Working the night shift: women's employment in the transnational call center industry

textIn the past decade, a night shift labor force has gained momentum in the global economy. The hyper-growth of the transnational call center industry in India provides a quintessential example. The night shift requirement of the transnational call industry also intersects with the spatial and temporal construction of gender. Research conducted in 2006 in Mumbai, Bangalore, and Ahmedabad indicates that the nightscape is primarily a male domain (with the exception of prostitutes, bar dancers, and call girls) and women’s entry into this domain generates a range of diverse responses from call centers, their employees, the employees’ families, the media, and the Indian public. This research illustrates that there is no linear outcome to how working the night shift at a call center affects women’s lives. Even though the global nature of the work combined with the relatively high salary is viewed as a liberating force in the lives of workers, in actuality women simultaneously experience opening and constriction for working in the industry. Through the collection of interviews, focus group data, and participant observation gathered during 10 months of fieldwork in India, I examine female night shift workers’ physical, temporal, social, and economic mobility to illustrate how global night shift labor is intersecting with the lives of women in ironic and unsettling ways. Call center employment certainly changes the temporal mobility of some women because it provides them with a legitimate reason to leave the house at night, whereas before this was considered unacceptable. Concerns about promiscuity and “bad character” related to working at night are deflected by linking employment to skill acquisition, high wages, and a contribution to the household. Women’s safety--a code word for their reputation--is preserved by segregating them, via private transport, from the other women of the night. Women consequently become more physically and economically mobile, but through the use of what I term mobility-morality narratives, households continue to maintain regimes of surveillance and control over when and how women come and go. Similarly their social mobility is limited by obligations to support family members and conform to gendered notions of a woman’s place.Geography and the Environmen

Labour and land rights of women in rural India : with particular reference to Western Orissa

Hindu women's right to independent ownership of property has been established in India since 1956. Given that legal rights have not brought about a significant increase in women's ownership of land, this thesis explores the factors that affect women's effective claim to land ownership. Taking the particular case of Hindu peasant women in small farming households in Western Orissa, it analyses their ability to claim land ownership as the outcome of bargaining. The bargaining approach, as developed by economists, and by Amartya Sen and Bina Agarwal in particular, is adopted to analyse women's access to land as an effect of women's perceptions of self-interest and perceptions of women's contribution. The thesis evaluates the legal framework as it incorporates and reflects these perceptions. It argues that law constructs women's claim to land as a right addressed to 'Hindu' women, located within the family (through succession) and informed by religious ideology. It further argues that recognising women's interests as a basis of their claim to land ownership, as 'peasant' women, located within the household and affected by their work and role within agricultural production, would widen the scope of legal analysis. This would be a starting point towards a deeper understanding of the ways in which law impacts upon women's access to land

A case study of corporate social responsibility in nashik MIDC

771/5" paper analyses Che awareness of corporate social responsibility in Nashik MIDC. It also helps to identify the awareness and effectiveness of existing environmental protection programs like Carbon emissions and treading among these companies.The study analyses the corporate responsibility with respect to Customers, Employees, Government, Environment and Society. The study involves opinions of corporate about, problems to implement corporate social responsibility. The study also involves case lets of major corporate in India like J K Tyre's, Infosys, Siemens, Tata group, Godrej Group, Mahindra And Mahindra and many more that are already implementing such programs. The result of the study indicates that in Nashik MIDC, there are few companies that are doing programs periodically. However, there are few companies, which feel that they cannot do these activities individually but there can be collective efforts. The study concludes that in addition to government agencies some management institutes should also take initiatives collectively to motivate and run such programs with these companies. It is found that Nashik Industrial Manufacturing Association (NIMA) are taking lead and arranging social programs for society.Though big Indian companies have started practicing corporate citizenship, the degree to which it is belong done is inadequate. Growing awareness among the academic institutions towards CSR as a subject, to sensitize the future managers of this nation to the societal needs besides generating profits for their organizations with increased efficiency will need a greater deal from the managers to do the balancing act. Keywords

Identifying the Unique Characteristics of First-Generation College Students Whose Parents Never Attended College

In this descriptive study, I examined data from the Bill and Melinda Gates Millennial Scholars Cohort 3 Longitudinal Survey which comprised of high- achieving, low-income and historically marginalized college students, to compare students whose parents never attended college (“True” FCGS) to students whose parents attended but did not graduate along five variables: academic preparation, academic transition, academic and social integration, and academic outcome patterns. This study addressed a significant void in prior research with respect to the need for a clearly established FGCS definition. Bourdieu’s social and cultural capital framework is the theoretical foundation for this study because his theory is useful in analyzing the unique characteristics of historically marginalized FGCS, especially “true” FGCS, and their academic outcomes. While social and cultural can be acquired, Bourdieu asserted those with high socioeconomic backgrounds and affiliation with dominant institutional culture would possess greater capital. This capital advantage is characterized by having a knowledgeable and wellconnected environment that stems from financial privilege and manifests itself in certain ways for capitally privileged college students. The application of Bourdieu’s theory to historically marginalized “true” FGCS characteristics can help advance our understanding of their academic outcomes

A case of new-onset vitiligo in a patient on tofacitinib and brief review of paradoxical presentations with other novel targeted therapies

With recent advancements in the understanding of vitiligo pathogenesis, Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors have emerged as a promising new treatment modality, but their effects remain incompletely elucidated. Tofacitinib, an oral JAK 1/3 inhibitor approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, has previously been shown to induce significant re-pigmentation in vitiligo. However, as with other novel targeted therapies, cutaneous adverse effects have been observed. We report a 36-year-old woman with a history of rheumatoid arthritis, refractory to multiple pharmacotherapies, who was initiated on tofacitinib and subsequently developed progressive depigmented patches consistent with new-onset vitiligo. Although definitive causation cannot be established in this case without additional studies, it is important to note that many targeted therapies have the potential to induce paradoxical effects, that is, the occurrence or exacerbation of pathologic conditions that have been shown to respond to these medications. Paradoxical findings with other targeted therapies include the occurrence of melanoma during treatment with BRAF inhibitors, keratoacanthomas with PD-1 inhibitors, vitiligo and psoriasis with TNF-alpha inhibitors, and hidradenitis suppurativa with various biologic agents. Although JAK inhibitors hold therapeutic promise in the treatment of inflammatory skin disorders, further research is warranted to more fully comprehend their effects

Correlation of Dyskerin Expression with Active Proliferation Independent of Telomerase

Background Dyskerin, which is an important component of the telomerase complex and is needed for normal telomerase activity, is frequently overexpressed in neoplasia. Dyskerin also plays an essential role in ribosome biogenesis. Because protein synthesis increases during tumorigenesis, this led us to hypothesize that dyskerin expression would be upregulated independently of the cell immortalization mechanism. Methods Dyskerin and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) expression were examined in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) and patient-matched controls, as well as in a panel of telomerase-positive and telomerase-negative cells. Antisense inhibition of TERT was used to test the effects of downregulation of telomerase on dyskerin expression. Results Dyskerin was frequently overexpressed in OSCC and in immortalized and transformed keratinocytes relative to primary cells, independently of TERT and telomerase activity. Instead, dyskerin expression strongly correlated with cell proliferation rates. Conclusions The role of dyskerin in tumorigenesis does not correlate with its function within the telomerase complex. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 201

Dyskerin Expression Correlates with Active Proliferation Independently of Telomerase

Background Dyskerin, which is an important component of the telomerase complex and is needed for normal telomerase activity, is frequently overexpressed in neoplasia. Dyskerin also plays an essential role in ribosome biogenesis. Since protein synthesis increases during tumorigenesis, this led us to hypothesize that dyskerin expression would be upregulated independently of the cell immortalization mechanism. Methods Dyskerin and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) expression were examined in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) and patient-matched controls, and in a panel of telomerase-positive and telomerase-negative cells. Antisense inhibition of TERT was used to test the effects of downregulation of telomerase on dyskerin expression. Results Dyskerin was frequently overexpressed in OSCC and in immortalized and transformed keratinocytes relative to primary cells, independently of TERT and telomerase activity. Instead, dyskerin expression strongly correlated with cell proliferation rates. Conclusions The role of dyskerin in tumorigenesis does not correlate with its function within the telomerase complex