ABSTRACT
The previous chapter introduced the idea that the complex trends associated with globalization are producing pressures for two kinds of, ostensibly contradictory, employment reforms. There are pressures for labour market deregulation, in order that the Japanese model might regain its former competitiveness in an increasingly globalized economy. There are also pressures for the re-regulation of labour to establish a principle of sexual equality at work. The latter pressures are exemplified by the passing of the EEOL, which has been instrumental in the restructuring of the Japanese workforce. Chapters 6 and 7 examine the impact of restructuring upon women in the Japanese workforce and contribute to the debate about the impact of globalization upon women by bringing in insights from the case of Japan.
