Towards a feminist global trade politics

ABSTRACT

Socially progressive globalization in a post-neoliberal era must recognize the centrality of gendered and other social hierarchies to the deeper workings of the global political economy and actively seek to dismantle them. In practice, this involves: (i) redefining the purpose of global trade in ways that value, prioritize and support progressive forms of social reproduction; (ii) centreing trade policy on a holistic understanding of the economy; and (iii) democratizing global trade relations. In this article, we outline a feminist International Political Economy theoretical perspective for understanding global trade, take stock of a range of gender and trade initiatives pursued by various trade actors and organizations to show where progressive reforms have already been taken and where these fall short, and make concrete suggestions on how to formulate trade policies in line with globalist, feminist prerogatives.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender
• trade
• feminist political economy
• global political economy
• liberalism
• reglobalization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We understand globalization to refer to any historical process marked by the existence of economic, political, social and cultural exchanges among different political communities across the world.

2 Ruggie (1982, p. 387) credits Polanyi (1944) with developing the distinction between ‘embedded’ and ‘disembedded’ economic orders.

3 Where trade rules are formulated to provide for a balancing exercise between trade flows and ulterior societal ends, as under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XX, they stipulate that those ulterior ends need to be pursued in ways that are least trade-restrictive.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) [grant number 430-2018-00349] and the SSHRC-Economic and Social Research Council Knowledge Synthesis [grant number 872-2018-0012].

Notes on contributors

Erin Hannah

Erin Hannah is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Adrienne Roberts

Adrienne Roberts is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of Manchester, UK.

Silke Trommer

Silke Trommer is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of Manchester, UK.