2.

0 Literature Review
2.1 Brief history of Mauritius
The small island state of Mauritius, as mentioned earlier, is located in the south-west of the Indian Ocean,
about 800 km east of the coast of Madagascar (Proag, 2006). It consists of the main island of Mauritius
and its dependencies namely: Rodrigues, Agalega, Saint Brandon, the Chagos Archipelago and Tromelin,
all interspersed in the vast expanse of the ocean.
According to the history books, Mauritius used to be known to the Arabs prior to the 10 th century but it
was re-discovered by the Portuguese during the 18 th century on their way to the Indian sub-continent
and the East-Indies. It was, however, colonized by the Dutch (Wellisz and Lam Shir Saw, 1993). But, the
Dutch colonization was not successful and they left in 1710. The next attempt at colonization was made
by the French and this time, it was successful, so successful that Mauritius became an object of struggle
between the British and the French during the Napoleonic wars. After some memorable battles on land
and at sea, Mauritius was eventually captured by the British in 1810 (Prosper, 1993). It remained a British
colony until 1968, when it became independent.
In 1992, Mauritius took another step forward in its constitutional development by becoming a Republic in
its own rights.
Today, Mauritius boasts a population of about 1.3 million people and, through its particular historical
development, it has become a harmonious, multicultural society.
2.2 The Mauritian Economy
2.2.1 Pre-Independence era
Mauritius obtained its political independence, but not necessarily its economic independence, from the
Great Britain in 1968. By then, Mauritius had been a British Colony for over one and a half century.
Like most other colonies of Great Britain in Africa, Asia and America, Mauritius had to produce whatever
the colonial government decided to impose upon it. In those days, British colonies had to be primarily a
producer of raw materials, agricultural products and other goods such that the manufacturing industries in
the United Kingdom are provided with a constant supply of primary inputs for their growths and
developments. In this specific context, Mauritius, poor in natural resources, had only sugarcane fields as

its most important naturally economic resource. Thus, it was made to produce mainly raw sugar for its
colonial master. In this way, it became a monocrop plantation economy.
In the eve of its independence, Mauritius still depended upon sugar for more than 95 % of its total export
earnings. The sugar sector still accounted for a large proportion of national output but it had also reached
its physical limits of independence.
During the late 1960s, when the process towards political independence was set in motion, an attempt at
diversifying the economy was made. Such an economic diversification was inevitable for the country if it
was not to result in social and political unrest and economic bankruptcy.
2.2.2 Post-Independence era
As already seen above, at the time of attaining political independence from Britain in 1968, a certain
number of difficult economic problems were inherited as well. The attempt to solve the main, acute
problem of unemployment through the Import-Substituting Industrialization (ISI) scheme did not work as
expected. It was plainly disappointing. The reasons for the failure of the ISI strategy to diversify the
economy by developing manufacturing industries and thus, a new structure of production, has been aptly
summarised by Ghosh (1988): lack of capital, shortage of skilled workforce and lack of enterprise and
risk-taking regarding new industrialised activities.
Therefore, soon after independence, the Government of Mauritius had to act quickly. After realizing that
the ISI strategy as well as the Development Certificate Scheme, could not cope with the problem of
unemployment, the local Government switched its developmental strategy to an export-oriented
industrialization zone and thus was born, the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) of Mauritius.
2.3 Export Processing Zone
2.3.1 Creation of the Export Processing Zone in Mauritius
The Mauritian Export Processing Zone (EPZ) was created through the passing of legislation in the EPZ
Act of 1970. According to Basile and Germidis (1984), An EPZ may be defined as an administratively,
and sometimes geographically, distinct area enjoying special status, allowing for free import of
equipment and other materials to be used in the manufacture of goods earmarked for export. This special
status generally involves favourable legal provisions and regulations pertaining to taxation.
In most other countries, where such EPZ were created, they were restricted to specific geographical
regions of the country, so much that they were dubbed as the export enclaves. In the case of Mauritius,
although at the beginning, the EPZ was concentrated in Plaine Lauzun, chosen mainly because of its type

of land and its proximity to infrastructure and workforce, nothing in the law prevented investors to set up
industries producing for export markets in other parts of the island. By the end of the 1980s, exportmanufacturing firms could be encountered all over the country. The smallness of the place can be an
explanatory factor, but the local EPZ was never felt as an enclave separated from the rest of the economy
or country.
2.3.2 Historical evolution of the EPZ in Mauritius
According to Kothari and Nababsing (1996), a complex interplay of changing social, cultural, political
and economic conditions have shaped the way in which the EPZ sector has evolved locally. The same
authors describe 4 distinct phases in the evolution of the EPZ, as follows:
1. From 1970 to 1976.
The first phase of expansion corresponded to the period of the sugar boom in the island.
2. From 1977 to 1983.
This second phase spans the stagnation of the EPZ during the world recession, following adjustments
after the first and second petrol crises of 1974 and 1979 respectively and the onset of stabilization and
structural adjustment measures taken.
3. From 1983 to 1988.
The third phase was the textile boom for which Mauritius is seen as a success story of the exportoriented industrialization.
4. From 1988 onwards
The fourth phase is ushering in a period of declining growth, shortage of labour and declining competitive
advantage amidst the further diversification of the Mauritian economy towards the tourism, financial
services and technology sectors.
2.3.3 Characteristics of the EPZ sector in Mauritius
1. Age, gender and ethnicity
Age and gender characteristics are part of the striking features of the EPZ workforce [Kothari &
Nababsing, 1996]. Women usually account for more than two thirds of the industrys workforce.
In 1990, the CSE analysed the age composition of the working population. The results showed
that the highest proportion of workers was in the age bracket 25-34 for both male and female.
However, the proportion of employees younger than 35 is higher among females, that is 58.1%

compared to 55.4% among males. A study carried out by Kothari and Nababsing (1996) showed
that 70% of the workforce in 1994 was women and in the clothes department, they accounted for
75% of the workforce. Moreover, according to the Survey on Absenteeism carried out by the
University of Mauritius in 1990, it was noted that the both the amount and percentage of married
women in the EPZ had been on the rise. Nearly 40% of the women are married and nearly 40% of
the women are aged less than 25. This is in stark contrast with the 65% on the males side.
As for the ethnicity, the ethnic distribution within the EPZ labour force is not that different from
the ethnic distribution of the overall population. This is different from the early days of the EPZ.
In these times, the proportion of employed Creoles in urban areas was strikingly higher in the
EPZ workforce compared to the overall population. However, the gender breakdown for each
ethnic group shows quite some difference, with the General Population having a relatively higher
share of women in the EPZ (79%) compared to both Hindus (66%) and Muslims (61%). Similar
proportions of single and married women were found across ethnic groups. The proportion of
divorced women is highest within the Muslim community (9.7%) when compared to the General
Population (7.7%) and Hindus (4.55%). This is due to the dramatic increase in EPZ employment
among Hindus and Muslims, especially in the post-Adjustment phase of the EPZ [Kothari &
Nababsing, 1996].
2. Education
Within the EPZ workforce, 63.2% has only primary schooling with less than 60% having passed
their Certificate of Primary Education (CPE). 36% has secondary education with a small
proportion (5.8%) having passed the School Certificate and with 10% having had vocational
training. It is to be noted that the fact that most of the workforce has had primary schooling is
most probably because of free education. The existing educational levels in the EPZ may have
been adequate for the easily-skilled work [Kothari & Nababsing, 1996].
However, today, women in EPZ are not employed only at the production level as machinists or
helpers. They are also involved in jobs of responsibilities such as Production Manager, Human
Resources Manager and so on...
3. Wages and Form of Payment
Wages and other employment conditions tend to be lower in the EPZs. Cheap workforce due to
low wages has been vital in attracting investors to the Mauritian textiles and clothing industry.
However, many condemn the fact that such industries often prosper at the expense of workers in
the form of low salaries but none can deny that the availability of a cheap pool of educated labour
has played a key role in the rapid growth of the textile and clothing industry. As the bulk of the
activities in the industry are labour intensive, access to cheap labour has been vital to the
industrys success. High unemployment in the late 1970s and early 1980s kept wages at very low

levels. Nearly 50% of the EPZ labour force is paid piece and hourly rates. The majority of
workers paid on piece rates is factory floor workers and is predominantly female.
However, despite the low salaries, Mauritian textile and clothing workers have in general,
benefited from wage increases, especially during the 1985-1990 timeframe, where the increase in
salary was twice that rate of inflation. This increasing labour cost, combined with labour
shortage, has pushed some firms to invest into capital extensive technologies which attract
additional government incentives [Fowdar, 1991].
4. Work hours
The legal normal working hours in Mauritius is 45 hours per week. Added to these, one might be
forced to work overtime. This compulsory overtime is limited to ten hours per week since 1987.
Beyond this, the consent of the workers is required. The Absenteeism Survey (1990) found that
only 48.7% of the women worked the overtime available to them, compared to 63.9% of the men.
5. Trade Unions
The right of trade union varies from country to countries. In Mauritius, workers are allowed to
form trade unions [Jhanma, 1997]. However, while unions are allowed in the EPZ, the extent of
unionisation is low, and even more so among the female workers. Their inability to gather in
meetings and their reluctance to be leaders are often ascribed to gender roles at home after work
hours, deference to mens control over their movement outside of work and the usual family
setting.
6. Costs in Health
One indicator of labour condition is measurable health problems among factory workers in the
EPZs. The cumulative effect on womens time, energy and resilience is revealed in their tiredness
and in their health status. A Health Survey (1988) carried out by the University of Mauritius
identifies the problems of loss of appetite, gastric and digestion problems, sleep difficulties which
are indicators of mental and physical stress, muscle strain and posture problems, in the form of
backache and neck ache. It was noted that these symptoms have worsened since they have started
to work [Kothari & Nababsing, 1996].
2.4 Women
2.4.1 The role of women and related sociological perspectives
One isnt born a woman, one becomes a woman. This dictum from Simone de Beauvoir sums up the
social construct that is womans biology.
Traditional roles of women include being a housewife, caring for the husband, children, elderly, and the
community, being an unpaid domestic worker and engaging in handicrafts, sewing, embroidery and

knitting. However, nowadays, the role of women has evolved. Women now have triple roles-wives,
mothers and career women. One question that asks itself is: How are these roles acquired?.
From the functionalist perspective, it is society itself that moulds its men and women into different
spheres. These differences make them complementary and are functional to the maintenance of social
stability and harmony. Therefore, while men take on the role of provider and protector of the household,
women are tasked with caring for the household, performing domestic tasks and childcare.
The Marxist perspective offers another point of view. Marxism attributes the role/status of women to
capitalism. In its opinion, capitalist economies trap men into wage labour and keep women in low paid
work or unpaid domestic labour. As per Karl Marx, the power of men over women only came about when
class division appeared. Women thence came to be a form of private property owned by men, through
the institution of marriage.
Feminism simply argues that our society is a patriarchal one: patriarchal in the sense that it is a system
where males have power and control while women are forcibly pushed to the margins of an industrial
economy by male dominated institutions. Males are therefore ensured of power, profit and prestige.
2.4.2 Womens position in the labour market
Beechey (1978) and Breugel (1983) performed an extensive analysis of the considerable literature
explaining womens position in the labour market [Richardson et al., 1993]. It is to note that some people
blamed the women themselves, their qualifications or their aspirations, their productivity, or their
preference for low-paid work.
On the other side, others concluded that wage and promotion discrimination within firms is only a small
portion of the total discrimination [Breugel, 1983; Richardson, 1993]. In simpler terms, this conclusion
points to the policies and differences of the employers rather than the differences between men and
women as the main factor in womens lower salary. Job segregation seems to be the main culprit for the
poor status, pay and conditions of women workers.
Braverman observes that womens labour is one main component of the reserve army which is thence
created for capitals use [Braverman, 1974 in Richardson, 1993].
It is to note that no theory based only on the labour market has been able to explain why women provide
such a useful resource of cheap labour and component of the industrial reserve army.
As per the feminist point of view, it is impossible to understand womens position in the labour market
without positing a domestic division of labour in which women assume the major responsibility for
reproduction and a family in which women are, by default, dependent on men. From their perspective, it

is the designation of young women as future mothers which provides the ideological justification for
discriminatory recruitment, training policies and treatment.
It is the ability of the family to reabsorb women with little cost to capital that makes them an exploitable
and large component of the industrial reserve army; it is womens economic dependence and domestic
work that makes them such a useful pool of low-paid, insecure, part-time employees. Labour market
theories do consider the domestic division of labour and the economic dependence of women on
men...they even take them for granted.
2.4.3 Women in Mauritius
As in many countries, the history of Mauritian women was not a bed of roses. In the beginning, they were
denied their basic rights and became beasts of burden until society began to change and girls were
provided with educational facilities. As in many other societies, educational facilities were provided to
girls much later than to their male counterparts...and this was also not equitable since some ethnic groups
obtained girls education first. This might also have helped limit their opportunities and status.
However, as society progressed, this problem is gradually fading. Today, many women have become
professionals and are participating in every field of activity in Mauritius, from politics to engineering and
this evolution has been both quick and pervasive.
2.5 Feminisation of EPZ employment
The country has observed an increase in the percentage of women in its overall labour force from 25% in
1972 to 35.6% in 2009, with the representation in the EPZ sector being around 70% until 2006. However,
by 2009, this percentage decreased significantly to around 57% [CSO, 2010].
This trend is shown in the table below which shows the evolution of EPZ employment by gender for
selected years.
Table 1 - EPZ sector employment by gender for selected years.

(Source: Central Statistics Office, Digest of Labour Statistics)

Year

1983

1986

1988

1994

2000

2006

2009

Male

4360

18900

32150

23750

29697

26065

24759

Female

18900

44020

58430

59600

60985

40866

34124

Total

23260

62920

90580

83350

90682

66931

58883

It was observed that sociological research on the interaction between Mauritian women and
industrialisation is comparatively lacking. Kothari and Nababsing (1996) observed that an area of

research which is obviously absent from the literature is the ways in which the process of industrialisation
which utilises almost exclusively female labour, has an impact on gender identities and that there is also
a need for further research into the impact of industrialisation on womens empowerment. Nonetheless,
these have remained largely unattended till now except for some general observations made by Bunwaree
(2004; 2007). Even the attempts at explaining the feminisation of this form of paid employment have
mostly been in the form of broad interpretations instead of systematic research. These have also had the
tendency to pay attention to structural factors in driving women to the factories and have therefore largely
ignored the role of agency or womens own motivations for seeking employment. As an example, the
Social Fabric Phase I Report argues that a combination of factors including poverty as well as increasing
demand for women for the stereotypical notions attached to their gender explain the predominance of
women in garment manufacturing ( MRC, 1998). Another factor which may have rendered the entry of
women in the EPZ easier is that it is not localised in one particular region but is instead spread around
towns and villages reflecting a conscious policy of taking work to the worker. This is part of a
deliberate strategy of dispersal and rural industrialisation which started in 1983 (Burn, 1996; Bunwaree,
2004). Moreover, except for foreign workers, in Mauritius, unlike many countries where women sleep in
dormitories close to the factory, women commute to work on a daily basis and can therefore satisfy both
their reproductive and productive roles.
2.6 Concept of empowerment
Since the main objective of this assignment deals with the empowerment of women, it is important to
understand what empowerment is and how this term is usually applied in the context of the empowerment
of women.
Empowerment is a concept popularised in the 1990s in the field of social development (DFID, 2000;
Oakley, 2001) and is now commonly accepted as a development objective. Similar to most concepts in the
social sciences, this complex concept does not have a single, unified definition (Young, 1993; Oakley,
2001). Some have defined it in terms of control over community resources (Korten, 1990) or related to
the means required to escape poverty (Schneider, 1999).
It is to note that, though it has been intimately related with the conditions of women in society (Rowlands,
1997) it is by no means limited to this social group. On the contrary, it is a mechanism through which all
social groups which have some vulnerability aspire to an improvement of their conditions. This concept
has indeed cut across or been applied to all groups who face some ,often interrelated, form of sociocultural, economic or political discrimination or disparity in society from whole communities in famine
or poverty related situations (see e.g. Strachan and Peters, 1997) to more specific groups such as the

landless (Whiteside, 1999). It is also apparent that this concept is a multidimensional one. For example,
Oakley (2001) notes 6 dimensions (psychological, social, organizational, cultural, economic and political)
as shown:

Figure 1- Dimensions of empowerment.

Source: Oakley (2001: 23)

The most basic building block underlying the concept and need of empowerment is the notion of an
unequal distribution of power (Oakley 2001). However, as Oakley (2001) notes, there are different
definitions of power itself.
With reference to a development context, he focuses on two interpretations of power:
1. Power in the sense of bringing about radical change and the confrontation between the powerful and
the powerless as the crucial dynamic of social change. This interpretation argues that it is only a focus on
change to existing patterns of power and its use that any meaningful change can be brought about and
2. Power in the sense of increased awareness and the development of critical faculty among the
marginalized and the oppressed. This is power to do, to be able and of feeling more capable and in
control of situations. It concerns recognizing the capacities of such groups to take action and to play an
active role in development initiatives. It also implies the breaking down of decades of passive acceptance

and of strengthening the abilities of marginalized groups to engage as legitimate development actors.
(Oakley, 2001: 14, emphasis in original).
While both interpretations of power are both correct though from different perspectives, the less
sweeping, more realistic and practical facets of the second interpretation seems to make it more
applicable to the condition of women in society. The aim of womens empowerment, from this
perspective, is therefore primarily focused on the elimination of gender-based practices and norms that
are discriminatory and oppressive to women and on changing the structures and institutions that
perpetuate and reinforce womens subordination (Moser, 1993; Batliwala, 1994).
Moser (1993: 74-5) argues that empowerment is best defined as the ability to determine choices in life
and to influence the direction of change through the ability to gain control over crucial material and nonmaterial resources.
Rowlands (1997) argues that empowerment goes beyond participation in decision-making and suggests
that empowerment must also include the processes that lead people to perceive themselves as able and
entitled to make decisions (Rowlands 1997: 14).
Batliwala defines empowerment as the process of challenging relations, and of gaining greater control
over the sources of power (1994: 130) requiring political action and collective assault on cultural as well
as national and community power structures that oppress women.
In a similar way, Kabeer (1994; 1999) lays much emphasis is laid on the centrality of empowerment for
achieving gender equality. While in her initial writings, Kabeer (1994: 229) emphasises collective, grassroot participatory action the power to work with others to control resources, determine agendas and to
make decisions, afterwards, she adds further stress on enhancing the ability to exercise choice
(associated with access and claims on resources, agency and achievements) (Kabeer 1999: 437).
Mosedale (2005) goes even further by building on these to suggest that the issue of empowerment should
not be seen simply as enhancing choice but it is the need to go beyond choice and instead extend the
limits of the possible for women. From her point of view, womens empowerment involves both the
process by which women redefine and extend what is possible for them to be and do in situations where
they have been restricted to men and the process in which women redefine gender roles in ways which
extend their possibilities for being and doing. (Mosedale 2005: 252)
2.7 Gaps in literature
Through the various empirical reviews about women in the EPZ sector, none of them defines as to
whether and to what extent women, especially in the EPZ sector, have been empowered. This could be a

consequence of the fact that the EPZ sector is a relatively new concept in the island as compared to other
countries. However, the EPZ sector has been taken into another dimension in the modern era and the
empowerment of women can now be measured, both quantitatively and qualitatively. This study will aim
at addressing these gaps in literature by assessing to what extent women working in the EPZ sector has
been empowered.
2.8 Conclusion
This short but concise literature review has depicted the Mauritian economy, the birth of the EPZ sector in
Mauritius and the feminisation of employment in this sector. From what has been observed, it can be
concluded that, indeed, the lives of women in Mauritius have drastically changed from being the
traditional housewife and mother to contributing towards a prosperous local economy. But if the same
scenario is viewed from another perspective, one can ask himself at what cost has this change occurred. Is
the gender inequality, reigning from the colonial era, and other social discrimination towards women still
prevailing or is it that Mauritian women have now become a major asset to their families and to the
society in general this remains to be seen.