United by divisions - Concluding statements

I want to begin my conclusion with some observations -

People of all ages are regularly bombarded with images of superficial celebrity culture or messages about innovation and lofty aspirations, an implication of the neo-liberal focus on info-tainment, a hybrid of information and entertainment. These seductive and subliminal messages encourage all people to enter the workforce as individuals, even if the chances for success in this environment are quite low in reality. In addition to nurturing unrealistic goals in potential employees, employers have also been affected - ‘youth’ and ‘youthfulness’ have now become a genuine selling point in postmodern marketing. “Never before have generational differences and the factor of age played such decisive roles in shaping career trajectories…” (McRobbie, 2002:97) This is the case in many capitalist, First World Western societies, New Zealand included. On the one hand this may seem to bear some raison d’être, but all it really does is segregate the working populations. Once a person reaches a certain age, they are deemed to be ineffectual workers, incurring more costs than capital for the amount of labour they contribute.

Though not the fault of the individual, the emergence of new economies has actually perpetuated previous gender imbalances; furthermore, added emphasis has been placed on the aging workforce. This may seem subtle at first glance, but becomes more evident once one scrutinises the processes and purposes behind these industries. The price for flexibility seems to be an increase in labour and decrease in income. This reflects the milieu of economies that have turned from production to marketing and sales. Therefore, to accommodate these changes, the content, organisation and method of work needed to be changed accordingly.

Patriarchy is still rife, despite the appearance of equality for both genders. The global economic structures are essentially determined by political institutions, which are presided over by men. Although New Zealand labour does show deviation from other models in terms of gender disparities, mostly due to a healthy balance between neo-liberal policies and welfare measures, it still leaves room for improvement.