ABSTRACT
Regulationists and Institutionalists fail to systematically address changing gender relations as part of their account of flexibility. Mutari and Figart (1997) recognise this, arguing that 'most of the literature on flexibility is silent on the gendered impact and meaning of economic restructuring'. This chapter provides an analysis of economic restructuring, gender relations and manufacturing employment. Two main issues are examined, workforce flexibility and technological change. Feminist literature is drawn upon, particularly that concerned with labour markets and related issues such as the core/periphery model, the social construction of skill and the gendering of new technology. Numerical flexibility is often associated with atypical working practices, which can be defined as any form of employment that lies outside the traditional full-time employment model. Institutionalists and Regulationists agree that functional flexibility is an outcome of the search for a flexible workforce. Institutionalists and Regulationists suggest that technological innovation is an essential component of the Fordist successor.
