects are included. Resource agents solve economic problems in their households based on trade-offs in well-being. In some situations, resource agents exercise agency in making these decisions, or if they are disempowered they may lack

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27 the power to make the wanted decision in other situations. Although the economic sphere is embedded within the political and social institutional environment which also influences the economic agents, having the resource agents in the centre of the analysis of the economic decision-making helps analysing the wider power differences and their impact on the economic decision-making in the first place (Pouw, 2018).

Three-Dimensions of Well-Being

The focus of this research is on economic well-being which refers to the command over resources and relations, and the levels of satisfaction on it. Economic well-being, as well as the human well-being, is also three-dimensional but as a concept it is less narrow, since human well-being approach also looks into the resources and relations that cannot be commanded. Economic well-being can be achieved when people’s commands over resources and relations are adequate in relation to their needs or wants. In the opposite case, when people’s command over resources and relations are inadequate, there is economic ill-being (Pouw & McGregor, 2018: 21). Between the dimensions, different people prioritise certain dimensions over others. However, a desirable state of well-being is often found where all the dimensions intersect (Pouw & McGregor 2018, :29).

Material: “What people have or do not have”

The material dimension refers to income and wealth, jobs as well as earnings and housing. In this research, the material aspect is considered as income, shelter and being able to afford basic needs. As the well-being approach recognises the non-monetary aspects, such as different relationships, these are included in the analysis as well.

Relational: “What people do or cannot do with what they have”

The relational aspect considers the importance of social relationships when it comes to well-being. Relationships enable translating the material things into valuable outcomes as well as

Figure 2: The three-dimensional approach to well-being. McGregor & Pouw, 2014.

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28 enable more intrinsic and less tangible needs such as love, identity and affection (McGregor & Pouw, 2014: 12-13). Thus, it concerns social interaction and the rules and practices that govern “who gets what and why” (White, 2009: 10). In this research, the main focus is on the power relations within the households as well as at the workplace. Understanding the work-life balance of the garment workers and the society’s view on the work they do is a way to explore the relational aspect of well-being. Thus, relational well-being consists of social capital and networks (McGregor & Pouw, 2018: 32).

Subjective: “What people think or feel”

The subjective dimension recognises that the quality of material and relational achievements are translated into a person’s subjective evaluation of their quality of life. This includes aspects that people themselves regard as important as well as their assessment of their level of satisfaction in their achievement in relation to that (McGregor & Pouw, 2014: 13). It concerns cultural values, ideologies and beliefs and people’s own perceptions of their situation (White, 2009: 10). For the garment workers, this relates to their satisfaction with their income, their economic situation, their ability to manage their expenses and the experiences they have at the workplace. The happiness and health of their children is also included in the analysis as this was crucial to women’s well-being as almost all of them mentioned children as a key source of happiness.

Well-being Related Trade-Offs

There is also a distinction to be made between collective and individual wellbeing. Whereas individual well-being concentrates on the processes and outcomes that determine an individual’s quality of life, collective wellbeing refers to the quality of life of a collective group of people, ranging from a household to an entire nation. There are often trade-offs between these different levels of well-being, and between levels of well-being over time, and these trade-offs and synergies are the source of qualitative transformations that take place on the micro and macro levels. Individuals give-up and take from their individual well-being to the greater good and vice versa, and the collective can do the same. This again refers to the complexity of one’s positionality within the wider structure of a “collective” (Pouw and McGregor, 2014: 18). Well-being related trade-offs are thus made:

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29 1) Between the dimensions of material, subjective and relational well-being

2) Between individual and collective well-being 3) Over time (past, present, future).

2.3 Conceptual scheme

The conceptual scheme incorporates the CA together with the Multidimensional Well-Being Approach as these two approaches together can better explain the way in which different types of well-being decisions are made, without forgetting the importance of the trade-offs between different dimensions, the role of culture and the importance of gender. The three dimensions of well-being are also helpful when operationalising the concept of well-being as Sen’s definition does not provide adequate guidance for this – however, this way of

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30 conceptualising also appreciates the voices from the research participants and the kinds of meanings they give to the concept of well-being and what should be prioritised. In the scheme, the importance of the context is shown as it is above the well-being decision making process which is pictured below. The resource agents are the “star” of the process as they are the ones solving economic problems. The process of moving from economic problem to functionings, in this case well-being, is pictured using Sen’s CA as this highlights the role that commodities and social relationships have in the allocation of resources. Finally, the economic problems lead to well-being trade-offs, which can be between dimensions, over time or between individual and collective. These decisions are highly influenced by the local culture and values of the individuals.

2.6 Conclusion

This chapter has introduced the theoretical foundations of this research as well as the conceptual framework based on which the study has been conducted (CA and Multidimensional Human Well-Being Approach). This decision was inspired by the methodology of the research and the aim to understand women’s well-being related decisions from a bottom-up approach. By focusing on women’s well-being related decisions, we will be able to have more in-depth knowledge of their personal experiences as well as on how the structural and cultural aspects which have influenced their decision-making. The conceptual framework demonstrates the key concepts and the relationships between them which will be applied to the analysis in the empirical chapters.

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3. Methodology

After looking into the theoretical underpinnings of this research, this chapter will elaborate on the research methodology and methods that were used when collecting data on garment workers in Jakarta, Indonesia. Firstly, the chapter will specify the main research question and the sub-questions after which the epistemological and ontological standpoint of the research is clarified. Secondly, the chapter will look more in detail into the research location, after which the methods, sampling methods and quality criteria will be explained. Finally, the limitations of the research and the ethical considerations are analysed as well as the positionality of the researcher.

3.1 Research Questions

The research questions were inspired by the theoretical underpinnings of the multidimensional human well-being literature as well as critical feminist literature. As this research looks at the women workers’ in the garment factories in Jakarta and their decision-making in relation to their well-being, the stories of the working women are central to the following research questions and all the questions aim to focus on the bottom-up findings that were drawn from the conversations with the women. The sub-questions are designed to guide the answering of the main question, and they will be discussed in detail in the data analysis chapters.

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32 3.2 Ontology and Epistemology

Since ontological assumptions give rise to epistemological ones which in turn determine the nature of the methodology and instruments of data collection, it is important to start this chapter by briefly discussing the philosophy behind the research. In line with the arguments made by Guba (1990), this research applies the relativist position, implying that there is no single reality out there but rather multiple interpretations of it, which are locally and historically specific. This implies that none of these constructs are either directly false or correct. Epistemologically this means that facts and values are inherently linked together as the knower and the known cannot be separated from each other, making any research time and context specific. Thus, generalisations over time and space are not possible or even a desirable goal of qualitative research. When it comes to the relationship between theory and research, an inductive logic that argues from the particular to the general by depicting individual construction as clearly as possible and then contrasting it dialectically with the aim of reaching consensus guides the research methodology (Dieronitou, 2014, p.1-7)

As the main focus of the research is understanding the world of human experience by looking at the way in which the women workers in the garment factories in North Jakarta experience the realities of their socio-economic life and the impacts on their capability to make decisions that have an impact on their well-being, the constructivist approach is best suited to comprehend these realities. As argued by Pouliot (2007: 364-367) the three main requirements for constructivist methodology are that research is ‘inductive’, ‘interpretive’ and ‘historical’. By ‘inductive’, Pouliot refers to research that moves from the local to the general and does not impose theoretical concepts or assumptions on agents but rather is being built around the individual. By ‘interpretive’ he means that instead of drawing conclusions from the data, the importance of the human beings under study should be recognised. He also requires the research to be ’historical’, meaning that the issue at hand should be constantly evolving as social life is temporal.

This research aimed to meet these requirements by letting the female workers and their ideas guide the interview situations, while the concepts and theory were constantly in dialogue with

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33 them. It aimed to situate the subjective accounts of the female workers as part of an intersubjective context both locally and globally. A specific method used to capture the different accounts is triangulation, as although the main focus of the research are the female workers themselves, other local and international actors were also included in the analysis. As argued by Seale (1999), triangulation can be a way to deepen an understanding of an issue since it offers a way to explain how actions and accounts in one setting are influenced or even constrained by those in another. This method also embraces the view of research as revealing multiple constructed realities (Seale, 1999, p. 474). The research was also done by building a historical narrative that highlighted the political and social processes that have led to the situation of the garment sector and women’s rights and position in the society today. The interplay between past experiences and current life situation, and the trade-offs between time were also included in the analysis.

3.3 Research Location

Indonesia ‘the largest archipelago in the world’ is located in Southeast Asia, between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, bordering East Timor, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. It has a population of over 258 million people and is home to over 300 different ethnic groups. Indonesia has the fourth largest population, is the third biggest democracy as well as the largest Muslim nation in the world (BBC, 2018). According to the Asian Development Bank, Indonesia is the biggest economy in Southeast Asia and is classified as an evolving middle-income country with ‘complex development needs’ (Ginting et al, 2018).

This research was conducted in the capital city of Jakarta, which is home to almost 10 million people. The greater Jakarta area is also a home to the most important free trade zone in the country, mostly producing garments and footwear for foreign exports, linking Indonesia to global value chains and international trade flows. Jakarta was chosen as the location of the research as most of the industry is still concentrated near the capital due to its proximity to the seaport. The research was conducted in the Nusantara Industrial Area of KBN in Cakung, in the Eastern outskirts of Jakarta. The export processing zone is managed by the state-owned PT KBN Cakung, and it has been criticised by local media, researchers as well as labour and

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34 feminist organisations for its labour conditions, and especially women’s safety issues (Mahardhika, 2018; Jakarta Globe, 2013). Sexual harassment, having no clean water or air, having no paid maternity leave or reproductive health checks are some of the issues that have been discussed by media and researchers (Zely et al., 2014). The KBN economic area has more than 75,000 workers working for 104 establishments of which 75 are operated by foreign investors. Most of these establishments are producing garments and textiles and many globally known brands such as Nike, Adidas and Gap (Sivananthiran, 2009).

Map 1: Map of the research location with the KBN Cakung area outlined. Notice the proximity to the sea and the Jakarta Bay. Source: Google Maps, adaptations by author

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35 Women dominated sectors, such as the garment and textile sectors, are some of the lowest paid sectors in Indonesia as such industries are considered low-skilled work regardless of the labour-intensive nature of the work. Women are still considered as second breadwinners in the households. Due to the labour market flexibility globally, there are barely any permanent jobs in the industry. In the garment and textile factories in the KBN zone, 95% of the workers are female while only one federation, FBLP (Across Factory Federation) is managed by a majority of women workers (Zely et al., 2014).

3.4 Sampling Strategy and the Unit of Analysis

The main unit of analysis of the research are the well-being related decisions of the female garment workers in the KBN Export Processing Zone. In order to better understand the nature of the decisions and women’s understanding on well-being, in-depth interviews were chosen as the main method. Although initially reaching the women was surprisingly difficult due to the closed nature of the factory area, I was able to find women who were willing to take part in the interviews through my local supervisor and the local organisation called ‘Perempuan Mahardhika’ or ‘Free the Women’. As the organisation has conducted research in the factories before and works closely with the women volunteers in the women’s post (a little office in which women can voice their concerns about safety at the workplace or just attend events and socialise) as well as with FBLP, a women workers’ trade union organisation in the KBN area, they were able to introduce me to relevant people at the factories. Thus, snowballing was used as the sampling method to find the interviewees. We also walked around with my translator trying to find workers who had just finished their workday to take part in the interviews to make sure that we found workers who were not all familiar with each other and working in the same factories, using convenience sampling. The age of the workers, length of time in employment, or the factory in which the women worked was not included in the sampling as most women were randomly selected, and for the research there was no specific need for further sampling as the thing that mattered the most was that the women were currently in employment in one of the factories.

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36 In order to triangulate the data other actors working in the KBN factory area were also interviewed, especially the local organisation I worked with ‘Perempuan Mahardhika’ as well as the women’s trade union organisation ‘FBLP’. On top of this, a female worker in the women’s safety office in the factory area was also interviewed. Lastly, to understand the issues from a more international level, a representative of the Dutch organisation ‘Fair Wear Foundation’ was interviewed. For this part of the research purposive sampling was used as all the relevant organisations and documents had to focus on women workers’ wellbeing at the KBN area. Before starting the research, the main actors working at the KBN and on women workers’ issues were identified, and luckily some of them were eager to take part in the research. Members from the factory management or government officials were not interviewed due to time constraints and problems with reaching out, something which could be interesting for future research.

3.5 Methods

In-depth interviews and informal conversations

As the main unit of analysis are the female workers in the KBN factory area, the primary source of data for the research comes from the in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 women who are currently working in the factories in the KBN area. The interviews were conducted in a life-story format in which questions about their education, previous work, family and marriage, life aspirations, working conditions and activism were included. Two interviews were done with two workers taking part at the same time as these women indicated that they felt more comfortable taking part with their fellow worker friend. These interviews yielded useful findings as the women were telling stories of their experiences in the factory together and were filling in each other’s stories and ideas. All the interviews were done in a cafe close to the factory area exit. Doing so meant that women did not have to travel far to meet me as all the interviews were being held when women had just finished their working day and most of them lived close to the factory area.

All the interviews were done together with a translator, which as I will also discuss in section 3.7, entailed a number of implications. The interviews were recorded, and this was clarified

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37 when asking for women’s consent on taking part in the interviews. Although the aim was to translate the interviews verbatim, the translator was sometimes struggling to translate everything word-to-word as she was also still a student and did not yet have extensive experience. However, it was clarified in the beginning that when translating the language should stay as original as possible so that nothing would be missed out. For the first half of the interviews (with Garment Workers 1-8), the questions I posed were all translated into Bahasa Indonesia and then the whole interview was conducted in Bahasa Indonesia, with my translator acting as the main interviewer. While I was present and introduced myself clearly and was helping my translator with any questions she had during the interview, I was not able to participate in the interviews as actively as I wanted. However, the women seemed to be more comfortable with only using Bahasa Indonesia which resulted in longer and more detailed interviews.

For the second half of the interviews (Garment Workers 9-15) I acted as the main interviewer, while my translator was directly translating everything on the spot. Although this way I was more capable to ask additional questions and be part of the interview situation, the women seemed to be less comfortable which also resulted in shorter answers. While my translator was translating back to me, many of the women started feeling nervous, looking away and starting to feel tired with the situation. The interviews took approximately 30-40 minutes, however the shortest one is only 15 minutes. When interviewing the organisations, the main language was English, and the duration was from one hour to two hours.

While visiting the factories I was able to have some informal conversations, dinner and coffee dates with the workers as well as some of the NGO workers and volunteers. Although these conversations were not documented, I was able to hear some interesting opinions that the women had about the current state of the garment sector in Indonesia as well as their opinions on the politics in Indonesia.

Non-Participant and Participant Observation

I conducted non-participant observation during after-work events organised by the female volunteers who volunteered for the women’s safety office in collaboration with Perempuan

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38 Mahardhika and FBLP. These volunteers together with the help from these organisations organised different events for the workers to raise awareness of health and safety issues in the factories. I was able to take part in one these events (focusing on sexual disease) in the factory area and on other days I was able to observe the workers. During the event and after work hours I was trying to observe how the women participated and how often, how old the participants were, and what were the reasons for joining or not joining. I was also observing the demographics of the crowd as well as the general atmosphere in the working area and the safety issues.

As my research took place in March, I was also able to actively take part in the International Women’s Day march on the 8th_{of March 2018, which is one of the biggest events for the} factory workers as well as for many local NGO’s to raise awareness of workers’ and women’s issues. Being able to participate with the women was an empowering experience and helped me to better understand the collective organisation of the women. During the march I paid attention to the ratio of men and women in the rallies as well as the issues that the women were discussing about and rallying of. All these experiences are included as relevant data.

Field notes and additional sources

While in the field, I gathered relevant policy documents and reviewed research done by Perempuan Mahardhika and other actors on sexual harassment in the KBN area. I also watched a documentary filmed in the KBN area on the same topic which discussed some