FEMINISM GLOBALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

  FEMINISM GLOBALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

The essay will discuss how certain occurrences portrayed in Robert Strayer’s book affected aspects of humanity. The issues discussed in the article include energy/technological change, the rise of feminism, and globalization.

What is globalization? In simple terms, it’s the spike in trade activities that occurred in the aftermath of world war two and still takes place in the twenty-first century. World trade shot up from a measly seven billion dollars to figures rising above thirteen billion dollars between 1947 and 2007.¹ Originally, countries did not support the import and selling of foreign products. However, in the second half of the twentieth century, most malls and supermarkets around the world carried products ferried from around the globe. The mass movement wasn’t limited to the goods; people also moved around the world in search of jobs. Most Asians and Indians sought work in the United Kingdom, while former French colonies in Africa flooded France in search of jobs; Haitians went to the United States of America and so on.

The key to this economic growth was the rise of the Transnational Corporations, which facilitated trade between the countries. A good example is the famous Barbie doll (a product of Mattel Corporation) that got produced in factories around the world, such as; Indonesia, mainland China, and Malaysia. This development led to the sale of more than a billion dolls from Hong Kong distribution companies to over 150 nations around the globe before the end of the twentieth century

Globalization had both positive and negative results. The positive outcomes included; a rise in general output in the world, life expectancy rose around the globe, infant mortality rate took a nosedive, and the level of illiteracy decreased around the world. On the flip-side, the distribution of wealth was not equal as the big economies benefited more than the emerging economies. Globalization also led to various market crashes, such as the stock crash in 1973 due to the rapidly-rising oil prices. The Latin American countries had a financial meltdown in the 80s due to the large debts they incurred.

How did these developments affect feminism? First of all, feminism is the strive for the equality of both sexes, be it in the social capacity, political capacity, or economic capacity. In this period, not only did the cash, personnel, and goods move, but so did ideas transverse the borders. These ideas were mainly advocating for freedom. Feminism around the globe was affected in different ways during this period. Feminism in the United States of America and the Western part of Europe had fizzled out towards the end of the 20s. The movement got revived in the late 60s. French feminism, for example, gained momentum due to the publication of the book “The Second Sex” by Simone de Beauvoir^.3 This book acted as a template for their message to the world. American Feminism, on the other hand, was mainly constituted of women who worked in radical politics, or other similar avenues. It mainly attacked patriarchy, claiming that it kept men in control. Feminism in Africa and Latin America differed from the West. During this period, most of the countries in that region, especially Africa, were fighting for their independence. When these countries gained independence, women who attempted to fight for women’s rights got relegated to demeaning positions in society.  This factor led to the women in this region criticizing the western movement, claiming that it was only for self-interest, and failed to cater for motherhood. In Chile, this movement came up by accident. Most women allied to protest against their dictator of the time “General Augusto Pinochet.”⁴ This alliance brought together women of all classes, and backgrounds towards a common goal, as the movement transformed from a fight against to regime to a fight for equality at home. On the international scale, feminism registered a huge win in 1975, as immense pressure on the United Nations, led to it getting declared “the year of the woman.”⁵ The next decade was subsequently dedicated to the women, as well.

These developments also had effects on energy usage in the world. The clamor for the world to conserve the environment had its roots in the nineteenth century. The movement got spearheaded by activists such as William Wordsworth and William Blake. Industrialization, also, had a major burst in this century. It led to many people calling for environmental conservation. The second burst of this movement began in the 60s when Rachel Carson published her book titled “Silent Spring.”⁶ It exposed the contamination that threatened the survival of the human species. She criticized how the world had buried its head in the sand. This publication evoked emotions among the United States citizen, and it led to the birth of the movement. This initiative had become so serious, that, 14million adults had joined one of the numerous movements springing around the country.⁷ In Europe; Rome warned the world that industrialization needed to have a limit, or risk having resource exhaustion. The German’s, on the other hand, had a unique approach to this movement. They formed a political party known as the Green Party. This party represented their environmental concerns in the government, and it had a bearing on national politics. Their main gripe was with the use of nuclear energy. Rapidly, this movement took root in the developing countries in the 70s and 80s.

In contrast, the movements in this region got locally organized and had no large support across the countries, or from the national governments. It constituted mainly of the low-class society, as opposed to the comfortable middle class or high-class societies. Its main concern was about the food sufficiency in their respective regions. These movements led to worldwide lobbying by the United Nations regarding global warming towards the end of the twentieth century.

Conclusion

In the essay above, the developments that sprung across the world in the twentieth century had far-reaching effects on feminism, globalization, and energy use. These effects could be interpreted as positive or negative, depending on the perspective. Feminism got dealt a major boost in this, while environmental awareness sprung in this period, which is a positive.

References

Robert, Strayer: Ways of the World A Brief Global History with Sources. Bedford/St. Martins Publishers, 2016 (3^rd Edition).