A woman's worth: accounting for women in the global market.

• Author: Berry, Megan

The manipulation of women's issues as an ideological and political resource in the Third Worm nationalist history commonly develops ... into the manipulation of women themselves as a socio-economic resource in Third World nation states. (2)

1. INTRODUCTION

   Globalization is increasingly shaping the goals and methods of international actors in all realms of interaction: social, cultural, political, economic, etc. (3) The term "globalization" has many definitions, but perhaps the most succinct is that globalization is "the growing integration of economies and societies around the world." (4) As economies and societies become more interdependent, the problems of developing countries become more intertwined with the conduct of developed countries and, therefore, require mutual effort to minimize. Minimizing the problems of developing nations requires creating and implementing programs and policies that promote sustainable development. (5)

   It is widely acknowledged that sustainable development cannot be achieved without investing in women and reducing the inequalities faced by women in both developed and developing nations. (6) The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has observed that trade, being the most important form of globalization, can have significant implications for gender equality. (7) Additionally, globalization tends to be more harmful to women than men because women are more likely to be targets of illegal labor practices such as low wages, sexual harassment, and resistance to unionization. (8)

   This paper will focus primarily on the harmful effects economic globalization (9) has had on women in Africa as a result of various international and regional trade agreements and economic unions. (10) While there has been positive progress in recognizing the important role women play in the global economy and in economic development, there is a persistent gap between policy and practice. Without the ability to rely on the rights they have been promised, women will not be able to reach their full potential as individuals or help their countries to reach their full potential as nations. Investing in women and accounting for them and the work they do may improve the current generation's lives only marginally, but it will provide the catalyst for improving the lives of this generation's daughters and granddaughters and great-granddaughters, thereby enhancing those women's contributions to their countries' economic progress and sustainable development.

   Section one provides a brief history of women's status in Africa as a basis for analyzing how this status has changed from the pre-colonial period, through colonization and into today's post-colonial societies. Section two will then present an overview of the empirical data available on the reality African women face as a result of economic globalization. The third section of this discussion analyzes a number of human rights agreements, international and regional institutions and agreements, and the role of governments in promoting and protecting women's rights. The final section discusses the steps that have been taken, are being taken, and still need to be taken to improve women's capacity to participate in the global economy and contribute to sustainable development.

2. A BRIEF HISTORY OF AFRICAN WOMEN

   Because women's status and duties varied from region to region in precolonial African societies, it is inaccurate to say that all African women shared the same experience. For example, in some societies, like the Tswana and Shona, women were essentially legal minors; while in other societies, like the Mende and Serbro, women could become chiefs. (11) Regardless of their pre-colonial status, it is generally accepted that the process of colonization resulted in women losing rights they previously held. (12) Colonialism produced a detrimental intersection of African patriarchy and Western ideology regarding the subservient role of women. (13)

   For example, pre-colonial Igbo women and men were by no means equals, but there was a level of respect inherent in the recognition of their separate spheres of rights and duties. (14) Women's status was independent of their husbands' status. In this pre-colonial society, as was common in many pre-colonial African societies, women's concerns and grievances were given voice through strong female institutions and marketing networks. These parallel authority structures enabled women to defend their rights and retain a level of autonomy in their societies. (15)

   The European colonists failed to appreciate, or chose to ignore, the delicate balance of these parallel structures. Instead they viewed African society through a European lens and proceeded to impose gendered roles on men and women. (16) These imposed roles were not always accepted and, by and large, served to dissolve the traditional social fabric of the Africans' lives. (17) For example, in Nigeria men were selected and trained to work in wage-earning positions with the railroads while women were taught modern methods of homemaking and childrearing. (18) Despite this, women often continued to engage in the more traditional Yoruba practice of trading in order to continue to contribute to their families' well-being. (19) Conversely, colonialism in Kenya forced Kikuyu and Kamba women to engage in trading and marketing practices as early as the mid-nineteenth century, which was a relatively unusual practice for this traditionally patrilineal and patrilocal society. (20) Although such shifts in social patterns evidence the impact of colonialism, the brunt of colonialism's imposed prejudicial system is most evident in two ways: provision of access to resources and the codification of traditional, or customary, law.

   In an attempt to integrate African societies into the global capitalist economy, agriculture was commercialized. This commercialization had a tendency to disadvantage women, the primary food producers, more than men. (21) First, agricultural commercialization meant the introduction of cash crops and new methods of farming, which were taught almost exclusively to men while women continued to produce subsistence crops. Second, educational opportunities were primarily available to men, meaning women were not provided with access to the same skills and resources as men and were consequently barred from jobs in the colonial administration. (22) Finally, men were forced into the wage economy through work on plantations, in the mines, or in towns while women remained in the rural areas. (23)

   The codification of customary law served to promote and institutionalize these inequalities. Customary law is by nature an oral form of law, passed on by word of mouth in communities; therefore, any attempt to codify or record it will be limited by the static nature of this process. The customary practices were based on ensuring order and norms in the best interest of the entire community. As such, customary practices were not strict, unchangeable rules but rather a set of malleable guidelines inclusive of tradition but also reflective of the changing values and beliefs of the community at that time. (24) In today's society there are at least two forms of customary law: official and living. (25) The living law consists of those nebulous, flexible, changing practices actually observed by African communities. The official law is the attempted codification of these practices relied on by courts and other state organs. (26) Because the official law is written down and recorded, it is less susceptible to change and less reflective of the true customary practices of a given community. (27) The official version of customary law has also been criticized as having been "invented"; that is, it describes less the practices people were actually observing at the time of codification and more what the colonial government thought they should be doing. (28)

   This tendency to impose Western or Northern values on African societies through law continues today. Despite the good intentions supporting many international treaties and agreements, modern attempts to introduce laws based on international norms largely ignore cultural practices, thereby continuing a pattern of neglect toward domestic values in post-colonial societies. (29) In many countries, independence did not always bring the expected positive revolution of economic and political structures. In fact, despite African women's integral contributions to many of the independence struggles, (30) many newly independent African nations retained the same colonial structures and institutions that created and contributed to women's subordination. (31)

3. OVERVIEW OF AVAILABLE DATA ON GENDER AND TRADE

   Women do two-thirds of the world's work, receive 10% of the world's income and own 1% of the means of production. (32) Women comprise roughly 70% of the world's poor. (33) In 2002, women constituted 40% of the world's total economically-active population and carried out about 70% of the informal work in developing countries. (34) Unfortunately, women's actual and potential economic capacity generally goes under- or unaccounted for in policy decisions. (35) In this manner, women are considered as a means to an end in products of trade, rather than as ends in and of themselves. (36)

   Global trade and investment tend to favor large companies rather than small and micro entrepreneurs, such as women working in the informal sector of the economy. (37) While trade tends to increase the availability of wage jobs for women, numerous other factors counteract that increased availability, which results in women remaining unable to benefit from the trade expansion. (38) UNCTAD notes that social norms linked to the traditional functions of men and women, both within the home and in the workplace, are the root causes of gender inequality. (39) These social norms directly and significantly impact women's ability to access the necessary...