Economic processes are usually considered responsible for creating and maintaining inequality. This paper posits that socio-political ideology and societal norms interact with the existing economic processes to shape sex segregation and inequality. The paper focuses on the economic development of Israel together with concurrent normative and ideological shifts, and analyses their impact upon women's participation in the labour force, the structure of sex segregation and the failure of Israeli women to attain equality. The analysis shows that, although socialism's main premise is equality for all and capitalism offers equality for similarly endowed persons, the latter provides better opportunities to reduce gender inequality.
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