ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book furnishes precisely the kind of careful case study, often constructed as a comparative analysis, that we need to assess the impact of globalisation on gender relations, as manifested in restructuring of labour markets by economic and political forces. It examines in detail changes in the world of work and in women's social citizenship. The book details, part-time workers are guaranteed many of the same protections as "standard" workers and working-time is regulated by an EU Directive. The differences in salary remain a major limit of gender equality. It exposes the effects, by examining the key realms of education, training and skill recognition. Full and equal access to the labour force was a primary claim of second-wave women's movement in all Western European and North American countries.
