Bf01298417] Ananta Kumar Giri -- The Dialectic Between Globalization and Localization- Economic...

7/27/2019 Bf01298417] Ananta Kumar Giri -- The Dialectic Between Globalization and Localization- Economic Restructuring, Women and Strategies of Cultural Reprodu

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T H E D I A L E C T I C B E T W E E N G L O B A L I Z A T I O N A N DL O C A L I Z A T I O N : E C O N O M I C R E S T R U C T U R I N G , W O M E NA N D S T R A T E G I E S O F C U L T U R A L R E P R O D U C T I O N

A n a n t a K u m a r G i r iA n a n t a K u ma r G i r i i s o n t h e f a c u l t y o f t h e M a d r a s I n s ti t u te o f De v e l o p m e n t S t u d ie s ,A d y a r , M a d r a s , I n d i a .

Technological change is a factor in women's l ives everywhere in theworld . This holds t rue whether one is referr ing to rural women inThi rd W or ld coun t r ies o r wo me n f rom c iti es o f the mos ttechnologically advanced countries. In an African village, introducinga water pum p m ay save wom en hours o f heavy labor, but al l too of tenit is found that new techniques and technologies such as tractors,supplied through international aid projec ts, bene fi t m en as a sex andrem ove from wo m en tradi tional sources of income-generating wo rk.

Cynthia Coc kburn 1The expert /non-expert polar i ty (of technocracy) thus correspondsinternationally to the core /perip hery distinctions, with corollarypolarizations of m ale/fem ale and white/non-white. The shape ofinternational industrialism is the refo re shaped by capitalism,patriarchy, and colonialism . . . . A predominantly you ng, non-whiteand female workforce executes product ion which is conceptual izedthousands o f miles awa y.

Be verly Burris 2The con t inu ing emphas i s on expor t - led ag r icu l tu re m os t ly ignores theresource req uirem ents of mil l ions of subsis tence farm ers w hose ne edsare no t sa t i s f ied th rough the mec han ism o f the marke t . S ince scarceland , water , c red i t and techno logy are be ing p reem pted to the expor tsec to r , poor fa rmers l ack ing f inanc ia l means and techn ica l suppor t ,overexp loi t the natural resource base, including ma rginal areas , to ekeou t a l iv ing . T he resu l t has been tha t the capac i ty o f the con t inen t tofeed i t s e lf ha s b een s e r io u s ly h am p ered . Fan tu C h e ru 3

T h e e c o n o m i c a r r a n g e m e n t o f a ll s o c ia l sy s t e m s is n o w i n t h e m i d s to f a f u n d a m e n t a l r e s t r u c t u r i n g , n e c e s s i t a t e d b y th e c r i s i s in d o m i n a n t

Dialectical Anthropology 20: 193-216 , 1995.9 1995 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.


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194e c o n o m i e s a n d b u r e a u c r a t i c re g u l a t i o n o f p r o d u c t i o n , d i s t r ib u t i o n a n de x c h a n g e . E c o n o m i c r e s t r u c t u r in g i s m e a n t to f r e e t h e e c o n o m y f r o mt h e s h a c k l e s o f t h e s ta t e a n d c r e a te m o r e o p p o r t u n it ie s f o r p r o d u c e r sa s w e l l a s c o n s u m e r s . C o n t e m p o r a r y e c o n o m i c r e s t r u c tu r i n g , w h i c hh a s e m e r g e d i n a d v a n c e d i n d u s tr ia l s o c i e ti e s i n t h e c o n t e x t o f e c o n o m i cand po l i t ic a l c r i s i s , i s no w i n a pha se o f g l oba l d i f fu s i on . F ac i l it a t ed byt h e r e v o l u t i o n a r y m a n i f e s t a ti o n o f n e w t e c h n o lo g i e s i n t h e w a k e o f ap o s t - i n d u s t ri a l t r a n s f o r m a t i o n , it is c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y th e b r e a k d o w n o ft h e s t a n d a r d i z e d r e g i m e o f m a s s p r o d u c t i o n a n d th e ri s e o f " f le x i b l es p e c i a l i z a t i o n , " 4 b y a f u n d a m e n t a l s t r e s s o n i n c r e a s i n g p r o d u c t i o n a n de n h a n c i n g e f f ic i e n c y , a n d b y g l o b a li z a ti o n o f p r o d u c t i o n , d i s t ri b u t i o n ,a n d e x c h a n g e . I t v a l o r i z e s a p a r t i c u l a r m o d e o f p r o d u c t i o n a n d s o c ia lr e p r o d u c t i o n , t h a t i s , t h e in d u s t r i a l a n d p o s t - i n d u s t r i a l m o d e w h i c h ,b a s e d u p o n " v a l o r i z a t i o n o f C a p i ta l , ' '5 p r o m o t e s a c u l tu r e o fc o n s u m p t i o n . A r c h i te c t s o f s u c h e c o n o m i c r e s tr u c t u r in g p r o m o t eg l o b a l i n t e g r a t io n o f o u r s o c ia l e c o n o m i e s b u t a r e b l in d to t h e p r o b l e mof a r ti cu l a t i on , e spec i a l ly t he a r t i cu l a ti on o f " l e s s f am i l i a r s tr a t eg i e s o fs o c i a l p r o d u c t i o n " w i t h i n " w o r l d e c o n o m i c a n d p o li ti ca l a s w e l l a sc u l t u ra l p r o c e s s e s . " 6 E c o n o m i c r e s t ru c t u r i n g v e r y o f t e n l e a d s tod e s t r u c t i o n o f s e lf - s u b s i s te n t f o r m s o f l iv e l ih o o d . I n t e g r a t i o n w i t h th eg l o b a l m a r k e t h a s m e a n t t h e e r a s u r e o f t h e l es s f a m i l ia r s tr a te g i e s o fw h a t A l a i n T o u r a i n e c a l ls " s e l f - p r o d u c t i o n o f s o c i e ty . ,,7

B u t t h e k e y q u e s t i o n h e r e i s c a n t h e W e s t e r n s t y l e o f l i f e b eu n i v e r s a li z e d ? W o u l d o u r g l o b e s u r v i v e i f t h e c o n t e m p o r a r y p a t t e r n o fc o n s u m p t io n p r e v a l e n t in W e s t e r n E u r o p e a n d N o r t h A m e r i c a isu n i v e r s a l i z e d ? T h e u r g e n c y o f t h is q u e s t io n p r o v i d e s a c h a l le n g e t op r e s e r v e m u l ti p le s t ra t e g ie s o f p r o d u c t i o n a n d r e p r o d u c t i o n n o t o n l yf o r t h e s u r v i v a l o f c u l tu r a l e n c l a v e s b u t a ls o f o r t h e l o n g - t e r m i n te r e s tso f h u m a n i t y a n d th e e n v i r o n m e n t . I t c a l ls f o r c r i ti c a l re f l e c t i o n b yan t h ro po l og i s t s on t he d i a lec t i c be t w een l oca l i za ti on and g l oba l i za ti on , 8a n d o n th e " f u n c t i o n i n g a n d c a p a b il it ie s " o f c o n t e m p o r a r y e c o n o m i cr e s t r u c t u r i n g . 9 T h i s a r ti c le a i m s f o r a c r i t ic a l e x a m i n a t io n o f t h e i m p a c to f g l o b a l e c o n o m i c r e s t r u c t u r i n g o n v u l n e r a b le f o r m s o f l if e a n ds e c t i o n s o f s o c i e t y w i t h s p e c i f i c r e f e r e n c e t o t h e p r e d i c a m e n t o fw o m e n . I t t r a c e s th e tr a j e c t o r y o f t h e " d i s p e r s i o n " o f t h e g l o b a le c o n o m y i n m u l t i p le c o u n t r ie s a n d c o m m u n i t ie s - - b o t h t he a d v a n c e da n d th e te c h n o l o g ic a ll y b a c k w a r d - - a n d i n m u l t ip l e s p a c e s a n d b o d i e s.


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I t s p e c i f i ca l l y f o c u s es o n t h e c o n d i t io n o f w o m e n ' s w o rk , t h e i rp r e d i ca m e n t s a n d d r e a m s , i n th e " e m e r g e n t te c h n o c r a c y . " l ~ W h i l el o o k i n g in t o th e v u l n e r a b i l it y o f w o m e n i n o u r g l o b a l iz e d e c o n o m y , i ts e e k s t o e x p l o r e h o w w e c a n p r e s e rv e a n d u n i v e r s a l i z e l e s s f a m i l i a rs t r a t e g i e s o n s o c i a l r e p ro d u c t i o n b y u n i v e r s a l i z i n g t h e f e m i n i n ep r i n c ip l e o f "S h a k t i " i n th e f a ce o f t h e p o w e r o f th e n e w e c o n o m y a n di ts g loba l ons laugh t .

Con temporary Eco nom ic RestructuringC o n t e m p o ra ry a d v a n c e d i n d u s t r ia l so c i et ie s ar e i n t h e m i d s t o f a n

a l l -encompass ing econom ic re st ruc tu r ing w hich two sens it ive obse rve rso f o u r c o n t e m p o ra ry s c e n e h a v e c h a ra c t e r i z e d a s t h e "G re a t U -Tu rn . "11 Th i s eco nom ic re s t ruc tu r ing , f ac i l it a t ed by the e vo lu t iona rym a n i f e s t a t i o n o f n e w t e c h n o l o g i e s , h a s g i v e n r i se t o a n e w r e g i m e o ff l ex ib le p rodu c t ion , d i s t ribu t ion and exchange . The econo m ic reces s ionof the advanced cap i t a l i s t soc ie t i e s in the 1970s c rea ted a s t ruc tu ra lc o n t e x t f o r t h e d e r e g u l a t i o n o f t h e F o rd i s t m o d e o f s t a n d a rd i z e dprod uc t ion and the r i s e o f f lex ib le spec ia l iza tion . As one com m enta to rt e l l s us : "Under ve r t i ca l d i s in teg ra t ion , f i rms t end to spec ia l i ze int y p e s o f c l a s s e s o f p ro d u c t i o n r a t h e r t h a n i n p ro d u c t i o n o f l a rg equant i t ies o f spec i f ic output , as in mass prod uct ion . Th e essence of thef i rm becom es f l ex ib le spec ia li za tion ."12 Fo r M ichae l P io re and Char le sSabel , new techn ologies m ake "f lexib le spec ia l iza t ion" a c ruc ia l sec toro f m anu fac tu r in g in the advan ced indus t r i a l coun t r i e s . 13 F lex ib lespec ia l iza t ion requ i re s f l ex ib i l ity in o rgan iza t ion and p rod uc t ion - -b o thi ts c o n c e p t u a l i z a t io n a n d e x e c u t i o n - - a n d q u i c k l e a rn i n g o f n e w s k il lst o c o p e w i t h t h e c h a l l e n g e o f n e w t e c h n o l o g i e s . I n t h e r e g i m e o ff l ex ib le spec ia li za tion , p ro duc t ion worke rs m us t be so b roa d ly sk i l l edt h a t t h e y m a y q u i c k ly sh i ft j o b s . M o r e o v e r , " . . . w i t h i n a sy s te m o ff l ex ib le spec ia li za tion , f i rms depend on one an o the r fo r the sha r ing o fs k i l ls , t e c h n i c a l k n o w l e d g e , i n fo rm a t i o n o n o p p o r t u n i t ie s , a n dde f in i t ions o f s t anda rds . S t ruc tu re he re shades in to in f ra s t ruc tu re ,com pe t i t ion in to co -op e ra t ion , and econo m y in to soc ie ty . " 14 P io re andSabe l fu r the r te l l u s : " In m ass p rod uc t io n i t i s the f i rm tha t o rgan izesre sea rch , r ec ru i t s l abor , and gu a ran tees the f low o f supp li e s and c red i t.


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196In f l e x i b le s p e c i a li z a t io n it i s c o m m u n i t y i n s t i t u t i o n s - - t h e c o m m u n i t yi t s e l f - - t h a t a r e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e se t a s k s . " 15

W h i l e P i o r e a n d Sa b e l a r e o p t i m i s t i c a b o u t t h e p o s s i b i l i t y f o rp ro s p e r i t y i n t h i s e m e rg e n t r e g i m e o f f l e x i b l e s p e c i a l i z a t i o n , o t h e rs c h o la r s h a v e s e n s it i ze d u s t o t h e d e s t ru c t io n o f c o m m u n i t i es t h a t h a st a k e n p l a c e a s i ts c o n s e q u e n c e . To b e g i n w i t h t h e l e v e l o f th e f i rm ,f l e x i b l e s p e c i a l i z a t io n a n d i ts s t re s s o n h i g h t e c h m e d i a t ed w o rk isl e a d i n g t o t h e d i s i n t e g ra t i o n o f th e " i n t e rn a l l a b o r m a rk e t " o findus t r ie s . 16 As Th ie r ry N oye l l e t e ll s us , "T he new emphas i s on h igh-sk i l led work and w e l l - tra ined l abor i s pa r t ly re spons ib le fo r the recen td e c l i n e i n t h e ro l e o f th e l a b o r m a rk e t a n d t h e i n c r e as i n g r e l ia n c e o ff i rms on the ex te rna l l abo r m arke t . " 17 Th i s dec l ine o f the s ign i f i canceo f t h e " i n t e rn a l l a b o r m a rk e t " o f fi rm s i s b e i n g a c c o m p a n i e d b y t h er i s e o f p a r t -t i m e w o rk a n d a n i n fo rm a l e c o n o m y . 18 A c c o rd i n g t o o n ec o m m e n t a t o r , "U n e m p l o y m e n t d u e t o s t r uc t ur a l ( t ec h n o lo g i ca l ) c h a n g eo f e c o n o m i c f a c to r s u n d e r m i n e t h e " l if e lo n g " i n te g r a ti o n o f t h eo c c u p a t i o n a l s y s t e m t h a t h a s c h a ra c t e ri z e d m a l e o c c u p a t i o n a l c a r e e rss in c e W o r l d W a r I I . T h u s , t h e i n d i v id u a l ' s m o v e m e n t t h r o u g h th eo c c u p a t i o n a l s y s t e m i s g r a d u a l l y l o s i n g i ts h i g h l y s t a n d a rd iz e d fo rm .Th e r a p i d l y d e c r e a s i n g h a l f - l i fe o f t h e u s a b i li t y o f a c q u i r e d e x p e r t is eg ives r i s e to shor t - t e rm w ork pe rspec tives and induces a re l a t ive ly lowd e g re e o f c a l c u l a b i l i ty a n d p r e d i c t a b i l i t y . " 19

Th e d i s o rg a n i z a t i o n o f t h e p r e v i o u s l y s t a n d a rd i z e d fo rm i n t h e l i feo f b o t h t h e a c t o r s a n d i n s ti t u ti o n s t h a t e c o n o m i c re s t ru c tu r i n g h a sb ro u g h t a b o u t i s a l s o b e i n g a c c o m p a n i e d b y t h e d e c l i n e o f t h em a n u fa c t u r in g s e c to r ( f o r in s t a n c e , i n t h e U .S . d o m e s ti c e m p l o y m e n ta t t r i b u t a b l e t o m a n u fa c t u r i n g f e l l f r o m 2 7 p e r c e n t i n 1 9 7 0 , t o 1 9p e rc e n t i n 1 9 8 6 ), t h e a s c e n d a n c y o f t h e s e rv ic e e c o n o m y , a n d ar e s t ru c t u r i n g o f t h e l o c a t i o n o f i n d u st r ie s , w h e re h i g h t e c h n o l o g y h ase n a b l e d t h e f l i g h t o f c a p i t a l f r o m t h e s n o w b e l t t o t h e s u n b e l t i n t h eU .S . a n d to t h e s a f e h a v e n s o f t h e Th i rd W o r l d v i l la g e s . I n a d v a n c e dsoc ie t i e s , de ind us t r i a l i za t ion o f the p rev iou s ly indus t r i a l cen te r s sucha s P i t t s b u rg h a n d D e t ro i t h a s b e c o m e a s t ark r e a l it y w i t h d i sa s t ro u sconsequences . Th e e f fec t s o f de indus t r i a l iza t ion a re now be ing seen inthe serv ice sec tor as w el l ; i t s v ic t ims are no t so le ly b lue-c ol la r w orke rsb u t a l s o c o m p a n y m a n a g e r s a n d p ro f e s si o n a l s w h o a r e " f a l l in g f ro mgrace" in the w ave o f pos t - indus t r i a l r e s t ruc tu r ing 2 0 A t the s ame t ime ,


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197h i g h t e c h n o l o g y m a k e s p o s s i b le t h e e m e rg e n c e o f a g l o b a l a s se m b l yl in e a n d m u l t i n a ti o n a l i z a t io n o f c a p i t a l, w h i c h o p e ra t es t h ro u g h m a n yfo rm s o f l i n k a g e : "C o -p ro d u c t i o n , l i c e n s i n g , o u t s o u rc i n g , i n v i s i b l epa r tn e rsh ip s to avo id a ro us ing loca l an t i -U .S , s en t im en t s . ''21 Fo rins tance , A m er ica n Ai r l ines has a swea t shop in Ba rbados fo r en te r ingc o m p u t e r i ze d d a t a w h i c h i s c o n n e c t ed to O k l a h o m a b y c o m p u t e r s a n dsa te l li te com m unica t ions . " I t is s ta f fed by wo m en w ho a re pa id wagest h a t f a l l n e a r t h e b o t t o m o f e v e n B a rb a d o s ' s m e a g e r p a y s c al e. "22A i h w a O n g b e s t s u m m a r i z e s th e c o n t e m p o ra ry sc e n a ri o t h us : "S i n c ethe 1973 w or ld reces s ion , new pa t te rns o f ' f lex ib le accum ula t ion ' havecom e in to p lay a s co rpora t ions s trugg le in an inc reas ing ly com pe t i t iveg l o b a l a r e n a . F l e x i b l e l a b o r r eg i m e s , b a s e d p r i m a r i l y o n f e m a l e a n dm i n o r i t y w o rk e r s , a r e n o w c o m m o n i n t h e Th i rd W o r l d , a s w e l l a s inp o o r r e g i o n s o f m e t ro p o l i t a n c o u n t r i e s . '2 3

G e n d e r a n d E c o n o m i c R e s tr u c tu r in g : N e w T e c h n o l o g ie s a n dW o m e n i n A d v a n c e d C a p i t a li st S o c ie t ie s

N e w t e c h n o l o g ie s w h i c h c o n t i n u e t o p l a y a d e c is i v e ro l e i n c u r r e n tecono m ic , indus t r i a l, and o rgan iza t iona l re s truc tu r ing w ork a s doub le -e d g e d s w o rd s . A c c o rd i n g t o S h o s h a n a Zu b o f f , t h e y s i m u l t a n e o u s l y" i n f o rm a t e " a n d " a u t o m a t e . ' ' 24 N e w t e c h n o l o g ie s r e q u i re a m o rep a r t i c i p a t o ry a n d n o n -h i e r a r c h i c a l f o rm o f w o rk -a r r a n g e m e n t b u t ,w i t h o u t p a r a l l e l i n s ti t u ti o n a l tr a n s fo rm a t i o n v is - a -v i s t h e i n v i d i o u sdis t inc t ions o f c lass , race , and gend er , n ew technologies a re be ing usedt o o p p re s s o rd i n a ry w o rk e r s a n d w o m e n . 25 In d e ed , n e w t e c h n o l o g i e sw o rk a s a n e w "p a n o p t i c o n " w h e re t h e d i s ti n c t io n b e t w e e n t h e e x p e r ta n d t h e n o n -e x p e r t s e c to r s i n o rg a n i z a ti o n s s e em n a t u r a l - - l e g i t i m i z e db y t h e t e c h n o c ra c y it s e l f - -a n d w h e re m a n a g e rs r e l y o n t e c h n o l o g y " t om a k e b e h a v i o r tr a n s p a re n t i n th e b e l i e f t h a t p e o p le a r e m o re l i k e l y t od o w h a t th e y a r e t o l d w h e n t h e y k n o w t h e i r a c ti o n s w i ll b e t r a n s la t e dins tan t ly and d i sp layed a s e l ec t ron ic t ex t . , 2 6 W h i l e t h e " i n f o r m a t i o np a n o p t i c o n c r e a te s t h e f a n t a s y o f a w o r l d t h a t i s n o t o n l y t ra n s p a re n tb u t a l s o s h o rn o f t h e c o n f l i c t a s so c i a te d w i t h s u b j e c ti v e o p i n i o n , " t h ee lec t ron ic t ex t "conf ron t s the c l e rk wi th a s t a rk s ense o f o the rnes s . "27F o r t h e c l e rk , w h o i s u s u a l l y a w o m a n , " t h e i m m e d i a c y a n d


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significance of the Enter Key" engenders anxiety. 28 At the same t ime,the electronic text for her is "impersonal; letters and numbers seem toappear without having been derived from an embodied process ofauthorship."29 As Beverly Burris argues:

In offices, for instance, machines such as the typewriter presupposesome degree of worker pacing, whereas word processing technologyhas the capacity to be systematized. Such systems can be used bymanagement to undermine worker autonomy; tasks can be fragmentedand assigned to different workers, and work can be teclmo!ogicallypaced and monitored for productivity and errors . . . . Among thenon-expert sector, whether clerical or production staff, computerizedtechnology has typically been used to isolate and control workers.Predominantly male managers and technical experts control the laboror workers who are disproportionately emale and non-white, usingtechnology to embody and promote social differentiation andmanagerial control, both domestically and internationally. 3~

In advanced industrial societies under the regime of an ascendanttechnocracy, there is a bifurcation between the experts and non-expertsbut women in both the sectors have borne more brunt. "Women are tobe found in great numbers operating machinery . . . But womencontinue to be rarities in those occupations that involve knowing whatgoes on inside the machine.'31 In 1980, 93 percent of the keypunchoperators in the U.S. were female but only 22 percent of systemsanalysts. 32 In the export-processing zones of multinationalcorporations, while young women comprise "80-90 percent ofop era ti ve s .. . Men predominate within the smaller administrative andtechnical expert s e c t o r . . . ,,33 Even within the expert sector, the workof women managers is subject to be patriarchal stereotyping. AsCockburn tells us: " . . . when the dust settles after the technologicalrevolution, the same old male/female pattern can be seen to havereestablished itself. The general law seems to be: women may press thebuttons, but they may not meddle with the works . . . Always theperson who knows best, who has the last say about the technology is,, 34a ma n . . .

Here, it must be noted that although opportunities for women inadvanced capitalist societies appear to have increased during the pasttwo decades, their overall economic situation has deteriorated.


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199"Current ly in the U.S. , two- th i rds of a l l adul t s l iv ing in pover ty arewo men , and mo re than hal f of a ll poor families are fem ale-headed. -35The reason for th i s in-bui l t cont radict ion of pover ty in the midst ofunprecedented p lenty i s complex. Economic res t ructur ing and theat tendant process of deindust r ia l izat ion had gone hand in hand wi thpo l it ica l r es t ruc tu r ing , m arked by the r i se o f New Conserva t i sm andthe accom panying re t renchmen t o f t he wel fa re sta te . The "demise o fthe in ternal labor markets , as wel l as e l iminat ion and expor tat ion ofmany labor- in tensive jobs d ispropor t ionately performed by women,have adversely af fected both the present and fu ture working l ives ofw om en w orke rs in the non exper t sector. ,,36 B ur r i s argues that a t thesame t ime that technologies were expanding oppor tuni t ies ," techno crat ic res t ructur ing w as underm ining pol it ical v ictor ies . ,37

E c o n o m i c R e s t r u c t u r in g , G l o b a li za t io n , a n d G e n d e rThe restructuring of industr ies and work organizat ion has not takenplace in i so lat ion . In fact , th i s model of economic reform and

structural adjustment has been global ized. In the 1960s, developingeconom ies , in thei r desperate b id to a t t ract foreign investments , t r iedto imp rov e conditions for the operations of transnational capital in theircount r ies . W i th the fai lure of the ear l ier a t tempts a t impor t -subst i tut ions, internat ional m onitors of deve lopm ent , including theUni ted Nat ions , put pressure on the developing economies to rever tbac k to thei r ear l ier expo r t functions . As O ng wri tes : " In addi t ion toraw mater ia l s and crops , developing economies could expor t goodsma nufac tu red in 'F ree -Trad e Zone s" (FTZS ) . To a t tr ac t fo re igncapi tal , tax-free privi leges in t rade w ere combined w ith new incentivessuch as prov ision of bui ldings a nd uti li ties by the local gove rnm ent ,and the ease o f prof i t repat r ia tion . Expo r t -indust r ia l izat ion seem ed tocomplement the "g reen revo lu t ion" sponsored by the W or ld B ank andIn terna t iona l M onetary Fund . -38By the 1970s, we saw global assembly l ines a t work in SoutheastAs ia and the U.S . -Mexican border . To ach ieve g loba l dominance ,Japan ese and We stern com panies bypassed high production costs, labormi l i tancy, and envi ronmental concerns at home by moving to o ther


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coun tr ies in Sou theas t As ia , t he Ca r ibbean and L at in Am er ica . In thelocales of of f -shore product ion companies , there are var ious k inds ofprod uct ion-arran gem ents- -m ass assem bly and subcontracting systems,f i r m wo r k an d h o m e wo r k . " I n So ut heast As i a an d Mex i co , ex p o r tm anu facturing is not confined to FT ZS but is increasingly dispersed insubcon t rac t ing a r rangement s tha t may inc lude par t - t ime work bypeas ants.-39 W hile in M alay sia expo rt- led industr ies operate mainly inFTZS--areas wi th 80 percen t o f t he female opera to r s on the shopf l o o r - - i n Ho n g Ko n g , m o s t o f su ch p r o d u c t i o n i s u n d e r t ak en b ysubcont ract ing fami ly f i rms. Subcont ractors a l so predominate inTaiw an and the F i lip ines . " In the F i lip ines , w here wages a re amongthe low est in Asia , subcontract ing reduc es the visibil ity of transnat ionalf i rms, enabl ing them to bypass fur ther pol i t ical and economic costs .For ins tance, only a quar ter of Fi l ip ino garment workers are based inFTZS; the bu lk o f garment manufac tu r ing depends on a four - t i e redsubcont ract ing system that re l ies mainly on vi l lage home-sewers .Similarly, outside the Mexican maquiladora zone, cot tage indust ry byhousewives i s par t of the low-level of the segmented labor market ;though, hidden be hind i l legali ties and m ixed forms of produ ct ion, i t isindi rect ly cont rol led by indust r ia l capi ta l . "4~

D a u g h t ers in Fa c t o r i esY oung w om en constitu te the major ity of the workforce in locales of

o f f - shore p roduction . As the e thnograph ies o f bo th M ar ia Pa t r ic i aFe r n an d ez - Ke l l y an d A i h w a On g - - an th r o p o l o g is t s wh o h av e ca r r iedou t ex tens ive f i e ldwork on the Malays i an coas t and Mexicanbo rde r- -sh ow , companies prefer s ingle wom en. 41 In the As ian context,t hese w om en com e f rom the ru ra l a reas and they wo rk under the m ora land ma nage r ial custody of ma le supervisors . These w orking daughterssend mo ney b ack to thei r fami lies . But the income they earn f rom theirhard work i s meager . Burr i s helps us unders tand th is cont radict ion ofh igh- t ech and low-pay : "Gender and rac i a l s t e reo types combine tol eg i t imate fas t -paced and poor ly pa id work fo r Th i rd Wor ld women .Young w om en are assumed to be wo rk ing fo r supp lementary income,w herea s increasingly , they are pr im ary o r sole breadw inners . ,,42


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T h e w o r k i n g d a u g h t e r s o n S o u t h e a s t A s i a n g l o b a l a s s e m b l y l i n e sw h o a r e b r e a d w i n n e r s f o r t h e i r f a m i l i e s a n d w h o a l s o s u p p o r t t h e i rb r o t h e r s ' e d u c a t i o n a r e tr e a te d a s " w a r d s " i n f a c to r ie s . A s O n g te llsu s : " J a p a n e s e c o r p o r a t e p o l ic ie s i n M a l a y s i a d e f in e d M a l a y w o r k e r sa s " w a r d s " u n d e r t h e m o r a l c u st o d y o f f a c to r y m a n a g e r s . B y f o c u s i n go n t h e y o u n g w o m e n ' s v i r g i n a l s t a t u s , t h e m a n a g e m e n t c a p i t a l i z e d o nM a l a y f e a r s a b o u t t h e i r d a u g h t e r s ' v u l n e r a b i l i t y . O t h e r t e c h n i q u e s o fc o n t r o l c lo s e l y m o n i t o r e d w o r k e r s ' b o d i e s . I n m a s s a s s e m b l y f a c to r i e sf r o m S o u t h K o r e a t o M e x i c o , o p e r a t o r s w e r e s u b j e c t e d t o h u m i l i a t i n gi n n u e n d o s a b o u t m e n s t r u a t io n , a n d w e r e r e q u i r e d to r e q u e s t p e r m i s s i o nto use the toi le t . , ,43

N o t o n l y a r e t h e s e w o r k i n g d a u g h t e r s s u b j e c t e d t o " t i g h t w o r kd i s c i p l i n e " t h a t b o d i l y c o n s t r a i n t h e m , t h e y a r e u s e d a s r e p l a c e a b l ei n s tr u m e n t s o f l a b o r . T o m a x i m i z e p r o f it a n d p r o d u c t i o n " q u i c k l ye x h a u s t ed o p e r a to r s w e r e r e p la c e d ( b y t h e c o m p a n y ) b y t h e n e x t c r o po f s c h o o l l e a v e r s . ,,4 4 F r e s h l y r e c r u it e d w o r k e r s a r e r o u t in e l y a s s i g n e dt o w o r k w h i c h r e q u i re s u s e o f m i c r o s c o p e s . T h i s l e ad s to t h e ir e a r l ye x h a u s t i o n a n d t h e d e t e r i o r a t i o n o f t h e i r e y e s i g h t . O n g t e ll s u s t h a ti n d u s tr ia l f i r m s i n M a l a y s i a a t t e m p t to " l i m i t th e i r e m p l o y m e n t t o t h ee a r l y s t a g e o f t h e i r a d u l t li f e, a s t r a te g y t h a t e n s u r e d f r e s h l a b o rc a p a b l e o f s u s ta i n e d in t e n si v e w o r k a t l o w - w a g e s . ' 4 5 S o m e t i m e s , n e ww o r k e r s a r e e m p l o y e d o n s i x m o n t h s c o n t r a c t s s o t h a t t h e y c a n b er e l e a s e d o r re h i r e d a t t h e s am e l o w w a g e r a te s . O n g ' s s y m p a t h e ti cd e s c r i p t i o n h e l p s u s e n v i s i o n t h e s i t u a t i o n :

The rap id exhaus t ion o f the opera to rs a l so resu lted in mo s t o f theml eav i n g o f t h e i r o wn acco rd a f t e r t h ree t o fo u r y ea r s o f f ac t o ryemp loyme nt , a l though an increas ing number rem ained w ork ing , e venaf te r marr iage . Opera to rs l eav ing the fac to r ies have no t acqu i red anysk i l ls whic h wo uld equ ip them fo r any bu t the sam e dead end jobs .The lack o f l eg is la tive p ro tec t ion fo r w om en in the l abor mark e t andthe i r low w ages d i scouraged them f rom s taying on longer in indus t r ia lem p l o y m en t . Th i s wea k s t ru c tu ra l i n teg ra ti o n o f t h e wo m en i n th eindus t r i a l sec to r , a s i tua t ion fos te red by corpora te employments t rategy, has been used by m ale supremacis ts and c api tal ists to jus t i fythe low wa ges o f opera to rs in mul t ina t iona l co rpora t ions 4 6


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202T h e B o d y o f Po w er , S p ir i t o f R es is ta n ce

I f s u c h i s th e t e x t o f p o w e r w r i t te n o n t h e b o d ie s o f w o rk i n g w o m e non g loba l a s sembly l ines , then th i s wr i t ing i s no t wi thou t re s i s t ance .W o rk e r s m a k e b o t h o v e r t a n d c o v e r t p ro t e s ts , w h i c h i n c lu d e a tt e m p t st o d a m a g e t h e c o m p o n e n t s t h e y t h e m s e l v e s a s se m b l e . A s O n g t e ll s u si n h e r e t h n o g ra p h y o f s u c h o f f - s h o re p ro d u c t i o n i n M a l a y v i ll ag e s : " Ino n e t r a n s i s t o r f a c t o ry , w h e re a b o u t f iv e m i l l i o n c o m p o n e n t s w e reas sembled each m onth , some t imes t ens o f thousands o f tr ans i s to rs hadt o b e r e j e c t e d b e c a u s e o f d e f e c t s f o u n d . O c c a s i o n a l l y , w o rk e r sd e l ib e r a te l y s t a ll e d th e m a c h i n e s o t h a t p ro d u c t i o n w a s s l o w e d d o w n .A M alay t ech n ic ian repor ted tha t he w as aw are o f these subve rs ive ac tsb u t s a id t h a t i t w a s i m p o s s i b le to t r a c e t h e w o rk e r s r e s p o n s i b l e f o rthem . "47

R e a c t io n s o f w o m e n w o rk e r s a l so i n c lu d e o v e r t f o rm s o f r e s is t an c esuch a s the d i sp lay o f hys te r i ca l t endenc ie s in the wo rkp lace . In M a layv i l l a g e s , f e m a l e s a r e c o n s i d e r e d e s p e c i a l l y v u l n e r a b l e t o s p i r i tp o s s e s s io n a n d M a l a y w o m e n h a v e r e c o u r s e t o s u c h c u l t u r a l b el i ef s t os u b v e r t t h e t i g h t a n d o p p re s s i v e o rd e r o f t h e f a c t o ry . Th e y b e c o m ep o s s e s s e d w i t h s p i r i t s , s u d d e n l y c ry i n g a n d s c r e a m i n g o b s c e n i t i e saga ins t r e s t ra in ing supe rv iso rs . In some cases the pos ses sed exc la ims :" I a m n o t to b e b l a m e d , " " G o a w a y , " " I w i ll k i l l y o u , l e t m e g o . "Bes ides ha v in g recourse to such sp i r i t pos ses s ion , o pe ra to rs o f t ena t t e m p t to s e e k r e l i e f f r o m t h e i r d r e a d fu l w o rk b y a s k i n g p e rm i s s i o nt o g o t o t h e l o c k e r r o o m a n d to t h e p r a y e r r o o m w h e re , a s M u s l i m s ,t h e y c a n p e r fo rm t h e o b l i g a t o ry w o r s h i p f i v e t i m e s a d a y . B u tmanage rs do no t fa i l to re t a l i a t e in such s t rugg le s . They d i smis sw o m e n w h o a r e f r e q u e n t l y s u b j e c t t o s p i r i t p o s s e s s i o n " fo r s e c u r i t yr e a s o n s . ' 4 8 A s O n g t e l ls u s o f h e r c a se : "W h e n t h e v i ll a g e e l d e rsp ro te s ted , po in t ing ou t tha t the sp i r i t s in the fac to ry were re spon s ib lefo r the i r daug h te rs ' s e izu re s, the man age r ag reed bu t exp la ined tha t theh y s t e r i c a l w o rk e r s m i g h t h u r t t h e m s e l v e s i n t h e m a c h i n e s , r i s k i n ge lec t roc u t ion . "49In h e r c o m p a ra ti v e a c c o u n t o f s u c h re g i m e s o f c o n t ro l a n d fo rm s o fr e s is t a n c e, O n g f in d s t h a t S o u t h K o r e a n w o m e n a r e a m o n g t h e m o s tm i l i t a n t i n A s i a , " c o n f ro n t i n g a s ta te m o re r e p re s si v e o f l a b o r t h a no t h e r i n d u s t r i a l iz i n g c o u n t r ie s . "5~ In t h e l a te 1 9 70 s w h e n K o re a n


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e c o n o m y w a s b e y o n d th e " t a k e o f f " s t ag e , o n e o f t h e m a j o r te x t il ec o m p a n i e s , t h e D o n g - l l T e x t i l e c o m p a n y , w a s e n g a g e d i n a m a j o rl abor d i spu te bu t the wo m en d id no t g ive in . Rea l i z ing tha t they had too rg a n i z e t h e m s e l v e s , t h e y r e j ec t e d r e p re s e n t at i v e s o f a p u p p e t u n i o nl e d b y m e n . A s O n g t el ls u s :

Fem a l e wo rk e r s , o rg an i zed i n to d i f f e r en t g ro u p s, h av e d ev e l o p ed aw hole reper to i re o f t ac t ics and images express ing the i r s trugg les . Inthe Dong-11 text i le com pany s t rike, wo m en protes ted 'miserable wo rkcond i t ions , ' poor food , imposed s i l ence among coworkers , andproh ib i t ion f r om go ing to the to i le t s . At the c l imax o f the i r s t rugg leag a i n s t t h e co m p an y u n i o n , wo m en o n a h u n g e r s t r i k e f aced o f fagainst pol ice by s t r ipping a nd s inging union songs. 51

The above desc r ip t ions show tha t w om en do con te s t the ca tegorie s andprac t ice s tha t t r ea t them as m ere ex tens ions o f mach ines . Bu t he re wem us t n o t be q u ick to read these ac t s o f re s i s tance a s marke rs o f c la s sc o n s c io u s n e s s o r a g l o b al a n ti - sy s t em a t i c i d e o l o g y . "W o rk i n g w o m e nra re ly cons t ruc t the i r iden t i t i e s o r o rgan ize themse lves in t e rms o fco l l ec t ive o r g loba l in te re s t s. ' '52 H ow ever , "w ha t w e d o f ind a rea t tempts to e scape f rom or l ive w i th indus t r i a l sys tems w i thou t los ingo n e ' s s en s e o f h u m a n d i g n i ty . . . . I n n e g a t i n g h e g e m o n i c d e f i n it i o n sd a i l y , f a c t o ry w o m e n c a m e t o e x p l o r e n e w c o n c e p t s o f s e l f , f e m a l es ta t us , a n d h u m a n w o r t h . -5 3

Th e c o m p l e x it y o f th e p o s i t io n o f w o m e n i n c o n t e m p o ra ry s o c ie t ie si s ev iden t by the ab ove s t ra t eg ie s o f rep roduc t ion and re s is t ance . I t i st r u e t h a t w o m e n f i n d d e h u m a n i z i n g t h e i r c o n d i t i o n s o f w o rk i nf a c to r i e s r u n b y t r a n s n a t io n a l c o rp o ra ti o n s b u t t h e i r p o s i t i o n a t h o m eis no less precar io us . In her ins ight fu l essay , "C api ta l i sm, Im per ia l i sma n d P a t r i a r ch y : T h e D i l em m a o f T h i r d - W o r l d W o m e n W o r k e r s i nM u l t i - n a t i o n a l F a c t o r i e s , " L i n d a L i m h e l p s u s t o a p p re c ia t e th i sc o m p l e x i t y :

A lthough wo m en wo rkers in these mult inat ional factories are exploi tedre la t ive to the i r ou tpu t to male workers in the same coun t ry , and tofem ale w orkers in deve loped coun t r ies , the i r pos i t ion is o f ten be tte rthan in ind igenous fac to r ies and in t rad i t iona l fo rms o f employmentfo r w o m e n . Th e l i m i ted eco n o m i c an d s o c ia l li b e ra t io n t h at wo m enworkers der ive f rom the i r employment in mul t ina t iona l fac to r ies i spre dica ted on their subjection to capitalist, imperialist , and patria rch al


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e x p l o i t a t i o n i n t h e l a b o r m a r k e t a n d t h e l a b o r p r o c e s s . T h i s p r e se n t sa d i l e m m a f o r f e m i n i s t p o l i c y t o w a r d s s u c h e m p l o y m e n t : b e c a u s ee x p l o i t a t i o n a n d l i b e r a t i o n g o h a n d i n h a n d , i t c a n n o t b e r e a d i l yc o n d e m n e d o r e x t o l le d . 54

W o m e n ' s V u l n e r a b i l i t y a s a M i r r o r : T h e S u s t a i n a b i l i t y o f P r i v i l e g ea n d t h e C h a l l e n g e o f S e l f - S u b s i s t e n c e

St ru c tu ra l a d ju s t me n t o f th e e c o n o mi c s o f p o o r c o u n t r ie s i s a n o t h e ri mp o r t a n t a s p e c t o f t h e c o n t e m p o ra ry g l o b a l e c o n o m i c r e s tru c t u r in g .T h e In t e rn a t i o n a l M o n e t a ry Fu n d n o w w a n t s p o o r c o u n t ri e s t o i mp ro v et h e i r b a l a n c e -o f -p a y me n t s p o s i t i o n b y l i b e r a l i z i n g t h e i r e c o n o mi e s ,deva lu ing cur renc ies , an d inc reas ing impor t s in p ro po r t ion to expor t s .I t i s s u g g e s t e d t h a t " b y d e v a l u a t i o n o f l o c a l c u r r e n c y a n d f ro z e nw a g e s , t h e c o u n t ry ' s o w n e x p o rt s w o u l d b e c o me c h e a p e r in t h ein te rn a t ion a l m arke t . ' '55 But in rea l i ty , such s t ruc tu ra l ad jus tm entp ro g ra ms b r i n g h a v o c fo r t h e p o o r a n d v u l n e ra b l e s e c ti o n s o f s o c i e ty .L y n n B o l l e s ' e x c e l l e n t s tu d y o f t h e I M F p r o g r a m o f s t ru c tu r ala d j u s t me n t i n J a ma i c a s h o w s h o w i t d e v a s ta t e d i ts ma n u fa c t u r i n gsec to r.56 Bol le s a rgues : "T he IM F pro gram had pa r t i cu la r imp l ica tionsfo r J a m a i c a ' s m a n u fa c t u r i n g s e c to r . T h e d e p re s s i o n c u t d e e p ly i n tod o me s t i c s al es b e c a u se o f h ig h e r c o n s u m e r p r i c e s. D e v a l u a t i o n ra i s e dc o s ts ( i n lo c a l c u r r e n c y ) o f i m p o r t e d c o m p o n e n t s - - t h e e s s e n c e o f t h es c r e w d r i v e r ty p e o p e ra ti o n . Pa y i n g fo r a n d b u y i n g i mp o r t e d m a t e ri a lsb e c a m e m o re a n d m o re d i f f ic u l t a n d h i g h i n t er e s t r a te s r a i se d b a n kl o a n s b e y o n d t h e r e a c h o f m o s t m a n u fa c t u re r s. ,5 7

T h e IM F p a c k a g e o f s t ru c t u ra l r e fo rm " d e p re s s e d t h e s t a n d a rd o fl i v in g o f t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e n a t i o n .-5 8 I t s p e c i f ic a l ly ma d e J a m a i c a ' sfemale p rodu c t ion work e rs "vu lne rab le to even t s o f in te rna t iona l t radeand f inan ce . ''59 A bo ve a l l , s t ruc tu ra l ad jus tm ent p rogram s h i t the i rk i t c h e n s . A s B o l l e s t e l l s u s , " Fo o d s h o w e d t h e mo s t d r a ma t i ci n c re me n t i n p r ic e . Fo r e x a mp l e . . . . t h e p r i c e o f m a rg a r i n e ro s e fo rJ $ . 5 0 p e r t u b to J $ 1 . 2 9 ; c o rn e d b e e f ro s e f ro m J $ . 7 9 p e r t i n t o J $2 . 0 0 ; a n d a l a rg e l o a f o f b r e a d i n c re a se d f ro m 8 0 c e n t s t o mo re t h a na do l la r . ,60 But the way w om en worke rs cop ed wi th such d i s loca tionss h o w s t h e r e s i l i e n c e o f t h e i r s t r a t e g y o f c u l t u r a l r e p ro d u c t i o n .Eco nom ic c ri s is l ed to more rec ip roca l exchange o f goods and se rv ices


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a m o n g t h e p o o r . W o m e n r e v i ta l iz e d t h e i r d o m e s t i c n e t w o rk a n dw i d e n e d i t s r a d i u s . "F o r e x a m p l e , " o n e w o m a n i n a v i s i t i n g -u n i o nhouseh o ld supp l i ed he r ne ighbors and f r i ends wi th cheese tha t she hadb o u g h t a t t h e c o m m i s s a ry o f t h e m u l t i n a t io n a l [w h i ch e m p l o y e d h e r ].I n r e tu rn , h e r n e i g h b o r o f t e n p ro v i d e d c h i l d c a re o n s h o r t n o t ic e , a n dhe r b oy f r i en d ' s s i st e r pe r fo rm ed sma l l pe rsona l e r rands du r ing the dayw hi le the w om an w as a t work . "61 In th i s con tex t , wh a t Bo l l e s hasw r i t t e n b e l o w h e l p s u s t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e d i a le c t ic b e t w e e ng loba l i za t ion and loca l i za t ion and the c rea tive power o f ex i s t en t fo rmsof soc ia l r ep rod uc t ion to w i thstand the a s sau lt on pe op le ' s s t anda rd o fl iv ing :

T h u s t h e r e c i p r o c a l e x c h a n g e s th a t t a k e p l ac e i n t h e d o m e s t ic n e t wo r ko f t h e s e u r b a n wo r k i n g - c l a s s h o u s e h o l d s p r o v i d e m e c h a n i s m s t oc o m p e n s a t e f o r th e s h o r t c o m i n g s o f t h e w i d e r e c o n o m i c sy s t e m . T h ewo m e n i n d u s t r i a l wo r k e r s i n t h e s e h o u s e h o l d s t a k e a d v a n t a g e o fb e n e f it s a v a il a b le a t t h e i r p a c e s o f wo r k t o m a k e t h e i r c o n t r i b u t i o n tot h e e x c h a n g e n e t wo r k . T h e s e h o u s e h o l d m e m b e r s n o t e m p l o y e d i n th ef o r m a l e c o n o m i c s e c t o r fo c u s e v e n m o r e e n e r g y o n e x c h a n g e n e t wo r ka c ti v it ie s t o o b t a i n f o r t h e i r h o u s e h o l d g o o d s a n d s e r v i c e s t h a t wo u l dn o t b e o t h e r wi s e a v a i la b l e to t h e m , d u e t o t h e l a c k o f c a s h ( c a u s e d b yl a c k o f e m p l o y m e n t ) t o o b t a i n t h e m . T h e s e i n f o r m a l p a t t e r n s o fd i s tr ib u t i o n a n d c o n s u m p t i o n h a v e e v o l v e d i n g r e a t e r c o m p l e x i t y a s ar e s p o n s e t o p r o v i d e i n c r e a s e d a c c e s s t o t h e s o c i e t y ' s l i m i t e dr e s o u r c e s . 62

W h a t B o l l e s d i s c u s s e s i n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e C a r i b b e a n r e g i o n w i t hre fe rence to the manufac tu r ing s ec to r f inds a s t r ik ing pa ra l l e l inC h e ru ' s d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e d e v a s t a t i o n o f A f r i c a n a g r i c u l t u r e a s ac o n s e q u e n c e o f t h e IM F p ro g ra m o f e x p o r t -o r i e n t e d c a p i t a l i s tag r i cu l tu re . 63 Fo r Ch e ru , s t ruc tu ra l ad jus tme n t p rogram s have l edg o v e rn m e n t s t o "p r e f e r l a rg e - s c a l e m e c h a n i z e d f a rm i n g t o t h ede t r im en t o f the po l i t i ca l ly pow er le s s sma l l f a rmers . ' '64 Suchm e c h a n i z e d a g r i c u lt u r a l m e g a -p ro je c t s p u s h m o n o c ro p p i n g i n s te a d o fin te rc ro pp in g , w hich devas ta te s the f rag i l e ecosys tem . I t a l so p re fe r scash c rops to food c rops . Fo r ins tance , co t ton o r co f fee p rod uc t ion i sa c c o rd e d m o re g o v e rn m e n t s u p p o r t t h a n s o rg h u m o r c a s s a v a . Th ere a s o n b e h i n d s u c h d i s c r i m i n a t i o n is n o t h a rd t o f i nd . C o t t o n b r i n g sfo re ign exchange to f inance the bu i ld ing o f p leasure pa laces fo r the


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206l o c al e l it e a n d t h e i r m e t ro p o l i t a n me n t o r s . T h u s , i t is n o w o n d e r t h a t ,w h i l e a g r i c u lt u r a l p ro d u c t i o n s t a g n at e d i n A f r i c a d u r i n g 1 9 9 0, h a v i n ggro w n by 2 .8 pe rcen t in 1989 , fo od im por t s inc reased . 65 "Afr ica spen t$8 b i l l ion on foo d im por t s in 1986 , a f igure fa r g rea te r than the to ta la m o u n t s p e n t o n o i l i mp o r t s d u r i n g t h e s a me y e a r . ,,6 6 W h a t i s m o re ,fo o d i mp o r t s t h r e a t e n s t o c r e a t e a n e w a n d d a n g e ro u s s t ru c t u ra ld e p e n d e n c e o n c e r e a l s s u c h a s w h e a t a n d r i c e t h a t c a n n o t e a s i l y b eg ro w n i n ma n y p a r t s o f A f r i c a . ' 6 7 A s a r e s u l t , s c a r c e l a n d i s b e i n gu s e d t o g ro w c ro p s w h i c h t h e p o o r u s u a ll y c a n n o t a f fo rd .

Ch eru a rgues tha t " by pu t t ing va luab le agr icu l tu ra l re sources a t these rv ice o f expor t marke t s in coun t r i e s tha t a re no t s e l f - su f f i c ien t info o d , e n o rm o u s p re s s u re s a r e c r e a t e d fo r l o c a l p e o p l e to o v e re x p l o i tm a rg i n a l l a n d s . "6 8 A t t h e s a me t ime , l i b e r a li z a t io n p o l i c y a n di n t e rn a t i o n a l t r a d e c o n v e n t i o n s s u c h a s G A T T m a k e t h e p u r s u i t o fe c o l o g i c a l l y s u s t a i n a b l e fo o d s e c u r i t y mo re d i f f i c u l t . B e c a u s e o fG A T T , p o o r c o u n t r i e s " w i l l b e r e q u i r e d to w i t h d ra w a l l t ra d eres t r i c t ion s - - inc lu d ing quo tas and t a r i f fs des igned to p ro tec t loca l foodm a r k e t s f r o m c h e a p i m p o r t s . ' 6 9 " T h e p r o p o s a l w o u l d a ls o d en y t her i g h t o f c o u n t r i e s t o r e s t r ic t o r i n h i b i t e x p o r t o f a g r i c u l tu r a l f o o dp ro d u c t s t o r e li e v e fo o d s h o r ta g e s , a s n o w p e rmi t t e d u n d e r A r t i c l e X Io f t h e G A T T t r e a ty . . . . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h e p r o v i s i o n w i l l d ol it tl e t o o u t l a w U . S . a n d E E C fo o d d u m p i n g . ,7 0

Th e imp l ica t ion o f expo r t - led cap i ta l is t ag r icu ltu re fo r w om en can no tb e i g n o r e d . A c c o r d i n g to C h e r u , " W o m e n a re r es p o n s ib l e f o r 60 - 9 0p e rc e n t o f f o o d p ro d u c t i o n , p ro c e s s i n g , a n d ma rk e t i n g i n A f r i c a nc o u n t r i e s , y e t w o me n h a v e t h e l e a s t a c c e s s t o i mp ro v e d t e c h n o l o g y ,c red i t , ex ten s ion se rv ice and l and . '' 71 Indeed , such p ro jec t s o fd e v e l o p m e n t d i s p l a c e w o m e n " f r o m p r o d u c t i v e a c t i v i t y " b ya p p ro p r i a t i n g o r d e s t ro y i n g " t h e n a t u ra l r e s o u rc e b a s e fo r t h ep ro d u c t i o n o f s u s t e n a n c e a n d s u rv i v a l . ' 7 2 T h e l o g i c o f t h e ma rk e t i sn o w b e i n g a p p l i e d to t h e u s e a n d t h e ma i n t e n a n c e o f e v e n th e c o m m o nl a n d , w h i c h , i n f a c t, r o b s t h e l o c a l p e o p l e . I n d e e d , w a s t el a n d sd e v e l o p m e n t is a " e u p h e m i s m f o r t h e p ri v a ti z a ti o n o f c o m m o n s . ' 7 3T h e p r i v a t i z a t i o n o f t h e c o mmo n s , a l o n g w i t h t h e s h i f t t o c a p i t a l i s tagr icu l tu re , b r ings havoc to the ecosys tem , w hich i s ev iden ced by thei n c re a s i n g s c a rc i t y o f w a t e r i n a l l c o u n t r i e s . A c c o rd i n g t o V a n d a n aSh i v a , " G ro u n d w a t e r i s d ry i n g u p b e c a u s e i t h a s b e e n o v e r - e x p l o it e d


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207tO f e e d c a s h c r o p s . V i l l a g e a f t e r v i l la g e i s b e i n g r o b b e d o f i ts l if e l i n e .S i n c e w o m e n a r e t h e n e w w a t e r p r o v i d e r s, d i sa p p e a r in g w a t e r s o u r c e sh a v e m e a n t n e w b u r d e n s a n d n e w d r u d g e r y f o r th e m . ,,74 S i m i l a rl y ,f o d d e r c o l l e c t i o n ta k e s l o n g e r w i t h t h e d e s t r u c t i o n o f t h e v i l la g ec o m m o n s . A s a w o m a n i n t h e h i ll s o f U t t a r P r a d e s h p u ts i t:

W hen we we re young, we used to go to the forest early in the m orningwithout eating anything. There we would eat plenty of berries andwild fruits, d rink the cold s we et (water) of the Banj (Oak) roots. In ashort while w e w ould gather all the fodder and firewood we needed,rest under the shade of some huge tree and then go ho m e9Now, withthe g oing o f the trees, everything else has gon e too. 75

B i n a A g a r w a l d r a w s o u r a t te n t i o n t o t h e si tu a t io n i n N e p a l , w h e r e" s u b s t a n t ia l i n c r e a s e i n f i r e w o o d c o l l e c t i o n t i m e d u e t o d e f o r e s t a ti o nh a s s i g n i fi c a n tl y r e d u c e d w o m e n ' s c r o p c u l ti v a ti o n t im e , l e a d i n g t o a na s s o c ia t e d fa ll in th e p r o d u c t i o n o f m a i z e , w h e a t , a n d m u s t a r d , w h i c ha r e p r i m a r i l y d e p e n d e n t o n f e m a l e l a b o r i n t h e r e g io n . ,7 6

T h e a b o v e e x a m p le s s h o w h o w c o n t e m p o r a r y e c o n o m i cr e s t r u c t u r i n g , w i t h i ts l o g i c o f g l o b a l iz a t io n , s y s t e m a t i c a ll y e r o d e sl o c a l e s o f s e l f- s u b s is t e n c e m o d e s o f l i v e l ih o o d b a s e d u p o n p r i n c i p le so f a u t o n o m y a n d " s e l f- p r o d u c t io n " i n t he n a m e o f i n te g r a ti o n w i th ag l o b a l m a r k e t . S u b s is te n c e e c o n o m i e s e v e r y w h e r e - - o f w h i c h t h ep r i m a r y e x a m p l e is p e a s a n t c u l t iv a t i o n - - s e r v e b a si c n e e d s t h r o u g h s el f-p r o v i s i o n i n g , a n d a r e v e r y l it tl e d e p e n d e n t o n th e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h em a r k e t . S u c h m o d e s o f l i v e l i h o o d m i g h t l o o k p o o r f r o m a c a p it a li s tp o i n t o f v i e w b u t n o t f r o m t h at o f t h e p a r t i c ip a n t s . V a n d a n a S h i v ah e l p s u s t o u n d e r s t a n d t hi s:

Culturally perceived poverty need no t be real m ate rial poverty:subsistence economies which serve b as ic n ee ds through self-provisioning are not po or in the sen se of being deprived. Y et theideology of development declares them so because they don'tparticipate overwhelmingly in the market economy, and do notconsum e comm odities provided for and distributed through the m arket7 7

M a r k e t - o r i e n t e d m o d e l s o f d e v e l o p m e n t p e r c e i v e su b s is te n t f o rm s o fl i v e l i h o o d a s a d a n g e r a n d s y s t e m a t i c a ll y tr y t o d e s tr o y t h e m .


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In d e e d , t h e s t o ry o f m o d e rn i t y is a s to ry o f th e e ro s i o n o fau tonom ous m ode l s o f l ive l ihoo d by the fo rces o f indus t r ia l i za tion andt h e a c c o m p a n y i n g m e c h a n i c a l w o r l d v i e w . I t i s a t r a g i c s t o ry o f t h er e p l a c e m e n t o f a " s u b s i s t e n c e e c o n o m y i n w h i c h r e s o u rc e s , g o o d s ,m o n e y , o r l a b o r w e r e e x c h a n g e d f o r co m m o d i ti e s b y t h e o p e n -e n d e da c c u m u l a t i o n o f p ro f i t i n a n i n t e rn a t i o n a l m a rk e t . "7 8 A s C a ro l y nM e rc h a n t t e l ls u s :

Liv ing an imate na tu re d ied , w hi le dead inan imate mone y was endow edwi th l i fe . Increas ing ly cap i ta l and marke t would assume the o rgan ica t tr ibutes o f g rowth , s t reng th , ac t iv i ty , p regna ncy , w eakness , d ecay ,an d co l lap s e o b s cu r in g an d m y s t i fy in g t h e n ew u n d e r ly in g so c ia lr e la t io n s o f p ro d u c t i o n an d r ep ro d u c t i o n t h a t m ak e eco n o m ic g ro w thand p rogress poss ib le . Natu re , women , b lacks , and wage laborerswere s e t o n a p a th t o ward a n ew s t a tu s a s "n a tu ra l " an d h u m anres o u rces fo r t h e m o d e rn wo r ld s y s t em . 79

Th e r e d u c t i o n o f h u m a n b e i n g s to r a w m a t e r ia l s f o r p ro d u c t i o n is a ni n t e g ra l p a r t o f t h e l o g i c o f i n d u s t r i a l i s m . Th e c u r r e n t , h e i g h t e n e de f fo r t to subdu e agr icu l tu re to the log ic o f indus t r i a l i sm has to beu n d e r s t o o d b y t h e f a c t t h a t t h e i n d u s t r i a l m o d e i s i n c a p a b l e o fa u t o n o m o u s r e p ro d u c t i o n a n d c a n n o t s u rv i v e u n l e s s " l o w e n t ro p y i sp u m p e d f ro m t h e e n v i ro n m e n t i nt o t h e e c o n o m i c p ro c e ss . "8 ~ In d u st ri e sh a v e a t h e r m o d y n a m i c n e e d f o r e x t r a c ti o n o f r e so u r ce s f r o m m i n i n ga n d a g r i c u l tu r e - - a p o i n t m a d e c l e ar b y G e o r g e s c o u R o e g e n ' s s e m i n als t u d y , The Entropy Law and the Economic Process, 81 i n w h i c h h ea rg u e s t h a t i n d u s t ry i s " c o m p l e t e l y t r ib u t a ry t o a g r i c u l tu r e a n dm i n i n g . "8 2 W e a r e f a m i l ia r w i t h t h e s e c o nd l a w o f t h e rm o d y n a m i c s i nwh ich the l aw of en t rop y ope ra te s to c rea te an even tua l loss o f ene rgy .Th i s c r e at e s a p e r e n n i a l t h e rm o d y n a m i c c o n s t r a in t w h i c h c o m p e l s t h eindus t r i a l mode to sub jec t o the r s e l f - subs i s t en t modes o fl i v e l i h o o d - - w h i c h d o n o t s u ff e r f r o m t h e s am e t h e r m o d y n a m i cc o n s t r a i n t - - t o i ts o w n l o g i c o f p ro d u c t io n a n d r e p ro d u c t io n . W h i l e f o rt h e s u b s i s t e n t m o d e s o f l i v e l i h o o d u s e fu l t h in g s a r e e n c a p s u l a ti o n s o ft h e " s t r e n g t h o f th e Ea r t h , " a n d " e a r t h - - a n d o n l y th e e a r t h " - -p ro v i d e sthe " s t reng th" o r " fo r ce" fo r l if e . 83 Fo r the indus t r i a l m ode u se v a luei s t h e p ro d u c t o f t h e m a c h i n e . B u t , i n re a l i ty , t h e o n l y "u s e fu l n e s s "w h i c h i s a t t h e h e a r t o f s u c h a m o d e o f p ro d u c t io n a n d r e p ro d u c t i o n i s


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209t h e s u s t e n a n c e o f th e t e c h n o m a s s o f i n d u s tr ie s . A s H o r n b o r g a r g u e s :" V i e w e d i n s o m e r e s p e c ts a s a li v i n g b i o m a s s , t h e su p e r h u m a n

i' t e c h n o m a s s ' o f i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t y m u s t b e f e d s p e c i f i c k i n d s o fsubs t ances i n o rde r t o g row . In the i ndus t r i a l sys t em, t he s t ruc tu re i nr e l a t i o n t o w h ic h s i gn i f i can t use va lues can be a sce r t a ined i s t ha t o fi ndus t r i a l , no t human , r ep roduc t i on . "84 Hornborg fu r t he r he lps us t oun de r s t an d t h i s i nv i s i b l e l og i c : "W herea s hun t e r -ga the re r s , eve n i na reas such a s t he Ka l aha r i dese r t , may r e t r i eve 9 .6 t imes t he ene rgythey spen d on hu n t i ng and ga the r ing , i ndus tr ia l ag r icu l tu r e o f t en y i e ldson ly a f rac t i on o f t he to t a l, hum an-orches t r a t ed ene rgy i npu t . Such aw a s t e f u l m o d e o f p r o d u c t i o n c a n o n l y c o n ti n u e s o l o n g a s i t is" s u b s i d i z e d " b y a n a s y m m e t r i c w o r l d t r a d e i n e n e r g y . ' 8 5

The Ind i an t echno log i s t , C . V . Sheshadr i , he lps us t o s ee t h i s l i nkas we l l. F o r Sheshadr i , t he s econd l aw o f t he rmodyn amics w orks a s ane n e r g y - q u a l i t y - m a r k e r a n d p r o v i d e s a g u i d e to t h e u t i li z a t io n o fr e sources t o t he g r ave de t r imen t o f t he poor and gene ra l l y a l l t hosewh o a r e ou t s i de t he s t ruc tu re o f oppor tun i t ie s i n a cou n t ry l i ke Ind i a .S h e s h a d r i a n d B a l a ji a r g u e : " B y i ts v e r y d e f i n it io n , e n e r g y b e c o m e sava i l ab le on ly t h rough a con ve r s ion p roces s and accord ing t o t he mo s tsupreme l aw o f en t ropy , a p ropor t i on o f ene rgy i s a lway s l os t i n sucha p roces s . Fu r the r , und e r r e s t r ic t ed cond i t i ons , t he lo s s can bemin imized and r ea l i za t i on o f such a cond i t i on i s , t he r e fo re , e s sen t i a lfo r ope ra t i ng a p roces s e f f i c i en t l y . A t t h i s l eve l , t he concep t , v i z .e n e r g y c a n n o t b e v i e w e d s e p a ra te f r o m i ts u s e a n d i t s e l f b e c o m e s ac r i t e r i o n fo r d ec id ing t he va lue o f re sources fo r u t i li z a t i on p roces sesa t hand . En e rgy becomes a qua l i ty marke t i n r e source u t i li z a ti on in thes a m e w a y t h a t m o n e y b e c o m e s a m a r k e r i n e x c h a n g e . ,8 6 B u t e n e r g yas va lue does no t s im ply dec ide t he na tu re o f u t i l iz a t i on o f r e sources ,i t a l so de t e rmines t he d i r ec t i on o f t he f l ow o f r e sources . As Sun i lSahash rabudhey ex p l a ins : "M od ern ene rge t i c is on ly a t oo l to a l l oca t er e s o u r c e s s o a s t o p ro m o t e m o d e r n i n d u s t ry a n d m o d e r n l i f e s ty l e a teno rmo us cos t s to t hose ou t s i de t he m od ern s t ruc tu re s . " 87


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210T h e D i a l e c t i c B e t w e e n G l o b a l i z a t i o n a n d L o c a l i z a t i o n : T o w a r d s aR e c o v e r y o f t h e P r i n c i p le o f S h a k t i

I n d u s t r i a l i s m h a s a n i n - b u i l t n e e d f o r t h e " t h e r m o d y n a m i c s o fi m p e r i a l is m " a n d i ts g lo b a l i z a ti o n h a s e r o d e d a u t o n o m o u s m o d e s o fl i v e l i h o o d b o t h w i t h i n th e W e s t a n d t h e E a s t . T h e r e s u l t h a s b e e nd e v a s t a t in g a n d w e h a v e s e e n th is w i t h s p ec i f ic r e f e re n c e t o w o m e n .T h e p r e d i c a m e n t o f w o m e n i n c o n t e m p o r a r y g l o b a l r e s tr u c t u ri n g is n o tc o n f i n e d t o t h e m ; i t is a m i r r o r o f t h e a l l- p e r v a s iv e p r o c e s s o fd i s lo c a t i o n a n d d i s r u p t io n t h a t b o t h w o m e n a n d m e n a r e s u b j e c t to . I nm e d i t a t i n g u p o n t h e c o n t e m p o r a r y p r e d i c a m e n t , t h e l a s t t h i n g t h a tf e m i n i s t s s h o u l d d o i s t o p u t a purdah a r o u n d s o - c a l l e d w o m e n ' si s su e s . I t is t h e d i a l e c ti c b e t w e e n i d e n ti ty a n d d i f f e r e n c e w h i c hc o n s t i t u t e s b o t h o u r d i s l o c a t i o n a n d d r e a m t o d a y . T h e m u l t ip l e - l e v e lt r a n s f o r m a t i o n t h at i s ta k i n g p l ac e i n o u r c o n t e m p o r a r y w o r l d c a nh a r d l y b e c a p t u r e d b y a n y f o r m o f e s se n t ia l is m . I t is p e r h a p s f o r th i sr e a s o n t h a t B u r r i s w r i t e s :

However, despite the polarization and the persistence of politicalissues, the technocratic system is a unified system, and one whichunites, eve n as it divides, ex perts and non-experts, men and wom en,whites and non-whites, core and periphery. Although expert sectorand non-expert sector wom en may face different specific issues, themo re fundam ental political questions which they confront are similar,and concern the structuring of technocratic organizations and theworld-wide technocratic system. These concerns center aroundconfronting polarization, centralization, and gender b ias oftechnocratic organizations, n one of w hich is inevitable.88

B u t i n c o n f r o n t i n g t h is c o m m o n t as k , B u r r i s n o n e t h e l e s s a rg u e s t h a tw o m e n c a n b r in g t h e ir v a n t a g e p o in t to b e a r u p o n t h i s ta s k o f e p o c h a lr e c o n s t r u c t i o n . S h e t h in k s t h a t " m a r g i n a l i t y w i t h i n t e c h n o c r a c y c a n b ea n a d v a n t a g e f o r w o m e n , w e l l s it u at in g t h e m t o c h a l le n g e t e c h n o c r a t i cn o r m s , s u b s t it u t in g f e m i n i s t v a l u e s an d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l f o r m s . ' 8 9 F o rB u r r i s , " W o m e n ' s e n h a n c e d s e ns e o f c o n n e c t e d n e s s , s o c ia l ly a n de c o l o g i c a l l y , p r o v i d e s t h e b a si s f o r a m o r a l v i s i o n w h i c h c a n s e r v e a sa n i m p o r t a n t c o r r e c t i v e t o t h e l i m i t a t i o n s o f s c i e n t i f i c r a t i o n a l i t y . - 9 0

H e r a r g u m e n t s a n d h o p e s a re s h a re d b y m a n y f e m i n is ts . O n e o f t h em o s t c r e a t i v e a m o n g t h e m i s V a n d a n a S h i v a . S h i v a a r g u e s t h a t t h e


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m e c h a n i c a l w o r l d v i e w o f m o d e r n i ty , w h i c h h a s s p e lt t h e " D e a t h o fN a t u r e , " h a s a l s o i n v o l v e d a r a d ic a l c o n c e p t u a l s h i ft aw a y f ro m t h et r a d i t i o n a l I n d i a n c o s m o l o g i c a l v i e w o f ( a n i m a t e a n d i n a n i m a t e )"na tu re a s Pra kr i t i , " a s "ac t iv i ty and d ive rs i ty" and a s an "exp res s iono f S h a k t i , t h e f e m i n i n e a n d c r e a ti v e p r i n c i p l e o f c o s m o s , " w h i c h " i nc o n j u n c t i o n w i t h t h e m a s c u l i n e p r i n c i p l e (Purusha) . . . crea tes thew o r l d . ''9 1 S h i v a p l e a d s fo r a r e c o v e ry o f t h e f e m i n i n e p r i n c i p le o fS h a k t i in o rde r to re in teg ra te the d iv i s ion caused by sc ience andt e c h n o l o g y .

F r o m a n o t h e r p e r s p e c t iv e , t h e p h i l o s o p h e r a n d t e c h n o l o g i s t C . V .Sheshadr i a l so p leads fo r rev i t a li za t ion o f the p r inc ip le o f Shak t i to f inda w a y o u t o f t h e e n t ro p i c m o d e l o f d e v e l o p m e n t . S h e s h a d r i f i n d sprob lem s w i th the s econd l aw o f the rmod ynam ics wh ich is a t the cen te ro f m o d e rn i n d u s t ri a l a n d t e c h n o l o g i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t . S h e s h a d r i s e ek st o d e v e l o p a n e w e n e rg y q u a l i t y m a rk e r , w h i c h h e c a l l s S h a k t i . H ed e v e l o p s h i s c o n c e p t o f "S h a k t i " w i t h t h e p o s tu l a te o f m a s s - e n e rg y :

A l l f o r m s o f e n e r g y h a v e m a s s e q u i v a l e n t s ( w i t h s u i t a b l ed i m e n s i o n a l i z i n g f a c t o r s ) . T h u s , t h e i n t e r n a l e n e r g y o r e n e r g yc o m b u s t i o n o f a m a t e r i a l c a n b e c o n s i d e r e d t o h a v e e q u i v a l e n t s i nt e r m s o f m a s s . T h i s e n a b l es u s t o re d e f i n e a n e w c l a ss o f p r o p e r t yf u n c t i o n s , S h a k t i , t h a t c o m b i n e s m a s s a n d e n e r g y i n s u c h a w a y t h a tt h e q u a l i t y m a r k e r s c a n b e a s s i g n e d t o v a r i o u s m a t e r i a l s f o rc o m p a r i s o n o n a c o m m o n b a s i s. S h a k ti is a p r o p e r t y t h a t c o m b i n e s th ee n e r g y o f c o m b u s t i o n a n d , s a y , t h e f o o d v a lu e o f th e m a t e ri a l. I ts h o u l d b e n o t e d t h a t c o m b u s t i o n i s a h i g h l y i r r e v e r s i b l e r e a c t i o n t h a to x i d i z e s t h e m a t e r i a l r a p i d l y a n d e d i b i l i t y i s a k i n t o c o m b u s t i o n( e s p e c ia l ly o f c a r b o h y d r a t e s ) b u t g o e s t h r o u g h a s e r i e s o f s l o w e r s t e p sw i t h c o n d i t i o n s c l o s e r t o r e v e r s i b i l i t y , a n d l e a d i n g t o t h e s a m e e n dp r o d u c t s . H e n c e , i n d e f i n i n g o n e k i n d o f S h a k t i , w e h a v e r e a l l y u s e dt h e s a m e o x i d i z i n g p r o p e r t y o f t h e m a t e r i a l . I t s h o u l d a l s o b e n o t i c e dtha t Shak t i i s de fmed as a c l a s s o f p roper ty func t ions t ha t can combinev a r i o u s k i n d s o f e n e r g y a n d t h e i r m a s s e q u i v a l e n t s . 92

S h e s h a d r i 's m o d e l o f Shak t i a s a n e w e n e rg y -q u a l i t y m a rk e r p ro p o s e sa t r a n s fo rm a t i v e v i e w o f t h e h u m a n c o n d i t i o n w i t h a n o t i o n o f ti m ewh ich i s no t on ly un id i rec t iona l and reve rs ib le , bu t a l so reve rs ib le andc y c l i c a l . I t m i g h t s e e m a n a n a c h ro n i s m to j u x t a p o s e S h i v a ' s i d e a o fS h a k t i a n d S h e s h a d r i ' s b u t t h e r e a r e c o n n e c t io n s b e t w e e n t h e m w h i c hjus t a l i t t l e syn the t i c th ink ing can eas i ly iden t i fy . As a t echno log i s t ,


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S h e s h a d r i p r o v i d e s u s a n a l t e r n a t i v e t o t h e d o m i n a n t i n d u s t r i a lp a r a d ig m . S h e s h a d r i 's t ra n s f o rm a t i o n a l m o d e l o f Shakti c a n e n a b l e u st o t r a n s f o r m e v e n t h e " w a s t e " p r o d u c e d f r o m e n e r g y g e n e r a t i o n t os o m e t h i n g u s e f u l . A s S h e s h a d r i a r g u e s :

JI t is p o s s i b le t o c o n c e i v e o f i n te r c o n n e c ti o n s o r p r o c e s s e s w h i c h w o u l dc o n v e r t w h a t is " r e j e c t e d " t o e n v i ro n m e n t , t h e " w a s t e " f r o m e n e r g yu s e , i n to f o o d . F o r e x a m p l e , t h e o f f g a s , t h e w a s t e f r o m c o m b u s t i o no f f o s s i l f u e l s ( to I g e n e r a t e u s e f u l e n e r g y ) m a y b e u s e d i n f o o dp r o d u c t i o n . T h u s , w e a r r i v e a t a n i m p o r t a n t c o n c e p t , n a m e l y , t h a t i na c o u n t r y l i k e o u r ~ , " w a s t e " i s a f r e e g o o d , a r e s o u r c e . T h e w h o l es c i e n c e , o r k n o w l d ~ t g e s y s t e m , w i l l h a v e t o b e m o d i f i e d t o s u i t t h i sv i e w w h i c h e n a b le ~ u s e o f w a s t e a s r e s o u r c e . 93

F r o m a c o s m o l o g i c a l p o i n t o f v i e w , Shakti iS p r imar i l y conce rnedw i th the "ca pa c i ty 'ol~ br in g for th l i fe . ' '94 A f ter a l l the deba tes inf em in i s m abou t e s se n t i a l i sm and u n ive r sa l i sm , i~' i s t h i s " c apac i t y tobr ing for th l i fe" tha t s t i l l works as the d i f fe rer~ t ia t ing a t t r ibute ofwo men . E ve n t houg h i t i s t rue t ha t we a r e a l l he rm aphro d i t e s i n somed e g r e e , t h e r e v i t a li z a t i o n o f t h is p r i n c ip l e o f Shakti w i t h i n a l l o f u s ,i nc lud ing t he ma les , r equ i r e s an apprec i a t i on o f t h i s d i s t i nc t i vef e m i n i n e p r i n c ip l e o f Shakti. I t i s the cul ture of Shakti--its c rea t i v i t ya n d u r g e f o r s y n t h e s i s - - t h a t w e b a d l y n e e d to d a y i n o u r c u r r e n t p h a s eo f g l o b a l i z a ti o n w h i c h i s b e n t u p o n m a k i n g m o n e y a n d p o w e r t h eheg em onic l ang uage o f t he hu m an cond i t ion . I t a l one can i n t roduce t hem u c h n e e d e d r e f l e x i v i t y t o t h e d i a l e c t i c b e t w e e n g l o b a l i z a t i o n a n dl o c a l iz a t io n a n d c a n e n a b l e u s t o p r e s e rv e o u r o w n c u l t u ra l f ra m e s o fp r o d u c t i o n a n d r e p r o d u c t io n i n th e f a ce o f th e g l o b a l o n s l a u g h t o f t h en e w e c o n o m y . 95 U n i v e r s a l i z a t i o n o f t h i s p r i n c i p l e o f Shakti w o u l dprov ide us a c r ea t i ve a l t e rna t i ve t o t he " f l aw ed un ive r sa l i sm "96 o ft echnoc racy . Th i s i s a daun t i ng t a sk and , g iven t he ac tua l a s symet r i c so f o u r c o n t e m p o r a r y w o r l d , a t p r e s e n t c a n b e b e s t l o o k e d o n a s au t o p i a . B u t w e n e e d h i g h i d e a l s a n d , a s w e r e v i t a l i z e o u r o w np r i n c i p l e s o f Shakti to t ake a s tep towards th i s c rea t ive rea l iza t ion , i tw o u l d b e h e l p f u l to r e a l i z e th a t :

G e n e r a l - p u r p o s e m o n e y w a s t he u n i v e rs a l s o l v en t w h ic h g a v e W e s t e r ni n d u s tr y ac c e s s t o e n e r g y r e s o u r c e s o f t h e T h i r d W o r l d . . . . A s t h ea n c ie n t " l o o p " b y w h i c h l iv i n g - t im e w a s e x c h a n g e d f o r f o o d c a m e t o


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be m ed ia ted by indus t ry , l ife had to be redef ined as " labo r . " Perhaps ,in the long run, the only way to l iberate hum an bodies an d souls fr omthe grip of th is paras i t ic , synthet ic ( industr ial ) b iom ass is to refus e tod e f i n e n a t u re a s " r aw m a t e r i a l s " an d " l i f e a s l ab o r . " Su ch acosmolog ica l sh i f t m igh t make us s top reward ing "p rod uct ion" ( i . e . ,des t ruc t ion) fo r i ts o w n sake . 97

Not e s.

.

.

.

.

6.

.

8 .

.

10.11.12.13.14.15.16.17.

C y n t h i a C o ck b u rn , "Tech n o l o g i ca l C h an g e i n a C h an g i n g Eu ro p e : D o es I tM e a n t he S a m e f o r W o m e n a s f o r M e n ? " i n Women's Studies InternationalForum vol. 15, no. 3 (1992), p. 85.B ev e r l y B u r r i s , "Tech n o c ra t i c Org an i za t i o n an d Gen d e r , " i n Women'sStudies International Forum, vol. 12. no. 4 (1989), p. 449.Fan t u C h e ru , "S t ru c t u ra l Ad j u s t m en t , P r i m ary R es o u rce Trad e an dSus ta inab le Development in Sub-Saharan Afr ica , " in World D evelopment,vol. 20, no. 4 (1992), p. 498.P lease see M ichae l P io re and Char les Sabe l, The Second Industrial Divide:Possibilities for Prosperity (N.Y . : B as ic Books , 1984) ; and Dav id Ha rvey ,"Flex ible Accum ulat ion through Urbanization: Reflect ion on Po stm ode rnismi n th e A m e r i c a n C i t y , " i n Antipode, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 260-286.Ern es t M an d e l , Late Capitalism (London : N ew L ef t Books , 1975).Please see Scot t Lash an d Jonathan Friedman, "Introduct ion: Subjectivi ty andM o d ern i t y 's O t h e r s , " i n Sco tt Las h an d J o n a t han F r i ed m an ed s . , Modernityand Identity (London: Basi l Blackwell , 1992), p . 29.A l a i n To u ra i n e , Th e Self-Production o f Society (Ch icago , i977) .P lea se see S tan ley J . Tam biah , Cu l ture , Th oug ht and Action: AnAnthropological Perspective (Boston: H arva rd Univ ers i ty Press , 1985).P lease see A ma r tya Sen , " The S tandard o f Liv ing , " in S . M . M cC urr in ed . ,Tanner Lecture on Hum an Values (Cam bridge and Utah Univers i t ies Press ,1986); and A nan ta Gi r i , "Q ual i ty o f Li fe and the M ethod o f Sc ience: AC o n t em p o ra ry C r i t i q u e , " i n Gandhi Marq, 1993.B u r r i s , "Tech n i ca l Org an i za t io n an d Ge n d e r . "B en n e t t Ha r r i s o n an d Har ry B l u es t o n e , Th e Great U -T urn : CapitalistRestructuring and the P olarizing o f America (N .Y . : Basic Book s, 1988).Th i e r ry N o y e l le , Bey ond Industrial Dualism: M arket and Job Segmentationin the N ew Economy (Boulder et a l . : Westview Press , 1987), p . 101.P io re and Sabel , The Second Industrial Divide.Ibid . , p. 298.Ibid . , p. 293No y e l l e , Beyo nd Industrial Dualism.IbM., p. 2.


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18.19.20 .21 .22.23 .24.25.

26.27.28.29.30.31.32.33.34.35.36.37.38.39.40.41 .

42 .43 .44 .

45 .46 .47.48 .

Please see A. Portes , e t a l . eds . , The I n f o r m a l E c onom y (Baltimore: TheJohns Hopkins Univers i ty Press , 1989).Marlis Buchman, The Scr ip t o f L i f e in Modern Soc ie ty : Ent ry in to Ad ul thoo di n a C hang i ng W or l d (Chicago: 1989), pp. 48-50.K a t h e r i n e N ew man , F al l ing f r om G r ace : T he E x pe r ie nc e o f D o wn wa r dMobi l i t y in the Amer ican Middle Class (N .Y.: F ree Press , 1988).Harr ison and Bluestone, The Great U-Turn, p. 32.I b i d . , p. 31.Aihw a Ong, "The G ender and Labo r Poli tics of Postm oderni ty ," in A n n u a lR e v i e w o f A n t h ro p o l og y , vol. 20 (1991), pp. 279-280.Shoshana Zuboff , In the Ag e o f the Sm ar t Machine: The Future o f Work andP o w e r (N .Y .: Ba sic Book s, 1988).Please see Harry Shaiken, W or k T r ans f o r m e d (N.Y.: Holt , Reinhart &W inston, 1984); and Fay e Ginsburg and Rayna Rapp, "The Pol i t ics ofReproduct ion," in A nnua l R e v i e w o f A n t hr opo logy , vol. 20 (1991), pp. 311-343.Z u b o f f , I n t he A g e o f t he Sm ar t M ac h i ne , p. 337.I b i d . , pp. 349; 131.I b i d . , p. 132.I b i d . , p. 132.Burris , Technocrat ic Organizat ion and Gender , p. 449.I b i d . , p. 450.Ib id .I b i d . , p. 455.I b i d . , p. 457.I b i d . , p. 456.Ib id .Ib id .Ong, "The Gender and L abor Po l it ics o f Pos tmodern i ty ," p . 281 .I b i d . , p. 283I b i d . , pp. 283-284.Maria Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, F or W e A r e So l d, I and M y P e op l e (Albany:Sta te Univers i ty o f New Y ork Press , 1983 ; and Aihwa Ong , Spir i t o fRes i s tance an d Cap i ta l i st D isc ip l ine : Fac tory W omen in M alays ia (Albany:Sta te Univers i ty o f Ne w Y ork Press , 1987).Burris , Technocrat i c O rgani za t ion an d Gender, p. 456.Ong , "The Gender and Labo r Po li ti cs o f Pos tmodern i ty ," p . 291 .Aihw a Ong, "Glob al Industries and Ma lay Peasants in Peninsular M alaysia,"in June N ash and Ma ria Patricia Fernandez-Kelly eds., W om e n , M e n and theI n t e r na t i ona l D i v i si on o f L ab or (Albany: State Univers i ty of New YorkPress, 1983), p. 430.I b i d . , p. 431.Ib id .I b i d . , p. 436.Ib id .


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49.50.51.52.53.54.

55.

56.57.58.59.60.61.62.63.64.65.66.67.68.69.70.71.72.73.74.75.76.77.78.79.80.

81.

Ibid . , p. 435.Ong, "The Gender and Labor Politics of Postmodernity," p. 302.Ibid . , p. 303.Ibid., p. 296.Ibid . , pp. 296; 305.Linda Lim, "Capitalism, Imperialism, and Patriarchy: The Dilemma ofThird-World Women Workers in Multinational Factories," in June Nash andMaria Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, W omen , Men and the International Divisiono f La b o r, pp. 70-91.Lynn Bolles, "Kitchens Hit by Priorities: Employed Working-class JamaicanWomen Confront the IMF," in June Nash and Maria Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, Wom en, M en a nd the International Division o f Labor, pp. 138-160;142-143.Ibid.Ibid.Ibid.Ibid.Ibid.Ibid.Ibid.

p. 143.p. 150.pp. 156-157.p. 153.p. 150.p. 151.

Cheru, "Structural Adjustment."Ibid . , p. 504.Ibid . , p. 499.Ibid.Ibid.Ibid., p.Ibid.Ibid., p.Ibid., p.VandanaWomen,Ibid., p.

503.502.508.Shiva, Staying Alive: W omen, Ecology and Survival (Delhi: Kali for1989), p. 3.86.Ibid . , p. 179.

Cited in Bina Agarwal, "The Gender and Environment Debate: Lessons fromIndia," in Feminist Studies, vol. 18, no. 1 (1992), p. 138.Ibid., p. 140.Shiva, Staying A live, p. 10.Carolyn Merchant, TheDeath o f Nature: W omen, Ecology, a nd the ScientificRevolution (London: Wildwood House, 1980), p. 288.Ibid.Alf Hornborg, "Machine Fetishism, Value and the Image of the UnlimitedGood: Towards a Thermodynamics of Imperialism," M an (n.s.) vol. 27, no.1 (1992), pp. 1-18.Georgescou Roegen, The Entropy Law s and Economic Process (Cambridge:Harvard University Press, 1971).


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82.83.

84.85.86.

87.88.89.90.91.92.

93.94.95.96.97.

Hornborg , "M achine Fe t i sh i sm, Value and the Image o f Unl imi ted Goo d ,"p. 7.Stephen Gude ma n and Alberts Rivera, "Co lom bian Conversations: TheSt reng th o f the Ear th ," Current Anthropology, vol. 30, no. 3 (1989), pp.267-281.H ornb org, "M achine Fet ishism, Value and the Image of the Unl imitedG o o d , " p . 6 .Ibid. , p. 10.C. V. Seshadri quoted in Sunil Sahashrabudhey, Freedom From DegradingLaws of a Degrading O rder (Varanasi: G andhian Institute of Studies, 1988),p . 20.Ibid. , p. 26.Burris , "Tech nocrat ic Organization and Ge nder," p . 458.Ibid. , p. 459.Ibid.Qu oted in Ag arwal , "The G ender and Environment De bate," p . 124.C. V. Seshadri , "Energy in the Indian Context and a DNA-model ofDevelopment (Sr i AMM Murugappa Chat t i a r Research Cen ter , Madras :Mo nograph Series on Engineering and Photosynthetic Systems, vol. 7, 1980).Inte rview with C. V . Seshadri, "C . V. Seshadri: Scientist as Innovator-Epis temologis t ," PPSTBul le t in , nos. 19 and 20 (June 1990), pp. 87, 92.Frederick Marglin quoted in Harv ey Cox, Many M ansions (Boston: BeaconPress, 1988), p. 57.Ple ase see, Ananta Giri, "Social Developm ent as a Global Challenge," SocialAction, July-September, 1992.Please seem Alv in Gouldner, The Dialectic o f Ideology and Technology(London: Macmil lan, 1976).H ornb org , "M achine Fet ishism, V alue and the Image of the Unl imitedGood ," p . 11 .

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