Dr. Sara DiazWGST 202: Gender, Difference, and PowerGonzaga University

Globalization:

Response QuestionResponse Question

Some people argue that because of the care work women traditionally perform, food, water, and environmental safety and security have become "women's" work at the grassroots level. How does the gendering of the environmental movement impact the possibility for positive change at the macro/policy level?

Response QuestionResponse Question

What are some of the concerns feminists have about the effects of globalization on women?

Commodity Chain

Raw Materials Transport Production Transport Sale to

Consumer Trash

Globalization Key Concepts

• Off shore production/free trade zones• Areas of production for Northern

companies but located in countries outside the Global North•Materials can be manufactured in these

free trade zones and shipped back to the US for further manufacturing or sale without paying any tariffs (taxes)

Problems with “Free” Trade

• Few regulations• Few protections for workers or the

environment• Highly profitable for corporations•When workers attempt to improve

working conditions they find themselves not only dealing with labor disputes, but with political conflicts (Use of military to keep workers working in Philippines)

Legacies of Colonialism

• Colonial powers of the 19th and 20th century were organized around a number of factors: • Imposition of political and economic

institutions• Cultural devastation• Loss of language, traditions, resources

• Monoculture - dependence on a few agricultural products or raw materials for export

• Neocolonialism: ongoing relations based on colonial past.

Imperialism

• Imperialism – The process of domination of one nation over other nations that are deemed inferior for the purpose of exploiting their human and natural resources, to consolidate its power and wealth. • An empire is able to draw resources from many

nations and to deploy those governments and territories in its interests (Rome, Britain, and currently US).

Neoliberalism• Economic philosophy and policies that call for the freedom of

business to operate with minimal interference from governments, international organizations, or labor unions.• Free market• Free trade• Deregulation• Privatization• Reduction of social welfare• Individual responsibility rather than community/public good• Neo – revival of free-market philosophy of the 19th and 20th

centuries prior to the New Deal gaining momentum with the War on Poverty in the 1960s

Institutions of Neoliberalism• World Trade Organization (WTO)• Unelected international body• Advocating radical free trade (at the expense of the social good)

• International Monetary Fund (IMF)• Promotes trade• Makes loans to Govts for development• France, Germany, Japan, Britain have more than 50% of the votes

(ALL former colonizers).• Loans come with neoliberal strings

• World Bank• Established to reconstruct after WWII• Development oriented loans• Decisions made by Global North (based on $ contribution).

• Free Trade Agreements

Global Feminization of Poverty

• Globalization, particularly through institutions like IMF and World Bank, has led to economic desperation.• Concentrated, but not contained, in the Global

South disproportionately affecting women from the Global South and working class and women of color in the US.• Desperation leads women (and men) to find

extra-legal ways of supporting themselves and their families. This is not a choice – it is an option.