How has NAFTA been Framed over the years - Admission/Application Essay Example

Relevance of the topic NAFTA or North American Free Trade Agreement, which came into existence in 1994, is actually a “set of discursive practices” that Marchand has called, “attempts to recontruct, transform and produce (categories of ) new meanings about global political, economic and social relations” (253). Though basically NAFTA is a trade agreement, it has been criticized most in relation with its policy on immigration to America from Mexico (Sutton, Morgen and Nuvkov, 84). The US has pretended to defend its borders from the “aliens” coming in from Mexico but under the carpet promoted illegal immigration in order to get cheap labour (Sutton, Morgen and Nuvkov, 84).

And a general observation made by many observers of NAFTA (Marchand; Sutton, Morgen and Nuvkov) is that it creates a gendered and racist framework for all contexts of meaning and comprehension (Marchand, 253). The debate on how NAFTA has been framed through the years of its existence, is still going on. Marchand has opined that the framing of NAFTA is mainly discursive and has identified this distinct feature being an attempt to keep the attention away from the real gender bias involved (254).

Similar observations have been made by many others as well, including on the negative impact of NAFTA on the income of millions of farmers in Mexico (Sutton, Morgen and Novkov, 83). In this context, it is important to have a comprehensive picture of the discourses that framed, and is framing, NAFTA so that its impact on the society and democracy can be identified. This study is also relevant in that it could bring into limelight the supposedly discriminatory practices involved with the implementation of NAFTA, in case, they exist.

While examining the framing of Nafta, since the beginning of it inception, the framing carried out by presidents, administrations, politicians, media, publications and websites need to be taken into account. Hence this study envisages to find out how has NAFTA been framed since its inception by the mainstream discourses in the American public sphere, including the discourses by the administrations and administrators, political blocks and the electronic and print media. It is hypothesised that there is class, race, nationality and gender discrimination involved in the framing of NAFTA as carried out by the mainstream discourses in the public sphere of the USA.

Research QuestionHow NAFTA has been framed since its inception by the mainstream discourses in the American public sphere (i.e.; by administrations and administrators, political blocks and the electronic and print media)?RationaleThis research question has been chosen because the mainstream discourses in the US have always been guided by the white, upper-class, patriarchal ideology of the developed world. The exploitation and injustice involved with a transnational treaty like NAFTA, where a very powerful nation and a very poor nation are involved, can reveal the other side of the story, the less glossy side of this mainstream viewpoint.

It is the politics of such a treaty that will be under scrutiny in such an investigation. By exploring this research question and understanding the underpinning political implications, it can also be shown that viewpoints other than the one that appeals to the common sense of a given society are possible. This realization is the need of the hour, particularly for the US, as it is spearheading many fights against the so-called aliens to its civilization, including the migrants, the Muslims, etc.

Works CitedMarchand, Marianne.H., “Selling NAFTA: Gendered metaphors and silenced gender implications”, In Eleonore Kofman and Gillian Youngs, Globalization: Theory and Practice, London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 1996. Print. Sutton, Barbara, Morgen, Sandra and Novkov, Julie, “Security Disarmed: Critical Perspectives on Gender, Race, and Militarization”, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2008. Print.