Economics of Race, Gender and Globalization - Term Paper Example

Economics of Race and Gender and Globalization Introduction Gender, race, globalization, and economic development in any part of the globe intricate, intersect deeply. Their complicated ways can only be understood when one takes a long view on the globalization’s nature. These relationships are further understood and best contextualized as an analysis into the Africa’s place in the system of the world. The social dislocations and African economies destruction, and civil strife all augmented by the erosion of numerous African ecosystem’s life-supporting capacities. This paper shall critically scrutinize economics of gender and race and globalization with the main focus on African economies. Economics of Race and Gender and Globalization The globalization roots analysis gives a wide picture to enhance the understanding of the economics of gender and race issues. Globalization analysis focuses on the modern era. Trade was embarked on in the period that immediately followed the transatlantic slave trade’s end. Trade lasted up to the postcolonial era, thus putting race centre and front in discussions connected to race, globalization, and economic development within the African nations. A paradoxical relationship created between Europe and Africa, resulted from the European imperialism. Such a relationship included both a marginalized and centralized position for nations within Africa in the global economic and political systems (David 582). Africa was central that it was raped, exploited, and plundered for its material and human resources. It did not have authority in the up-and-coming global systems thus marginalized. Its marginalization probed up due to west dominance that predicted presumed cultural, racial, and psychological inferiority, a belief that many proclaimed distinguishing the western intellectuals. Up to the 1930s, exotic peoples’ samples including Africans were displayed and acquired for education in the wealthiest Europeans’ homes, world, and regional affairs. This foundation built essentialist consensus and racist of the untimely twenty-first century: African termed as a basket of diseased, impoverished, and crisis-ridden nations led by uncouth and inept leaders, a view to its marginality to global social, political, and more so the economic affairs. A critical and a historical perspective generate a better understanding of Africa’s predicament in underdevelopment. Africa’s underdevelopment is associated with conjunctures between the failing markets and structural inequities as a result of race and gender disparities. The effect of these conjunctures within the black community situated in the United States incorporates being unvalued in healthcare, housing security, education, whilst being offered less credit and overcharged than others. The white monopolies entrenchment in many career ladders and job markets creates spill over costs among the blacks’ market. The blacks bear such spillovers when the whites take flight to the suburbs, creating less tax rolls to sustain public services and avail requisite cities’ infrastructure. The cycle persists as the black neighborhoods are appropriated and replaced through white return to cities and gentrification (Irene 596). Such conditions relate to the ones in Africa, where land and folks were enslaved, overexploited, and underdeveloped to guarantee development of capitalist in Europe. As scholars observed, brutality, violence, racism and gender disparities were the capitalist system’s concomitants, when it prolonged to the international trade in the early centuries. Politically and existentially, Africa is positioned in the gap between flag or nominal independence and the underdevelopment legacy bestowed on it by encountering globalization and imperialism. Gender, racism and race affect the economic development and social conditions initiatives within Africa in innumerable ways. Historically, the belief that Africans lie in an inferior race has persuaded in the American and European thought. The notion of race deployment has sustained a hierarchy in which Africans categorized as the most debase, while superiority belongs to the European countries. Following re-invention in today’s Globalization, women have had their rights worldwide. In this case women take part in developmental issues. Although, women’s practices with globalization has become complex and diverse in both the negative and positive, how globalization affects an individual depends on traversed factors such as nationality, race, class, education and ability. Many women benefit from the present trends of globalization by getting autonomy, better employment opportunities, increased purchasing power, and access to the upcoming technologies. However, globalization processes on the other hand means hardship and insecurity for many other women. A fall in social services, a flexible force of labor, and increased privatization all characterize the nature of globalization. The pulling back by governments from spending in education and health, many women make up for the underperformance. As a result of expansion of EPZ (Export Processing Zones), public sector lay-offs, and the informal sector explosion, women disproportionately meet poor working conditions, low wages, and escalating risks. Corporations exporting oil, pharmaceuticals or cash crops make hefty earnings at the expense of indigenous knowledge, biodiversity, and land rights. Further marginalization of women has results from the so-called revolution in communication. Considerably, patriarchal relationships inculcate the global economy. In this case, one can say that the economy is male dominated. A few elites of the male capitalist own the most wealth of the planet. This is a capitalist, patriarchal, and racialist dynamism. The discourse of unworthiness and inferiority rationalize and justify the intense levels of inequality and exploitation. The United States can be explicitly ranked as a capitalist and racist nation. Resisting and analyzing this race logic embeds in the black radical cultures. For instance, an argument arises that capitalism has an immense leveling impact, despite the intense workers’ exploitation. Currently, workers organize against the powerful class exploitation featuring the industrial capitalist societies. Ecological and economic imperatives would continuously force the whole population to deal with the whole planet’s resources. The anthropological and historical record is diverse concerning the status of women in various African societies. Something that is indisputable is that imperialism, enslavement and colonialism imposed a white male racism and patriarchy on these people and their cultures. The inequality that results is still a prevailing world force thus leading to the Blacks oppositional sensibilities (Speir 29). Under enslavement, African women were constructed socially as producers, exploitable as laborers and also oppressed as women. However, it is arguable that women forged a self defined, resistive, feminist identity in America. Black women remained active in anti slavery societies and this contributed to the first wave of feminism as well as their radical sensibilities. They were active during the 19th century, making arrangements to confront stereotypes regarding their lack of virtue and immorality. Their energy was centered on protesting lynching, educational uplift and standing up for their dignity. Civil Rights movement put emphasis on race first just like the Black power movement. It has also been assumed that the majority of the black women in the movement put race first. The origin of the Black feminist theorizing that emphasizes the oppressions of race, gender and class and the interlocking structures of subordination systems can be traced to the Black women’s activism. Majority of the Black women who were radical did not secure influential leadership roles in leading organizations like the Black Panther Party. Women resisted these unequal gender disparities. In the late 1960s Black women addressed the Black power movement about the movement’s position as far as birth control is concerned. The right to reproduce would collide with the thinking by the nationalist regarding the Black women gender responsibilities. This class, gender, race tension saturates the Black struggle up to the present time. Organizations like the Combahee River Collective stressed the women oppressions in terms of race, sexism, gender, class and heterosexism. It was a reaction to the politics of the Black which had notions of female/male relations. Eventually, nationalist thinking was considered vital for the Combahee Collective just like the feminist thinking. It became obvious to Black women scholars and activists that more paradigms would be required to explain Black life .What was required was practice and theory expressing the complexity of class, race and gender oppressions. Capitalist patriarchy extremely shapes female/male relations in general. Nevertheless, it is relatively complicated if racial dynamics are considered. The inequality of Black women is not treated systematically in deliberations of racial inequality, particularly Black radical treatises on class and race. The issues of gender being the social construction of femaleness and maleness in the society with male domination being on the rise, women have to struggle in order to empower themselves economically. This can only be done if women are given access to education, empowered politically and socially respected without any biasness. Black radical feminists clearly recognize that race is extremely core when it comes to gender and class logic in the United States of America. It is argued that a feminist framework, entrenched in white power and privilege often imposes a theoretical logic on women that misrepresents or distorts that experience. Nonetheless, the difficulties of multiplicity among Black communities, which results due to religion, age, class, ethnicity, are not resolved easily. For instance, the Black women’s economic exploitation shows a clear social logic on which black womanhood is defined. There is demand that inequality in gender be recognized as a fundamental dimension in the Black freedom struggle. Till now, the discussion of inequality in the United States of America is still centered on gender and race. In addition, economic globalization has been associated with lower poverty rates and higher economic growth. Conclusion This paper has discussed the struggle that the Black women have gone through with an aim of empowering themselves. Race and gender disparities have affected most women in the world negatively especially in African countries. Although in the recent past women have risen to political and other influential positions, there is still more to be done. Both men and women should have equal opportunities to ensure nobody is discriminated financially. Works Cited: David, Hollenbach. “Book Discussion Section: comparative Ethics, Islam, and Human Rights: Internal Pluralism and the Possible Development of Tradition.” Journal of Religious Ethics, 38(3):580-587. Irene, Oh. “A Response to David Hollenbach and Solail H. Hashmi.” Journal of Religious Ethics, 2010, 38(3):594-597 Speir, John & Farhad Rassekh. “Can Economic Globalization Lead to a More Just Society?” Journal of Global Ethics, 2010, 6(1): 27-43. Read More