"Nice Work If You Can Get It": Segmentation of White and Black Women Workers in the Post-War Period

Abstract

This article examines the convergence of black and white women's incomes, labor force participation rates in capitalist production and the state sector, and convergence of occupational distributions. It is argued that current labor market segmentation theory does not explain the existence and persistence of the racial and sexual division of paid labor. It then considers whether labor market segmentation theory can be refined to explain these changes in the labor market experiences of black and white women in the post WWII period. It is argued that since racism and patriarchy play important roles in the control of labor and the organization of work both historically and theoretically, segmentation theory can only provide an adequate explanation of the development of segmented markets and their racial and gender components by explicitly recognizing racism and patriarchy. Labor market segmentation is the historical process creating labor markets differentiated by race and sex in capitalist and government workplaces.