This work is part of a qualitative socio-cultural investigation with a group of men and women 40 years and older in the maquila export industry in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. In 1994, as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement, maquila plants combined traditional intensive work methods with new “just in time” production norms that impacted work and health conditions, particularly in older, or aging, workers. The workers that were interviewed for this study show a reduction in their functional ability to work starting at 40 years of age. Work organization demands, general health conditions, and a decrease in physical abilities brings these 40-year-old workers to prematurely construct an image of themselves as aging workers and to develop coping strategies that vary by gender.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ScaroneM., “Envejecimiento, trabajo y salud. La experiencia de envejecimiento en trajadoras y trabajadores de la industria maquiladora de Nogales” (“Aging, Work and Health. The experience of aging workers in the maquiladora industry in Nogales”), El Colegio de Sonora (2009).
2.
MercierD., “La industria maquiladora de exportación mexicana hace 40 años” (“The Mexican maquiladora industry 40 years ago”), Revista Galega de Economía14, no. 1–2 (2005): 1–17.
3.
CarrilloJ. and HualdeA., “Maquiladora de tercera generación: El caso Delphi de General-Motors” (“Third generation maquiladoras: The Delphi-General-Motors Case”), Espacios, Revista Venezolana de Gestión Tecnológica17, no. 3 (1996): 111–134. http://www.revistaespacios.com/a96v17n03/52961703.html
4.
AlonsoJ.CarrilloJ., and ContrerasO., “Trayectorias tecnológicas en empresas maquiladoras asiáticas y americanas en México” (“Technological trajectories in Asian and American maquiladora companies in Mexico”), Serie Desarrollo Productivo, 72, CEPAL, Naciones Unidas: Santiago (2000).
5.
CarrilloJ. and SchatanC. (eds.), “El medio ambiente y la maquila en México: un problema ineludible” (“The environment and assembly plants in Mexico: an inevitable problem”), Libros de la CEPAL, Vol. 83, Mexico, CEPAL (2005).
6.
De la GarzaE., “Estructura industrial y condiciones de trabajo en la manufactura” (“Industrial structure and working conditions in manufacturing”), in: De la GarzaE.SalasC. (eds.), La situación del trabajo en México (México: Instituto de Estudios del Trabajo, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Plaza y Valdez (2003): 251–272.
7.
KopinakK., Desert Capitalism: Maquiladoras in North America's Western Industrial Corridor (Tucson: University of Arizona, 1996).
8.
de la O MartinezM. E., “Inovación tecnológica y clase obrera” (“Technological innovation and the working class”), México: Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana y Porrúa (1994).
9.
HarlowS.DenmanC., and CedilloL., “Occupational and Population Health Perspective on the Social Costs and Benefits of Export-led Development,” in: KopinakK. (ed.), The Social Cost of Industrial Growth in Northern Mexico (La Jolla, California: Center for US-Mexican Studies, University of California San Diego, 2004).
10.
CedilloL.HarlowS.SánchezR., and SánchezD., “Establishing priorities for occupational health research among women in the maquiladora industry,”International Journal of Occupational Health3 (1997): 221–230.
11.
DenmanC., “Mujeres, maquila y embarazo: Prácticas de atención al embarazo de madres-trabajadoras de una maquiladora en Nogales” (“Women, the maquila and pregnancy: Pregnancy care practices of mothers-workers in a maquiladora in Nogales”), Hermosillo, México, El Colegio de Sonora (2008).
12.
CedilloL. L.Psychosocial risk factors among women workers in the maquiladora industry in Mexico, Doctoral Dissertation: University of Massachusetts, Lowell (1999).
13.
WegmanD. H. and McGeeJ. M. (eds.), Health and Safety Needs of Older Workers (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2004).
14.
de ZwartB.C.H.Frings-DresenM.H.W., and Van DijkF.J.H., “Physical Workload and the Ageing Worker: A Review of the Literature,”Occupational and Environmental Health68, no. 1 (1995): 1–12.
KemperH. C., “Physical Work and the Consequences for the Aging Worker,” in: SnelJ. and CremerR. (eds.), Work and Aging (Bristol: Taylor & Francis, 1994): 31–46.
17.
TeigerC., “We Are All Aging Workers: For an Interdisciplinary Approach to Aging at Work,” in: SnelJ. and CremerR. (eds.), Work and Aging (Bristol: Taylor & Francis, 1994): 65–85.
18.
ArberS. and GinnJ., “Relación entre género y envejecimiento” (“The relationship between gender and aging”), in: ArberS. and GinnJ. (eds.), Enfoque Sociológico (Madrid: NACEA, 1996).
19.
LazarusR. S.MiyarM. V., and FolkmanS., “Estrés y procesos cognitivos” (“Stress and Cognitive Processes”) (Barcelona: Ediciones Martínez Roca, 1986).
20.
PalmoreE., Ageism Negative and Positive (New York: Springer, 2000).
21.
GubriumJ. F. and HolsteinJ., “Constructionist perspectives on aging,” in: BengstonV. L. and SchaieK. W. (eds.), Handbook on Theories of Aging (New York: Springer, 1999): 287–305.
22.
CastilloJ. J., “Las nuevas formas de organización del trabajo” (“New forms of work organization”), Congreso Internacional “Cien Años Después de Marx. Ciencia y Marxismo” (Madrid, España, 1983).
23.
ZúñigaM., “Violencia de género: El género hace la diferencia. Dominación y resistencia de las trabajadoras en México” (“Gender violence: Gender makes a difference. Domination and resistance of women workers in Mexico”), Thesis, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (2004).
24.
SchutzA., Estudios Sobre Teoría Social (Buenos Aires, Amorottu S.A., 2003).
25.
GriffithsA., “The Role of the Psychosocial Environment in Promoting the Health and Performance of Older Workers,” in: KamashiroM. (ed.), Aging and Work (London: Taylor & Francis, 2003): 111–118.
