Introduction: The Process of Proletarianisation

This is a study of labour force participation in the context of rapid industrialisation and the growth of wage employment. It is concerned specifically with the absorption of women workers in the urbanising labour market of Kingston, Jamaica, but hinges on a theoretical framework that is arguably appropriate for the analysis of the labour process generally. In that respect, it ought to be stated at the outset that anyone coming fresh to the economic analysis of the labour process should be struck by the underdevelopment of conventional theories, shown most forcefully in the areas of labour supply, the division of labour, and the interaction of workers and jobs. It is those issues which are at the heart of the present analysis, though the conceptual framework is still at a formative stage.