A Cyborg Manifesto

Shifting gears to labor and economics, Haraway characterizes the 1980s as the “New Industrial Revolution.” Haraway describes how one sociological effect of this new economy is that men are beginning to suffer from unemployment, while women are not. Since production of electronics is ramping up, more women are employed in underdeveloped countries working on manufacturing these exports. 

In the United States, the electronics industry is influencing many women to move to Silicon Valley, where either they or their spouses work in technology. Living in Silicon Valley forces women to arrange their lives in such a way that they are likely separated from their extended family and taking care of their children single-handedly, as well as being subjected to social isolation and, in some cases, being completely financially dependent on their spouses.

Haraway uses the term “homework economy,” which she borrows from Richard Gordon, to indicate the feminization of work. In this case, feminization refers to being “extremely vulnerable […] exploited as a reserve labor force; seen less as workers than as servers […]” (38). In other words, within the homework economy, both men and women work jobs that reduce their value to the low standards that are usually reserved for women in all aspects of society—not just in the workforce.