Women and economy: complex inequality in a post-industrial landscape

This article looks at the workplace, home and welfare/state to explore intergenerational, dynamic inequality experienced by women around paid work. Based in a former coalfield, it brings women's paid work centre stage and resonates with the experiences of women (and men) living and working in other post-industrial places that grew out of a particular industry, suffered the trauma of industrial closure, redundancy and job loss, and coping with a new economy shaped by low pay and insecurity. To examine the dynamic element of inequality, the article draws upon Walby's (2009, Globalisation and Inequalities: Complexity and Contested Modernities, London: Sage) theory of ‘complex inequality’ to understand intersecting regimes of oppression. The article is based on ethnographic work in East Durham, England, including repeat in-depth group discussions with 31 women aged 16–90.