The Effects of Globalization on Women in East Africa

Gender inequality has maintained the suppression of women worldwide and unfortunately has impacted third world countries with the greatest magnitude. Everyday in these countries there are countless occurrences of physical, emotional, and psychological abuse that must be acknowledged as a primary concern for the world to help overcome. It is however important to recognize specific cultural and religious practices of gender hierarchy that are accepted by women in these countries. While keeping this in mind it is of paramount importance to keep sight of the consequences of abusing these cultural practices at the expense of women’s liberation and development.

Globalization did not bring the promised benefits people hoped to have. It brought poverty instead. “ The actual number of people living in poverty has actually increased by almost 100 million,” (Stiglitz 222). Africa has high expectation with colonial independence. The continent is in misery and is falling.

The book “Global Woman” edited by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild focuses on the lives of women that leave their third world country to work in homes as nannies or servants and others even sex work. These women take on that labor without knowing what results will come from their desperate action. The authors explain and recount the stories of many of the women whom have had to sacrifice their lives. These women sacrifice it all to provide for themselves and their families and give them a better life, this is told through different chapters.

In many regions of Africa it is still common to practice female genital mutilation and other forms of violence against women in patriarchal societies and through the IAW many women and girls have been saved from such mutilation. Other programs include the provision of contraceptives for women, in particular those in poorer undeveloped nations. Pre and post natal care as well as other programs which foster the development and growth of women in leadership roles and avenues for women to create and develop businesses. These programs and campaigns have fostered the growth of so many women whether tangibly through their successes or intangibly through their improved self confidence and belief to know they can do better and should expect better despite their past. It has empowered women to overcome boundaries decades ago were impenetrable. As with any other process of change, they too have encountered challenges. Some of these are the same obstacles they try to overcome; gender biases and discrimination. Others include effecting a change in the mindset of individuals and in gaining support for their cause in male dominated countries and cultures where it is the status quo for women to 'know their place' and stay at home and 'raise' the kids. They also face economic and political challenges from governments and corporations who still believe the best senior executives should be males as opposed to promotions based on

Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild’s collection of writing titled: Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex workers in the New Economy, published in 2002, is a good description of the dirty little secrets that haunt many underprivileged, non-white, Third World women experience. This reading is a rather detailed story of hard working women that are trying to support their families back in their native lands. Domestic servants are nothing new to the world- it’s something that has been passed down through many generations, continuing the persona of oppressed women. Millions of people, mostly from poor countries, flee hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles to seek better pay for their families.

Because of the relatively higher value placed on male education, young women are often encouraged by their families to leave school and migrate to urban areas or Export Processing Zones (EPZ) to work in the garment industry. As outsiders in a new community, these young women lack the legal or family support they might receive in their own community and therefore, have to spend a larger amount of income on supporting themselves. Consequently, these young women who are no longer receiving an education often find it hard to earn enough money to send back to their family.[21]

“This hampers Africa’s development by excluding the perspectives, skills and dynamism of half the population” (Takyiwaa Manuh).

The ideas that have been constructed surrounding gender within Africa has severely impacted the well-being and disempowered the women and children living within this culture. Significantly less girls go to school, women earn less money than men for paid labor, harmful traditional practices affect their health, and certain cultural norms act as a hindrance to women moving ahead in society. But the larges areas of disempowerment remain in areas such as education and the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). Common events such as rape, torture and violence are all detailed through the biography Go Go Mama by Sally Sara. The novel tells the story of Eugenie Muhayimana who survived the Rwandan Genocide by being forced into being a sex slave to the Hutu people but in the process contracting HIV. The inequality between men and women is extremely prevalent within the culture of Africa and as a result of this women are disempowered greatly.

An analysis of gender, class and westernization all combine together into multi layered complications that Africans faced in the colonial and postcolonial period. These challenges come from examples such as the slave trade and the break from colonial power to the political complications that limit the development in the rest of the country. Westernization dismantled a lot of social and political authority within Africa and created a new standard of class that favors those who are affiliated with European heritage and its is still being embedded today. Gender plays into this role as well as it can be used as a way to deprive one's dignity and status or can be a way to show one’s wealth.

Women has been always facing a lot of issues just for being women, society has been a problem for women because people are prone to categorize and how women are being educated is what will define them. But not every woman has the opportunity to get education or a decent work, Women are forced to work in any type of work that does not require a degree or education. Textile factories place their manufactured in poor areas as Central America, In El Salvador is one of the most poor countries in Central America following by Nicaragua. Salvadoran women who haven’t received any kind of education seems to be forced to work in textile mills or most known as maquilas because they have necessities and food to bring home for their kids. When Salvadoran

According to the World Bank, women make up 70% of the world’s poor and their wages world wide are on average 50% to 80% of men’s. One third of all households word wide are headed by women, they are responsible for half the world’s food production, and yet they own just one per cent of the world’s property. The majority of workers in sweatshops are women and the majority of unpaid labour is done by women in every region of the world. Further, women make up two-thirds of the one billion people who are illiterate and 60% of the 100 million who have no access to primary education.

Burkina Faso, located in West Africa, is a country that is known to be one of the less developed countries in Africa. Living in the modernized world today, we see a lot of improvements made all around the world to level the statuses of individuals in the society. However, Burkina Faso seems to be unsuccessful in doing so in comparison to its neighboring countries. Today, Burkina Faso is still facing a lot of common problems such as poverty, smuggling and an increasing number of HIV/AIDS cases. Yet we can see most clearly the country being undeveloped when regarding the situation of women in Burkina Faso. As a result, despite many efforts and even as Burkina Faso has been developed and modernized over the years, there are still many limitations

Since 1960, African cities have been growing fast, more so than the population. A direct result of this rapid urbanization has been the growth of opportunities for people seeking a better, comfortable life with their transition out of rural settings. For decades, this increased centralization has brought various cultures, perspectives, and talents together in an effort to place Africa on the global, economic scale. However, a drastic consequence of the growth of cities has been an increased inequality amongst its members, both economically and in terms of the standard of living. Income inequality creates a significant discrepancy between the rich and the poor. Whereas large manufacturers enjoy wealth through their involvement in an export-oriented economy, laborers work through grueling hours in tiring conditions to earn minimum wage which can barely

“The 1 to 2 billion poorest in the world, who don't have food for the day, suffer from the worst disease: globalization deficiency. The way globalization is occurring could be much better, but the worst thing is not being part of it. For those people, we need to support good civil societies and government” (Rosling). In Little Bee by Chris Cleave, globalization has been shown to affect Little Bee very negatively. Little Bee is a Nigerian child who was forced to leave Nigeria. She was forced to do this because “the men” were going to kill her if she stayed there. These “men” were oil men, who had taken over Little Bee’s village for an oil company. The men killed everyone in Little Bee’s village because they wanted to cover up what the oil company

The declaration that African development is hindered by internal and external factors is a challenged issue. To a greater extent, one may agree to this perception that Africa does not occupy an important position in terms of global geopolitics. However, this cannot be the only factor explaining Africa’s underdevelopment. Other factors such as many African countries being landlocked, poverty, weak regional integration, agricultural immobility, inadequate trade links, poor infrastructure, external influences, political instability and civil wars have shattered Africa’s development. This essay will therefore define ‘world system’ and assess how some of the above factors have internally and externally contributed to hinder Africa’s growth