Artwork courtesy of Flavia FascendiniThis article is part of a series of GenderIT.org columns. Four columnists, two in English and two in Spanish, will open up topics and themes that we want to learn more about. Nadika looks at how writing and creating things online has helped herself and other trans people; Sonia Randhawa from Malaysia is writing about the links between climate change and gender justice. In Spanish, Evelin Heidel from Argentina will share her experiences in gender, technology, programming and access; and Angelica Contreras from Mexico will write about young women and their lives immersed in technology.
The Pearl River delta in China is the global manufacturing hub for electronics. China commands the highest percentage of the world’s electronics exports and it is here that they are made, and predominantly made by women. Through decades of sustained organising and advocacy, workers in these factories no longer face the stereotypical sweatshop conditions that once dominated the industry. However, this doesn’t mean that the connection between gender and environmental challenges in this industry has been severed.
Here I would like to examine the environmental burden of hardware and its contribution to climate change; then I’ll look at the working environment of the women workers in the Pearl River delta, including the history of activism and how the industry is evolving; lastly I’ll look at women workers and resilience, how climate change is going to impact those on the lowest rungs of the manufacturing industry.
Read the full feminist talk in GenderIT.org .