Third World, Second Sex: Does Economic Development Enrich or Impoverish Women's Lives?

Course Description
What happens to women when societies "modernize" and industrialize their economies? Is capitalist economic development a step forward or a step backward for women in industrialized and developing countries? In this seminar we look at debates about how some trends in worldwide capitalist development affect women's status, roles and access to resources, and locate the debates in historical context. In the "global assembly line" debate we look at women's changing work roles. We ask whether women workers in textile and electronics factories gain valuable skills, power and resources through these jobs, or whether they are super-exploited by multinational corporations. In the population control debate, we ask whether population policies improve the health and living standards of women and their families or whether the main effect of these policies is to control women, reinforcing their subordinate positions in society. Other topics include the effects of economic change on family forms, the nature of women's work in the so-called "informal sector," and what's happening to women in the current worldwide economic crisis. We will use journal articles, short fiction, videos, and The Women Gender &amp; Development Reader to explore these issues. MCP, PRJ, REA, WRI