IDEAS IN ACTION: SOCIAL INQUIRY SPRING SEMINAR SERIES

Feminism and globalism in the Asia-Pacific: Mexico, Canada, Australia
Dr James Goodman

Globalism reorders societies. As gender hierarchy is experienced and contested in new ways, feminisms are reoriented and transformed, opening up new avenues and leverage. Feminists are key players in counter-globalist movements, contesting the worldwide feminisation of poverty, at multiple levels. The ten years since the landmark UN Beijing Conference on Women has seen intense debate about the need for cross-national, cross-cultural and transnational strategies for action. Local and national feminist action has been redefined, with intense debates between 'third wave', 'third world' and 'livelihood' approaches.

The paper focuses on local and national feminist action in the context of globalism. As globalism reorients state power, to address market power rather than social priorities, national-level feminisms have become markedly more critical. State policy and national mythologies are more intensely challenged, as directly disadvantaging women. Such
challenges are enacted with and in the name of local women bearing the brunt of market-life - especially women from migrant, indigenous and national minority contexts. The paper debates how national and local feminisms are thereby pluralised and revitalised, drawing from examples in Mexico, Canada and Australia. The paper shows how these agendas reflect and condition globalism - forcing new frameworks for
consciousness, action and transformation onto the agenda.