Globalization is a term used to describe the increasing interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations through the cross-border trade of goods and services, technology, investment flows, people, and information. Countries have been developing economic partnerships to facilitate these movements for centuries. However, the term gained popularity in the early 1990s after the Cold War, as these cooperative systems shape modern everyday life.
Over the past two decades, globalization has had a huge impact on the lives of women in Bangladesh and other developing countries. Globalization can be defined as a complex economic, political, cultural, and geographical process in which the mobility of capital, organizations, ideas, discourses, and people has taken on a global or transnational form. Global economic institutions are seen to facilitate Western culture and political norms and present them as models for the rest of the world while ignoring and marginalizing indigenous women’s movements in the South. Recent feminist philosophers have claimed that neo-liberalism prioritizes economic development, efficiency, and profit-making, as well as other values.
The current imperialist powers are also using the guise of globalization to implement their advancement in capitalism, using liberal economic illusions and attractive, marketable goods. Globalization is not only used to spread the flow of capital around the world but also to establish the dominance of capitalist philosophy in every political, social, and cultural field. Even the poisonous effects of globalization are plaguing education, culture, and the social sphere today. In contrast to the classical, healthy culture, the process of promoting consumerist product culture and promoting a culture of peddling is underway. Imperialist forces are trying to encircle the young generation in the grip of a distorted culture of sex and violence.
The real picture of the third world countries as a result of globalization is how the socio-economic status of the poorest of the poor and women are being disrupted – in which direction the social vulnerability of women is pushing them – all these issues are very important in the context of globalization.
The World Women’s Conference of BEIJING+5 has also said without unwillingness that benefits have been distributed unequally, as a result of which the economic gap has increased, the feminization of poverty has become more intense, and gender inequality has also increased – working conditions have deteriorated. Not only work but also the safety of the working environment has been disrupted.
According to a United Nations Development Fund for Women report (1997), the process of globalization over the past two decades has helped to exacerbate inequalities in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and in countries that are experiencing economic and social decline. The current era of globalization, such as in Eastern Europe, is linked to important political changes, such as the rise of identity politics, transnational civil society, new forms of governance, and the universalization of human rights. Regarding economic inequality, women are seen as being exploited by transnational corporations that coordinate their governments. Trade liberalization policies have led to the decline of small and subsistence farmers in developing and least developed countries as Western countries sell heavily subsidized agricultural products to developing or least developed countries. As a result, many women farmers who have been displaced from their land have sought employment in export processing zones in their own countries at lower wages than men.
The exploitation of women in this sector denies women workers the right to representation, unionization, and compensation. Regarding the issue of foreign aid (FDA), many poor countries have been forced to accept it as a condition for borrowing money from institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In this regard, FDAs have had a negative impact on women, particularly in developing countries. For example, the reduction of publicly funded health care, education, and childcare has contributed to maternal mortality, and the introduction of school fees has made education inaccessible to poor children, especially girls in developing countries.
Regarding migration, globalization has created labor demand patterns that inherently favor short-term, temporary employment. As a result, short-term contractual labor migration appears to be on the rise, with distinct gender-discriminatory consequences. Migrant women from developing countries are increasingly being trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Both legal and illegal migrants are subject to human rights violations. Finally, regarding the impact of globalization on democracy and governance, feminist philosophers argue that neoliberalism has not increased women’s political influence overall, especially at the level of world politics, because global economic institutions are underrepresented. At the policy level, the impact of globalization on women and gender relations remains largely ignored nationally and internationally. Yet more needs to be done to integrate gender equality dimensions into their ideological, policy, and operational work to ensure the continued leadership of the system in promoting gender equality, development, and peace in the context of globalization.
The dilemma faced by feminist activists participating in the global feminist movement is that mass-based revolutionary movements have been largely replaced by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) funded by a few countries in the North. As a result, women rely on NGO-led projects to lead risky projects to promote gender justice globally. In conclusion, both public and private actors need to take a comprehensive strategic stance to address the issues related to globalization and its impact on women in developing countries.
Naresh Madhu
Journalist