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| Devaki Jain |
The sections authored by Elson, Seguino, Benería, Otobe, Castañeda, and Gammage delve into contemporary development trends. Fall and Jain, on the other hand, center their discussions on issues tied to market-driven agricultural development, specifically in sub-Saharan Africa and India. These chapters collectively unveil shortcomings within prevailing development paradigms and advocate for comprehensive economic policy changes. The authors emphasize the need to go beyond mere restoration of “normalcy” post recent crises. Elson underscores the importance of reconceptualizing development, highlighting the significance of social investment, production, and consumption. Her argument revolves around forging a socially equitable economy that safeguards individual rights over collectively owned resources. This vision involves decentralized, democratic, and egalitarian tax and expenditure systems, supporting diverse production methods, and regulating to prevent adverse spillover effects, all grounded in human rights principles.
Seguino’s analysis focuses on how neoliberal macroeconomic policies since the early 1970s have eroded dignified work, security, and inter-group equality. She targets the financial sector liberalization and central bank shifts away from employment creation as contributors to these issues, advocating for policy reform within these realms. Benería delves into labor market challenges, critiquing the informal economy’s reliance on cheap labor without providing decent work. She goes beyond conventional support for women in the informal sector, arguing for macroeconomic policies that integrate improved labor conditions. Her goal is to reshape labor markets for achieving gender equality.
Otobe explores globalized work’s gender dimensions and calls for economic recovery programs benefiting the working poor, not just major banks. Castañeda and Gammage delve into climate change’s effects on access to essential resources, pointing out gender-based disparities in adaptation and mitigation efforts. They emphasize local knowledge utilization for ecosystem conservation and critique gender biases in policy measures. Fall’s assessment of market-driven agricultural and water policies in Africa unveils their impact on food and water access, highlighting the need for policy changes, including the removal of subsidies benefiting wealthy farmers.
Jain, Monsod, Hara, Chen, and Núñez Sarmiento reflect on gender equality challenges in development. Jain analyzes India’s economic success through the lens of food security, suggesting proximate production systems led by women as a solution. Monsod highlights the importance of recognizing women’s economic contributions and unpaid work in GDP calculations. Hara discusses women’s organizations’ efforts in Japan, while Chen examines gender norms in China’s rapid economic development. Núñez Sarmiento focuses on Cuba’s achievements and challenges, particularly regarding women’s labor market participation.
The final three chapters, by Jhabvala, McFadden, and Silliman, emphasize feminist mobilization for equality. Jhabvala illustrates the potential of collective organizing for informal women workers, acknowledging scaling challenges. McFadden calls for African feminists to reclaim political agency amid conservative influences. Silliman explores “progressive masculinities” as a resource for women’s struggles, advocating for a broader perspective on gender justice.
Collectively, these chapters present alternative strategies to address limitations in current development paradigms, striving for a more just and egalitarian world.
Key Public Policy Alternatives:
Reforms in Economic Reasoning
Designing policies for fair, just, and sustainable economies will be hard without changing how we think about economics. Right now, policymakers mainly focus on things like making more money (GDP) and stock market values. But we should also look at things that show how well people are really doing, like fewer hungry people and more jobs. The way we’ve been thinking about policy for the past 40 years doesn’t care much about making things equal for everyone. It’s mostly about getting the most stuff out of what we have. But we need to think about how things are shared too. We need to think about how inequality (not just in opportunities, but in outcomes too) affects us all. And we should think about everything involved, not just what we buy and sell. This idea is catching on for things like pollution and natural resources, but not yet for work done at home and in communities, and the things that work makes happen. Maybe we should start looking at every new project and see if it will make unpaid work less or more. When we talk about poverty, we need to look beyond just
Growth That “Bubbles Up” Rather Than “Trickles Down”
Getting rid of poverty can actually help the economy grow in a way that benefits everyone, not just a few rich people. Instead of only looking at how much money we make, we should also think about things like having enough food and jobs for everyone. Right now, the way we think about growing the economy doesn’t care about making things fair for everyone. It mostly helps rich people make more money. But we need to make sure everyone gets a fair share, and that means giving people decent jobs and enough money to live well. Just having jobs isn’t enough. We should focus on making sure everyone can earn a fair amount and have the things they need.
When it comes to farming, we need to change how we do things. Big companies are taking over, and that’s hurting small farmers and making it hard for them to earn a living. Especially for women farmers, things need to change. They work hard but don’t always get recognized or treated fairly. We should help them with things like training, good prices for their crops, and making sure they have rights to their land.
In industries and factories, we should make things that last and are good for everyone, not just things that make money. We also need to think about how we use things like cars, which can harm the environment and make life harder for people who can’t afford them. We should rethink how we use water and energy too, so everyone can have access to them.
It’s also important to think about all the work that people do at home, like taking care of family and doing chores. This work should be valued and shared equally between men and women. We need better ways to support families and take care of each other. Everyone should have time for themselves and for their loved ones.
Making these changes might look different in each country, but we need to rethink how we use money, taxes, markets, and other important things. Women have shown us many good ideas for making things more fair, and we can learn from them to create a better world for everyone.
Socially Useful Banking and Finance, at Macro as well as Micro Levels
“Socially useless” banking needs to be replaced by “socially useful” banking. We need to change how banks work so they help people and society, not just make money for a few. Women have shown that small savings groups and cooperative banks can be helpful in neighborhoods. This idea should be applied to all banks, big and small. Some experts have suggested better rules for regular banks, like keeping safe money separate from risky trading. But we should also encourage big banks that work for the good of both the people who put money in and the people who borrow, not just to make profits for owners.
Central banks, which are like the boss of all the banks, should focus on creating jobs and not just on keeping prices steady. They should make plans to create jobs and continue helping the economy grow after crises until things are better. Some countries already have banks that help with development, especially in the South, but we should make sure women can get loans just like men.
To make sure banks help people, we should control the fast moving money that goes in and out of our country. Governments can do this by putting limits on how much money can come and go quickly. This will make our economy more stable and help us create good jobs. Some countries like Malaysia and Brazil have already done this and it worked well. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should also support these ideas, instead of telling countries to keep a lot of foreign money just in case. It’s like making drivers buy more insurance instead of making safer roads with traffic lights.
Just and Democratic Public Finance
To make banks helpful and fair, we also need fair and democratic government money management. This means making sure taxes are fair and the money is spent equally, with people’s input. Women who study, fight for, and work in government budgets have tried to make them better for 16 years. They’ve had some success in giving women a voice and making budgets help with women’s needs, especially in local areas. But they haven’t fully looked at how taxes can be changed fairly for everyone, how much money should be spent, and when it’s okay to have debts. These things decide how much money can be used where women have a say, like in local communities. The next step is working together to make bigger changes.
Taxes should be fair for everyone, not just some groups. Many big companies and banks pay less and less taxes, using tricks to avoid paying their share. Governments need more money, so stopping these tricks is important. Instead of just asking for tax breaks for women’s businesses, feminists should join campaigns for fair taxes at national and international levels. Some progress has been made, but we need to keep pushing for change.
When there’s a crisis, governments might spend more money to help the economy. But now, in many countries, they want to cut spending to fix debts. We need to question whether cutting spending is the only option and remind governments that smart spending can actually help the economy. But we should also be careful that the money is used in the right ways, so women and low-income people should have a say in how it’s used.
Socially Responsible Markets and Fair Trade
Markets are important for a fair economy if they are fair themselves and balance competition and cooperation. Some markets, both within countries and around the world, are controlled by big businesses that take most of the money, leaving less for the people who make and buy things. But many women’s groups have experience with markets where producers and consumers work together directly for everyone’s benefit. They do this by selling things face-to-face in local markets or online, using the internet. We need to make these types of markets bigger and encourage retailers and distributors that help everyone, not just make profits.
When it comes to international trade, we need better rules. Opening up trade can hurt people’s jobs and lives if they’re not prepared. We should have plans in place to help those who lose their jobs because of trade, and we need trade agreements that treat businesses fairly. It’s like how we treat women and men differently to make sure everyone is treated fairly, even though they’re not the same. In the same way, countries should be able to help their own businesses grow before they’re forced to compete with bigger, more developed countries.
Support for Equitable Property Rights
A fair and equal economy needs everyone to have a fair share of ownership and use of things like land and resources. This doesn’t just mean owning things, but also being able to use them and make decisions about them. This can happen by giving more people the right to own land and helping small businesses. It also means supporting groups like cooperatives, where people work together, and making sure women have the same rights as men.
Just saying you own something isn’t enough. People also need access to things like services, roads, and money. They need contracts to sell things to the government, and they need to work together. Most people’s main “property” is their ability to work. So, we also need to make sure people’s rights at work are strong, and that they can work together to make things better. Women have been leading the way in creating new ways for workers to come together, including both formal and informal workers.
Economic and Social Rights as an Objective of Economic Policy
A good way to change economic policy to make things fair, just, and sustainable is to focus on making sure everyone has the rights they need to live well. Governments have a responsibility to make sure people have important things like food, healthcare, and education. This is a rule called the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). But many finance ministers, who are in charge of money, don’t think about these rights. They might believe that if the economy grows, everything will be okay. However, recent crises with money, food, and fuel have shown that this isn’t true.
Finance ministers need to start paying attention to these rights. If a country has lots of people who can’t get enough food or healthcare, it’s not following the ICESCR rules. Even when there isn’t a lot of money, countries have to make sure that basic rights are protected for the most vulnerable people. This means they can’t make decisions that make things worse on purpose. For example, cutting money for important services like healthcare and education while spending a lot on weapons would be a problem.
During times of crisis, like the recent ones we’ve seen, the rights to things like food, work, a good standard of living, and social security become even more important. These rights can’t be fully achieved overnight, but progress can be made step by step, focusing on those who need them the most. New laws can be created to make sure these rights are protected and available to everyone, including women.
Conclusion
The financial crisis might not be as intense as before, but the need for new ideas remains. Some developing countries in Latin America and Asia had slower economic growth, and a few, like Brazil, China, and India, became more influential. However, despite this shift in global power, old policies are still being used. This book doesn’t have all the answers, but it emphasizes the importance of feminist thinking and women’s input in shaping new ideas for a fairer and more sustainable future. There isn’t just one way to achieve fair and sustainable development, but women’s groups around the world are already working towards it. Clear goals are helpful, but they need to be part of a bigger vision of what development should be.
