Gender Politics and the Pursuit of Competitiveness in Malaysia

This book is concerned with how the pursuit of national economic competitiveness by states has come to be intertwined with a globalised gender agenda—one in which women and the household economy are seen as ‘untapped’ resources.

Juanita Elias is Professor of International Political Economy at the University of Warwick, UK. She is a feminist political economist particularly interested in gendered regimes of work, care and migration in Southeast Asia. Her articles have appeared in journals including: Review of International Studies; Asia Pacific Viewpoint; The Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies; International Feminist Journal of Politics; Globalizations; and Asian Studies Review. She has co-edited the Edward Elgar Handbook on International Political Economy and Gender (2018, with Adrienne Roberts); The Everyday Political Economy of Southeast Asia (with Lena Rethel); and, The Global Political Economy of the Household in Asia (with Samanthi J. Gunawardana).

Introduction: Bringing Women 'On Board' 1. Promoting Competitiveness in Malaysia 2. Transforming Women's Economic Participation: A Gender Politics of Competitiveness Promotion 3. 'A First Class Mentality with a Heart for Progress': The Family, Islam and the Moral Political Economy of Competitiveness 4. Civil Society, Market Feminism and the Creation of 'Board Ready' Women 5. Whose Social Reproduction? Migrant Domestic Work and the New Malaysian 'Middle-Class Reality' Conclusion: Gendering Competitiveness: Comparative Insights