Life and Works of Evelyn Glenn - Essay Example

Evelyn Glenn Evelyn Nakano Glenn, of Gender and Women’s Studies and of Ethnic Studies at Berkeley, University of California, serves as Founding Director of the University’s Center for Race and Gender (Glenn 2). It is a leading American center in the study of intersectionality amongst genders, class social groups, institutions and race. Her scholarly work includes focus on the dynamics of gender, race and the prevailing processes of inequality and exclusion in class structures in the social setting. Her earlier work included the documentation of neglected women employed in the domestic services sector, due to their skin color (race), and that of women holding clerical posts. This led her into historical research on the issue of gender structure and race in the structural makeup of the local labor markets and hitherto consequences of the American labor market on the positions of the workers. This included the forms of resistance/ self-preservation available to them. She has also engaged in the comparative analysis of gender and race in the construction of citizenship and labor across the United States of America. Her upbringing greatly influenced her critical thinking and perspective of the world, due to her racial background and the situation of the time. In the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor tragedy, her parents were among thousands of other Japanese Americans imprisoned in American internment camps. The war pitted the Axis powers against the Allied forces, with the latter eventually emerging the victors. This shaped the political and philosophical thoughts of the time with Liberalism emerging as the dominant theory of the time. Others that were to subsequently emerge were in one way or the other linked to this thought with some aspects also being borrowed from the other less dominant theory of Realism. Republicanism was to emerge later (Glenn 7). Liberalism, as a political thought, entails the plurality of actors in the international political arena. These include ‘the State’, ‘Individuals’ and ‘supranational institutions.’ It is of the view that state interactions are not limited to the “Higher politics” – covering all matters vital to the survival of the state, i.e. national and international security; but also to the “Lower politics” – pertaining to economics, culture, religion and other social issues. It is based on the belief in Liberty and equal rights, constitutionalism, free and fair elections, freedom of religion, Capitalism, Human rights and liberal democracy. These ideals were to influence both the American and French revolutions in their justification of the overthrow of tyrannical rule throw armed revolution (Glenn 21). Republicanism, on the other hand, is an ideology that is embraced by the citizenry of a republic. It is a government where leaders are elected for duration of time through free and fair elections and who are responsible for the passing of legislation for the benefit of the republic. It stresses on key concepts, such as the importance of civic virtue, rule of law, need for separation of powers through provision of “checks and balances” (Glenn 41), on the benefits of universal political participation and the dangers of unchecked corruption. From these, “Political Liberty” stands out. It entails the emphasis on self-reliance and self-discipline on the part of the individual with the government not interfering in the private affairs of the citizenry. This aims by curtailing the government’s efforts on it being the people’s guardian, since its role is to safeguard the collective entity (Glenn 51). Evelyn Glenn has been instrumental in the development of analysis on Japanese American, Black and Hispanic women and where their individual and collective experiences have been ignored, especially in feminist analysis on oppression of women. After more than 200 years of the United States of America enjoying Liberty, it still faces some huddles in its quest for equality amongst all; this stemming from different issues such as Citizenship to Immigration laws to matters pertaining to National security and interest. In the American social structure, the Citizenship status was, and is tied to Labor status, such that the lack of citizenship rights limit the communal and individual abilities of minority groups and immigrants from forming unions, on equal job opportunities, the attainment of higher education and the subsequent training for senior positions in management. This is paradoxical due to the fact that the concepts of free labor and liberal citizenship both evolved and developed in tandem and response to political, social and economic transformation over the 200 years of American Independence (Glenn 67). This has been exemplified by the widely held ideal of the American “worker citizen” as being the twin attributes of ‘whiteness’ and ‘masculinity.’ In tandem with this was that “Citizenship” entailed the notions that the groups having both the emotional and intellectual capacities for performance of conceptual work would be similar to that of groups that displayed a rational and self-governing capacity (Glenn 89). This brought about the intertwined relationship between citizenship and labor, in which gender and race relations, identities and meaning have been contested and agreed upon on a number of occasions. Though provided for in the American Constitution, the federal and state statutes, with even the Supreme Court and other courts adding to this, it should be noted that the enforcement or not of the above is done at the Local level. This thus brings the notion that both Citizenship and Labor must be critically looked at from the ‘Localized level.’ This pertains to the distance that is covered by a worker to and from his/her workplace on a daily basis. Daily interactions, that more often than not are face-to-face, are responsible for the determination of whether individuals have or don’t have either substantive or purely formal rights enjoyed by citizens (Glenn 67). The interpretation and enforcement of boundaries is done by either an individual or group actors who are but usually working within the social practices, or rules that are the norms in a particular region, society or local community. The period between the 1870’s up to the 1930’s was critical, as considerable ground was covered in the spheres of labor and citizenship, gender, race and class relations. This was because of abolition of slavery, massive immigration from eastern and southern Europe, industrialization and urbanization with the resultant imperialistic expansion into the Caribbean, Philippines and Latin America (Glenn 47). Due to these upheavals, the resultant consequences were that the existing social-cultural boundaries were challenged and re-negotiated. Conceptions and Ideologies of race and gender differences also changed with time, as the use of the evolution theory and biological classification were used to explain on human variation and as to the hierarchical nature of society. This resulted into the classification of Mankind into either superior or inferior races; and superior and inferior gender. People of color and women were related to distinct characteristic and psychological traits such as skull size, hormones and other physical attributes (Glenn 121). Martin Luther King, Junior’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was a result of a statement in which eight white Alabama clergymen agreed that social injustices indeed did exist, but argued against taking this fight against racial segregation to the streets by advocating for court deliberations. To this he would answer back with the quote: -“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly… Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider…” Accordingly, Garret Hardin’s “Tragedy of the Commons” would talk of the tragic outcome of these differences within the population, resulting to the whole social fabric being in jeopardy. The social arrangements that result in responsibility are those that create some sought of coercion, thus, the sense of everything being communally owned and therefore rightfully theirs is encouraged with deadly consequences at times. Discrimination either on the basis of gender or race results in the wrongful branding of all people who share the same character traits. Proper and sequential legislation addressing these issues should be passed based on them either as a grouping or in their individual aspects. This is to ensure better understanding, appreciation and acknowledgement of every human being that composes the global community. In conclusion, Evelyn Nakano Glenn’s scholarly work includes focus on the dynamics of gender, race and the prevailing processes of inequality and exclusion in class structures in the social setting. She considers that Liberalism, as a political thought, entails the plurality of actors in the international political arena; and that Republicanism, as an Ideology, is embraced by the citizenry of a republic. This has been exemplified by the widely held ideal of the American “worker citizen” as being the twin attributes of ‘whiteness/blackness and ‘masculinity/feminism. Work cited Glenn, Evelyn Nakano. Unequal freedom: how race and gender shaped American citizenship and labor. London: Harvard University Press, 2002. Print. Read More