Add Women And Stir: The Effect Of Women On The Ipe

Add Women and Stir; The effect of Women on the International Political Economy

The feminist critique of the International Political Economy (IPE) analyses gender roles in society and its influence upon our current global economic climate. Feminists economists are concerned with the status of women, their inclusion into society. It focuses on the importance of the household, the family, and the influence of reproduction on global economics.

The struggle with the feminist critique is that it is young in comparison to theories such as Mercantilism, and is evolving as the role of women in society continues to change. It is still understood that when one talks about women or gender they are associating the terms with "stereotypes, and social patterns that a culture constructs on the basis of actual or perceived differences between men and women. Women's lesser average brain weight than men, for example, is a biological characteristic. The nineteenth century interpretation of this fact as implying that women are therefore less than rational is an example of a social belief, that is, a construction of gender." Such socially instated ideas in our global subconscience, influence the way we rule our world today.

In 1988, Marilyn Waring a feminists economist released a book called If Women Counted; A New Feminist Economics. Her work questioned the effect on the International Political Economy if women had been included in society since the beginning. She questioned the United Nations System of National Accounts (UNSNA), the organization through with all countries calculate the value of their transactions. Her work, and the work of other Feminist economists, gave rise to the concept that women's inclusion into society is integral for one to properly understand the worlds economic climate.

Through her research Waring came to understand that women were classified as Ð''nonproducers', (housewives and mother) and were therefore not included in the economic cycle, consequently women shouldn't expect to receive any benefits that flowed from production. She said: "When international reports and writers refer to women as statistically or economically invisible, it is the UNSNA that has made it so. When it dawns on you that militarism and the destruction of the environment are recorded as growth, it is the UNSNA that has made it so. When you are seeking out the most vicious tools of colonisation, those that can obliterate a culture and a nation, a tribe of a people's value system, then rank the UNSNA among those tools. When you yearn for a breath of nature's fresh air or a glass or a glass of radioactive-free water, remember that the UNSNA says that both are worthless." Waring's writings were a direct attack upon the UNSNA document, and brought light to all the areas of society that women do have a large part in.

Feminist economists believe that a nation's annual budget should fairly reflect all parts of society. It should take in account who not only those who do paid work, but also unpaid. It should include children who work, and understand that often these children are too young to do the type of work they are forced to. It should question if people are housed adequately, and try to understand the eventual health costs of pollution created by industry. This form of economic analysis does not deal with purely the numbers, the reason's for, the need for, and the consequences of our constant struggle to strengthen out economies, upon ones country. Economists such as Waring believe that such a budget would terrify many politicians, but with the slow rise of Feminist Economics politicians and economists alike will begin to understand the value of such a budget.

The recent World Economic Forum (WEF), held in Geneva in 2005, saw that worlds first serious attempt to assess the global Ð''gender gap'. Gender gap being; the gap between men and women in the five critical areas of "economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, educational attainment, and health and well-being." The overview of the study says that "Countries that do not capitalize on the full potential of one half of their societies are misallocating their human resources and undermining their competitive potential."

Those at the WEF recognize that the economic participation of women in the workforce, will not only assist in alleviating the levels of poverty amongst women, but also will raise the average household income, which in turn will effect economic development within countries all together. However it is important for women, not to get just menial employment. Often the demeaning nature of work that women receive in developing countries adds to its faltering economy. "This is a particularly serious problem in developing countries, where women may gain employment with relative ease, but where their employment is poorly paid or an unskilled job in Ð''ghettos', characterized by the absence of upward mobility and opportunity." Ð''Ghettoization' of females effects not only the quality of life in developing nations, but also gives women little time, energy or resource to educate themselves, or care for the health and well-being of their children and family.

One of the most important structural changes in the IPE over the last 20 years has been the rise of the market, and the expansion of market forces. Some countries are experiencing a transition from state to market, other countries from traditional social arrangements, to market driven relationships. This transition to the market has many effects. An important element of this is the transition from the production of goods (men's work) to the production of services (women's work). Greater female participation in the labor force goes hand in hand with economic development. Therefore the growth of the market is directly influenced by the change in the status of women.

Despite the fact that the empowerment of women seems to eventually strengthen economies, there is an evident backlash against the independence of women in many countries. A good example of this is the case of Asthma Begum, a 21 year old woman from Bangladesh who was admitted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. She suffered burns on her face, inflicted upon her with sulfuric acid by her husband. He was furious that she had no prepared food for him by the time he arrived home because she was busy with her new job working at the clothing factory in town. She was among 16 women at hospital that day all burn victims, burned for the same reason.