Other’s place or othering space: Reframing the performativity of the neoliberalized space(s) of factory women in a free trade zone in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to understand the dialectical relationship between place-making and identity formation of factory women in a free trade zone (FTZ) in the Global South.

Design/methodology/approach

Inspired by Judith Butler’s notions of performative acts and performativity, the paper uses poststructuralist discourse analysis to analyze data – oral and written texts – generated through a fieldwork study conducted in an FTZ in Sri Lanka.

Findings

Performative acts and the performativity of the occupants in the FTZ demarcate the boundary of the zone and articulate the identities of its occupants. Furthermore, the study shows that, in this process, such performativity and performative acts function as a form of “glue” to amalgamate the places of the zone space as kalape, a complex socio-geographical landscape in flux.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides a new insight into the relationships between discursive-performative acts, place-making and identity formation of (factory) women in the neoliberalized (zone) space(s) of the Global South.

Originality/value

By articulating the FTZ as a (neoliberalized) space in a perpetual present, the study provides new insight into the relationships between performative acts, place-making and identity formation (of factory women) in the zone space.

Citation

Jayawardena, D. (2020), "Other’s place or othering space: Reframing the performativity of the neoliberalized space(s) of factory women in a free trade zone in Sri Lanka", Gender in Management, Vol. 35 No. 5, pp. 405-421. https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-07-2019-0124