Mortgaging Women's Lives: Feminist Critiques of Structural Adjustment

摘要: Apart from introductory and concluding chapters by editor Pamela Sparr, this book contains seven country case studies: two Asia (Sri Lanka the Philippines), subSaharan Africa (Ghana Nigeria), Middle East (Turkey Egypt) one Caribbean (Jamaica). All were written women who grew up in they write about many include original field work? The purpose of these studies is to show how structural adjustment programs (SAPs) imposed World Bank or International Monetary Fund some five dozen countries has affected women's lives. With usual holistic approach researchers, deal both with economic activity (in formal market, informal market within household) women, their children, as consumers goods, homegrown produce public services. Sparr notes three goals adjustment: 1) getting "prices right" which means eliminating price controls subsidies often making imports much cheaper detriment local industries producing for domestic market; 2) minimizing government involvement implies privatization government-owned companies, cutbacks services, deregulation areas such labour standards but also agricultural marketing boards; 3) creating an "open" economy generally developing export-oriented abandoning those seeking compete imports; this, turn, requires significant devaluation country's currency therefore a major decline real wages living standards. Given level development kind activities available four themes dominate agriculture (whether home production, markets or, more rarely, export markets); manufacturing, including traditional handicraft cottage industries, entrepreneurs free-trade zones dominated multinational corporations; entrepreneurs, small-scale commercial ventures "higglering" (a term used Nigeria Jamaica, although not exactly same meaning); professional training, service. One important lessons that "women" are extremely diverse group impact policies, any policy matter, differs only another, between urban rural social classes, age groups, even crop produced product manufactured. Examples taken texts are, therefore, intended illustrate richness analysis provide generalizations. In agriculture, main thrusts SAP remove food crops consumption promote production though world prices may be low. For example, Philippines, land was transferred rice corn sugar cane, bananas pineapples concomitant increase size holdings greater mechanization rise number landless households. result further marginalize largely excluded cultivation. loss small meant could no longer rely on subsistence crop. Nigeria, projects, specifically designed money help modernize farming actually made it harder get credit training. countries, overall declines income have forced household work seek outside employment, where jobs scarce, try start business. Sri SAPs led establishment zones. …