Gendering the inequality debate

Abstract

In the past 30 years, economic inequality has increased to unprecedented levels, and is generating widespread public concern among orthodox, as well as leftist and feminist, thinkers. This article explores the gender dimensions of growing economic inequality, summarises key arguments from feminist economics which expose the inadequacy of current mainstream economic analysis on which ‘development’ is based, and argues for a ‘gender and equality’ approach to economic and social policy in both the global North and South.

Au cours des 30 dernières années, les inégalités économiques se sont creusées pour atteindre des niveaux sans précédent et elles suscitent une préoccupation généralisée parmi les penseurs orthodoxes, ainsi que les penseurs de gauche et féministes. Cet article examine les dimensions relatives au genre des inégalités économiques croissantes, résume les arguments clés tirés de l’économie féministe qui révèlent le caractère inadéquat de l’analyse économique dominante actuelle sur laquelle se base le « développement », et soutient une approche « genre et égalité » des politiques économiques et sociales, tant dans l’hémisphère Nord que dans l’hémisphère Sud.

En los últimos 30 años la desigualdad económica se ha elevado a niveles sin precedentes, generando una amplia preocupación pública entre los intelectuales ortodoxos y de izquierda, así como también entre las intelectuales feministas. El presente artículo examina la dimensión de género en esta creciente desigualdad económica, resumiendo los principales argumentos que se plantean desde la perspectiva de la economía feminista. Éstos revelan la insuficiencia del análisis aportado desde la economía ortodoxa, sobre el cual se construye el “desarrollo”. Asimismo, el artículo aboga por la incorporación del enfoque de “género e igualdad” en las políticas socioeconómicas, tanto en el Norte como en el Sur.

Key words:

• gender inequality
• social norms
• austerity
• socially sustainable development

Notes

1 For example, the gang rape in Delhi which led to days of protest in India, but was also reported widely in the UK press and TV (Kabeer 2013).

2 By ‘equality policies’ I am referring to the continual presence of strategies for economic and social cohesion in the European Union as well as for gender equality since the original Treaty of Rome in 1958, though in practice commitment has varied.

3 Financialisation refers to ‘the increase in quantity, velocity and complexity of financial transactions in the global economy; the expansion of financial motives in the operation of the economy and the expanded power of financial interests’ (Fukuda-Parr et al. 2013, 8). This expansion has led to increasing instability in the global economy and increasing pressure for quick returns on investments which leads to a deterioration in working conditions.

4 See Diane Perrons (2014) for a fuller explanation.

5 The low pay can to some extent be attributed to the difficulties of increasing the productivity of caring for dependents, and corresponding tendency for costs to rise (Baumol 1967). Productivity is difficult to increase owing to the relational qualities of the work: that is, affective labour itself cannot be reduced without changing the actual character, content, and end result of the work. To illustrate this problem, William Baumol (1967) gave the example of trying to increase the productivity of a string quintet, that is a piece of music played by five players with stringed instruments. Just as speeding up the tune would change the quality of the music, likewise, expecting childminders to look after six, rather than four, children, undermines the attention and care each child can receive.

6 This change to finance has happened as finance increasingly takes on an immaterial form, such as financial derivatives and ‘collatorised debt obligations’ (CDOs) and the connection with any real assets declines. A collatorised debt obligation (CDO) is an asset-backed security that arises from the pooling of debt linked to bonds or mortgages, and the investors will be paid from the income arising from debt repayments. CDOs arise from the pooling of debt (for example from mortgages) and are used ‘as a platform for ever more speculative financial constructions that can be so complex they challenge empirical analysis, let alone moral evaluation’ (Sassen 2014, 117).