Review of "The Blackwell Companion to Globalization," by George Ritzer (ed.)

In sociology, much of the current research on development notes the adverse affects of globalization on women, especially economic, but fails to offer a critical feminist analysis of its inherently gendered processes.A few scholars such as Cynthia Enloe (see Bananas, Beaches, and Bases, 1989, California) have sought to examine how global relationships, especially among state actors, rely upon traditional gender constructions but the overall literature is sparse.Valentine M. Moghadam offers a welcome contribution in Globalizing Women which bridges the divide between feminist sociology and world-systems analysis.Moghadam argues that feminist organizers have become important nonstate political actors in the contemporary world-system, with the power to mobilize resources against "the hegemonic and particularistic aspects of globalization."This mobilization is made possible and augmented by social ties that transcend national boundaries, which Moghadam refers to as "transnational feminist networks" (TFNs).Members of these networks are united by a common agenda such as antimilitarism or reproductive rights and their activities generally include lobbying policy makers, monitoring government action, sending action alerts, attending conferences, organizing protests, and composing petitions.In this way, TFNs represent a dialectic within globalization in which those that have been adversely affected are now mobilizing to mediate its affects.Globalizing Women extends Moghadam's previous sociological research connecting the contradictory effects of globalization on women with a proliferation of feminist transnational activism.The detailed attention to the goals and barriers faced by feminists in their struggle for gender-based equality in the contemporary world-system make a path-breaking contribution.Feminist readers will appreciate Moghadam's deep commitment to understanding global feminism from the inside out.As a senior researcher with the WIDER Institute of the United Nations University (World Institute for Development Economics Research), Moghadam had unique access to TFN representatives permitting the use of qualitative methodology.Her analysis of TFNs is based upon her own observations as a participant at international meetings and conferences as well as interview data gathered from representatives of DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era), WEDO (Women's Environment and Development Organization), SIGI (Sisterhood is Global Institute), and WLUML (Women Living Under Muslim Law).Additional secondary sources include TFN publications and website information.However, the focus of Globalizing Women is not upon profiles of TFN members as much as the broader context of TFN formation and their contributions in an era of increasing globalization.Consistent with world polity theory, Moghadam argues that the diffusion of information among feminist organizations (which rapidly increased with internet technology) in response to the deleterious effects of globalization fostered the creation and proliferation of a global feminist community and a collective movement for women's rights as "human rights."Overall, Globalizing Women is well-written and clearly organized.In the preface, Moghadam begins with an overview of her research methods followed by a lengthy glossary of Acronyms and Terms.Readers may want to bookmark this page, as they will refer back to this list often.In chapter one, Moghadam presents her main argument suggesting that a transnational feminist movement exists within the larger global justice movement and offers human-rights based alternatives to capitalist globalization.These alternatives are based upon the conception of globalization as a gendered process responsible for the feminization of labor and rising social inequalities in a hierarchical world-system.Chapter two reviews the competing perspectives on the defining features and gender dynamics of globalization.Moghadam advocates for a broader theoretical exploration of globalization that considers gender a central point of analysis.Using both Marxist feminism and the logic of world-systems analysis, Moghadam describes how women's position in the worldsystem is affected by patriarchal institutional forms (multinational corporations, state agencies, etc.) with the most influential actors located in core countries.Here, Moghadam is careful to discuss both the pros and cons of globalization, particularly those associated with women's increased labor participation and the dwindling role of the welfare state.While free market expansion has created low-wage jobs for women in developing regions, the quality of jobs has not always elevated women's social status and new informal economies such as sex tourism have created dangerous employment opportunities for women.These scenarios motivate TFNs and activists "on the ground" to demand action.This attention to women's labor continues in chapter three where Moghadam articulates how worldwide expansion of a female labor force, the role of female labor in the global economy, and the persistence of social and gender inequalities underpin the rise of TFNs on a global scale.She argues that free-market globalization has led to increased inequality, particularly in developing and less-developed countries, where women workers bear the brunt of regional crises resulting from neo-liberal policies.TFNs have supported women workers by voicing concern that decision-making among global institutions is undemocratic and that many financial and trade agreements undermine international regimes on human rights, worker's rights, and environmental protection.Moghadam provides several examples of how TFNs like WIDE and WEDO have mobilized around women's labor issues.Yet, the actions of TFNs range dramatically.In chapter four, Moghadam describes the collective consciousness and identity of TFNs and highlights their differences and unique characteristics.She carefully describes how TFNs vary by class privilege and organizational style; WIDE and WEDO for example, are well-funded and managed by highly educated women while others function with meager resources.Additionally, many TFNs make concerted efforts to avoid masculine styles of organizational management in their day to day functions.Some also refrain from accepting money from outside organizations and/or from offering paid employment, as these conditions invite potential conflict, especially for women activists living and working under oppressive gender regimes.Nevertheless, TFNs are united by common feminist issues that transcend location.Moghadam argues that international feminist organizations formed a transnational or supranational network around common concerns for gender equality.In turn, these networks facilitated information exchange, feminist research, and a supportive community.

Abstract licence: CC BY

9 more references, whose wording the paper’s licence keeps private.

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.