Oppression of First Nation Women in Canada - Essay Example

Effects of capitalism: Oppression of first nation women in Canada Oppression of first nation women in Canada Oppression of first nation women in Canada can directly be related to theories generated by philosophers like Carl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim. Their theories are drawn due to their relevant in evaluating issues caused by colonization and capitalism. This paper will specifically show how oppression of first nation women in Canada can be related to Carl Marx’s concepts of “Alienation”, “Primitive Accumulation”, “Capitalism” and “Commodity Fetishism”; Weber’s concepts of “Bureaucracy” and "Class, Status, Party" and Durkheim’s concepts of "The Division of Labour in Society." These concepts relate to the oppression and discrimination that was imposed on the colonized states by the powerful colonizers and specifically in Canada. They will therefore draw a clear illustration of the oppression of the first nation women in Canada as a result of colonization and capitalism (Emile 1893: 31). The first nation women in Canada were vulnerable to numerous prejudices and oppressions which can be traced to colonial policies which discriminated and oppressed women. Colonization led to the introduction of “capitalism” which brought about the concept of money. This alienated the first nation people in Canada from their traditional institutions, marginalized and discriminated against women. When the Europeans conquered North America, they dominated the first class people imposing on them new ways of living. “Alienation” led to oppression and prejudice of women as a culture which was instilled into the first class people by the European settlers (Williams 1990: 1034). The introduction of factories and money led to “division of labour” where the first class people were used as slaves. Money propelled people to work hard and gain more which led us to the concept of “Primitive Accumulation” (Kelm and Lorne 2006: 52). Before the colonization, the first nation women were not discriminated against by the society. They were actively involved in the affairs of the community (Blair and Peggy 2005: 2). The society was democratic and allowed women to participate in economic, social and political activities and decision making processes which touched on their lives and those of their children. Colonization led to erosion of all social, economic and political freedom of first nation women and instead resulted to multiple prejudices such as class oppression, racism and gender violence (Jacobs 2000: 159). The first nation women in Canada continue to be oppressed despite the measures being put nowadays to ensure equality. A report issued by Amnesty International Canada revealed that, in the last decade, there were 520 reported cases of missing first nation women; some of them had been murdered. While 520 cases had been reported, the actual number must have been higher than that as most violence against women is mostly not reported. The report indicated that there is shocking violence against the first nation women in Canada which has its background on racism, gender and class oppression (Blair and Peggy 2005:8). The first nation women are poor and associated with the low class people and therefore the Canadians do not care about them, whether missing, abused, murdered or oppressed. Crimes committed against the first nation women are not taken with any seriousness as those committed to the white women in Canada. The Canadian government has also remained reluctant in implementing policies and efforts which will eradicate violence and oppression against first nation women completely (Manitoba 1999). The earlier mentioned theoretical concepts of Carl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim will be discussed in the following sections. Contribution of Marxs theory of Alienation The change in the role of women in Canada as a result of colonization is consistent with Marxs theory of Alienation. Marx recognized the concept of alienation to address the alien forces which dominated men and imposed their will on them as higher powers. Europeans brought to Canada their capitalist economy where major institutions in Canada such as education, the state, political, religion and society manifested forms of alienation. The coming of the settlers forced men to work in their factories in exchange for money. Money was the essence of alienation which drove men to work and it dominated them while they worshiped it. Men were alienated from their own self and from their own communities. Their values were eroded as the capitalist values of the Europeans were imposed on them. Everything was now being exchanged for money. The cultural values of the society were destroyed as the family norms disintegrated and the women were more and more confined into the houses while their men worked in the factories (Marx 2009: 25-44). The position held by the women in the traditional society was alienated. The women were viewed as the weaker sex and were overworked. They held no rights and laws formed were oppressive to the women. They were denied education and therefore could not compete with others in running the major institutions which required education. Their rights were ignored and the alienation of the whole society led to men confronting each other (Jamieson 1978:8). Mark frequently relates alienation to the concept of "fetishism of commodities," as a major criticism to capitalism. Marx introduces the alienation of worker from four dimensions in his life; his product, process of production, his species-being, fellow workers. Marx describes the concept of fetishism of commodities as economic alienation when the production of men relate with fellow men and with the entire human race. This implies that the workers were compared to economic products (Marx 2009: 27). Marx notion of "fetishism of commodities,” implies that men were fascinated by the money given from their labour which impaired their vision to the alienation they were going through. According to Marx, money and commodities brought by the Europeans were “fetishes” which constrained them from realizing that they were already divided and were being exploited by another class in their own country. Some women were left at home while other worked in the factories. The European settlers overworked and disgraced the women while some were exploited sexually. This eroded the moral beliefs of the people. Marx argues against the massive discrimination of women workers in labour under capitalism. He noted the subordinate position the women had been given after the capitalist impacts hit Canada. Marx noted that a woman had the potential to deliver the best results in all major institutions in the world as they had the capacity similar to that of men. The coming of money led to high standards of living which prompted some women to seek employment in the factories where there was a lot of discrimination. The discrimination of women on several social aspects was the basis for women engaging in prostitution and other immoral activities brought about by the western culture (Marx 2002: 23). Contribution of Webers theory Weber’s initial focus was the meaning in which human attribute to their actions and association with others within their social contexts. He was opposed to the abstract theory and he favored the sociological inquiry approach. Weber’s sociologist theory was both informative and explained causal relationships between actions of people and their interactions with others in their social contexts. He identified four ideal types of social actions which were value-rational action, means-ends rational action, affectual action and traditional action (Weber 1983: 36). Weber formulated a multidimensional theory which has stratification of the society into social classes, economic status and race. The class of the people determined their economic situation and the chances they got in the social contexts. The rich and the white people had the social honor as they were prestigiously wealthy. The stratification in the society is based on one party wishing to gain domination over others. Power and money are used as tools by the ruling class in this society to influence on the poor. The colonization of the northern America by the Europeans resulted into stratification of the society where the natives were viewed as insubordinates to the Europeans. The white had the power and the authority while the native obeyed their commands, this lead to division of classes which never existed in Canada before colonization. People started accumulating wealth for power. The native henceforth continued to be poor, uneducated and dependent on the commodities and the money brought by the Europeans as the Europeans capitalized on this weakness to impose their rule and domination on them (Weber 1983: 45-51). In his ideal types of legitimate authority, weber made insightful contributions to the study of obedience. While the rational-legal domination was installed by the rules and the law, the traditional authority was based on the beliefs established traditional practices. This implies that authority was legitimate when it was practiced the way it has always been practiced. The traditional authority was related to gerontocracy, feudalism, patriarchalism and patrimonialism while the Legal authority is related to bureaucracy. The traditional ideal types rendered a woman inferior to a man. A man was the head of the household while the woman was his subordinate. With the coming of colonization, the political, social and economic roles played by women traditionally were eroded as the Legal authority imposed rules which made women work in the households for free as the men worked in the factories for money. Women started being subordinate to their men and were no longer empowered by their capacity to be industrious as before (Weber 1968: 957). Weber held that rationalization was responsible for the transformation that had taken place in the world. People are transforming to the modern world in all spheres of the economy. He proposed the forms of rationality which are theoretical, formal, practical and substantive rationality. Formal and substantive rationalizations were propelled more by bureaucracy and capitalism. This type of rationalization had already taken shape in many spheres such as; religion, politics, law, the city and the economy. Weber illustrated rationalization mostly in religion and capitalism. He enquired into the ways in which religion ad capitalism are interrelated. He held that methodical religions aided in the spread of capitalism which was being practiced in the western world. On the other hand, other religions with economic ethics like the Hinduism and Confucianism in India and china opposed the spread of capitalism and such areas only received effects of capitalism later as it spread from other regions. In Canada, the Europeans were able to easily appeal to the masses as they presented them with money in an economy where their religion had no economic ethics. They were therefore not able to resist the effects until they were dominated completely (Weber 1983: 34). Contribution of Emile Durkheim Durkheim viewed the society in an evolutionary approach. The society was viewed an organism which had distinguished functions and structures. While Durkheim was not ignorant of the presence of people in the society and the roles they played in the society, he held that the society was not just made up of individuals whose behaviors, actions and thought impacted on the society but rather, the society was capable of existing on its own even without people in it. The society has the capacity of manipulating the individuals from their norms, the social facts, subjectivity and sentiments. The concept of “division of labour” refers to the stratification of the society where different members of the society performed diverse functions. The divergent of power brought about by the Europeans lead to division of the community into social classes with the wealthy settlers and the poor first nation. The wealthy people headed the factories and provided the wages as the natives worked as slaves and were exploited environmental. This is because the settlers exploited their own production with their own labour but paid them very little wages for their efforts (Emile 1893: 45). In his approach, Durkheim was concerned about the issue of social order and how the concept of individualism and autonomy of individuals would be manifested in the modern society. With the modernization of the society, Durkheim focused on how the society would reconcile freedom and morality. This issue presented a lot of challenges in Canada after influence from capitalism. The coming of capitalism took away the freedom of many people as they were under domination of the white settlers in their factories. Their exposure with the western culture and beliefs was manifested in the rise of prostitution and sexual inappropriate ion. This was highly immoral in the traditional Canadian society but become widely spread after colonization. Women started being seen as sexual objects of men. The exposure to western culture eroded the morals of the society as they were not able to reconcile it to their traditional beliefs and morals. This is because the division of the society was not able to consolidate the structures leading to disruption of both the societal and family norms (Emile 1893: 48). In closing, oppression of first nation women in Canada is attributed to colonization on Canada by the Europeans. They brought changes in the social, economic and political institutions which imposed changes which oppressed women and brought effects of capitalism to Canada. Carl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim theories and concepts are much relevant in relating the oppression of women in Canada as a result of colonization. As the effects of colonization and capitalism in Canada continue to oppress of first nation women, the solution would be to promote policies which prohibit discrimination, oppression and embrace diversity and equality. Bibliography Blair and Peggy. 2005. Rights of Aboriginal Women On- and Off-Reserve. Vancouver: The Scow Institute. Emile. 1893. The Division of Labor in Society; An Introduction to Four Major Works. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., Pp. 24-59. Jacobs. 2000. International Law/The Great Law of Peace. LL.M. thesis, University of Saskatchewan. Jamieson. 1978. Indian Women and the Law in Canada: Citizens Minus. Ottawa: Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Canada. Kelm and Lorne. 2006. In the Days of Our Grandmothers- A Reader in Aboriginal Women’s History in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Marx. 2009. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. I. The Process of Capitalist Production. Frederick Engels, Ernest Untermann, eds. 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