Class, Gender and Work: “The Girls” of the Factory Kenia Between 1982 and 1994

Abstract

In this writing we will address gender relations within the electronic factory called Kenia, located in the town of Río Grande (Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands) between 1982 and 1994. During that period, this metallurgical industry was one of the most dynamic areas on the island, and Kenia was one of the factories with the highest percentage of women workers. The first objective of our work is to reconstruct the role of women workers inside production; in order to do this, we contextualize the work conditions within the factory by inquiring into variables such as the presence of childcare, healthcare and work safety, among others. Our second objective is to investigate female participation in spaces of union representation. Finally, we will deal with the articulation between manufacturing activity and other spaces of sociability, such as indoor football tournaments, in which the Kenyan women´s team participated. To carry out this historical interpretation, semi-open group and individual interviews have been carried out with several women workers. Moreover, photographs of the protagonists were also analysed and local and national newspapers were used.