Globalization is a process by which different parts of the world are connected through the movement of people, resources, information, capital, and culture. Many see globalization as beneficial, while others think that the impacts of globalization have been very harmful, especially to indigenous people around the world. It also presents specifics issues from a gender perspective.
According to the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (n.d.), “the 20th Century ends as the world moves towards a new era characterized by a globally integrated economy, where decisions regarding production, consumption and other aspects of social relations increasingly includes transnational dimensions. Forces of globalization are real and their influences are felt everywhere. It entails free trade, free mobility of both financial and real capital, and rapid diffusion of products, technologies, information and consumption patterns…Because of gender inequalities and discrimination in all parts of the world, women can be affected negatively by globalization processes to a greater extent than men. On the other hand, there can be significant gains for women with globalization.”
Prior to completing work on this discussion, read
The Unhappy Marriage Between Gender and Globalization.
The Globalization chapter in Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology (Links to an external site.).
Then choose one of the following articles or chapters to read:
Chapter 13 in Gender and Globalization in Asia and the Pacific: Method, Practice, Theory
Globalization and Gendered Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa: Introduction
Stolen Lives or Lack of Rights?
Servants of Globalization: Migration and Domestic Work, Chapter 1
Talking about Gender, Globalization, and Labor in a Chinese Context
In your post,
Discuss the impact of globalization on gender roles.
Determine how globalization has impacted gender roles in the United States.
Determine how globalization has impacted gender roles in other cultures.
Identify why globalization has both a positive and a negative impact on women.
Explain why the impacts of globalization might be different in the US and in the culture discussed in the article you chose.
