ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent parts of the chapters of this book. The part of the book recounts the history of conceptualisations of women's labour force participation, from the 19th century to the present era of flexible labour markets. It describes the ways in which the new categories of the labour market still sometimes ignore the gender relations upon which they depend. The part assesses the political as well as epistemological implications of such categories for the visibility — or invisibility — of working women and for apprehending the structuring effects of gender relations at work and home. It documents how flexibility is often inappropriately described via ungendered categories of class, capital, employers and employees, thereby rendering invisible key dimensions of restructuring. The part discusses diverse, to be sure, but they also have a unifying theme.
