FEM 2109 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Gender Analysis, Driel, Francien Language
20 Aug 2016
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FEM2109
Unhappy Marriage Between Gender and Globalization
by Tine Davids and Francien van Driel
-gender analysis is mostly absent from mainstream theories
-within gender and development studies, globalization lacks research through a gender
analysis
-this leads to the production of orthodoxies (views) that are repeatedly produced
-within these polarized analyses,women are represented as either local victims of an evil
global process, or as heroines fighting development
-neither of these representations corresponds to the complex live realities of women
-interpretations of these orthodoxes are based on dichotomous thinking and leads to:
-“female” as perceived as cultural and traditional
-“male” perceived as economic and modern
-these orthodoxies have become narratives which inform our daily thought, theories and
research
-one of the most widespread and perhaps devastating orthodoxy states that globalization is
bad for Third World women
-is defined by capitalism and neoliberalism
-violence against women from this is true, the problem lies in the representation of women
who have been reduced to their gender only
-emphasizing negative impacts of globalization tends to produce homogeneous views of
victims
-leads to the “feminization of poverty debate”
-main argument of the feminization of poverty thesis is that globalization has accelerated this
poverty
-reflected in the increasing number of households that are headed by women (which implies
they are poor women)
-this association comes from the reproduced paradigm of men as breadwinners
-globalization itself is not analyzed as a complex phenomena but is studied only in its
assumed effects
-same is true for gender analysis: gender mechanisms are analyzed as certain effects on
women only
-women are captured in the repetition of a discourse in which gender different are indirectly
represented as an image of femininity vs a male breadwinner ideal
-on this basis women are made into the instrument of fighting against poverty
-the dynamic relations between the discursive symbolic dimensions and the institutional
dimension of practices are not taken into consideration
-orthodoxies do not give any clue how mown will turn from being victims into heroines since
they are repositioned outside the process of globalization itself
-these orthodoxies diminish the political power of feminist analysis and positions since they
mystify the way that women’s resistance should be understood and conceptualized in
relation to specific power relations
-this scenario defines women as both the problem and solution to a situation beyond their
control completely
-contemporary debates promote the idea of women outside the system and leave them no
room to be carriers of globalization
-these orthodoxies are based on an analysis of women as a category
-a global-local dichotomy underpins many feminist analyses of globalization
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Document Summary
Unhappy marriage between gender and globalization by tine davids and francien van driel. Gender analysis is mostly absent from mainstream theories. Within gender and development studies, globalization lacks research through a gender analysis. This leads to the production of orthodoxies (views) that are repeatedly produced. Within these polarized analyses,women are represented as either local victims of an evil global process, or as heroines ghting development. Neither of these representations corresponds to the complex live realities of women. Interpretations of these orthodoxes are based on dichotomous thinking and leads to: Female as perceived as cultural and traditional. These orthodoxies have become narratives which inform our daily thought, theories and research. One of the most widespread and perhaps devastating orthodoxy states that globalization is bad for third world women. Violence against women from this is true, the problem lies in the representation of women who have been reduced to their gender only.
