Gender and Globalization

3 units

This course is an examination of how gender is integral to contemporary political economies. We'll look at how the meaning of family is changing, with a retreat from marriage in some places (why can a person get a temporary divorce in Iran?) and an expansion of marriage in other places (the granting of marriage to lesbians and gays in South Africa; the ability of American men to buy a bride from the Philippines on the internet). We'll look at health and economy: How are women central to food production worldwide, yet the most typical victims of food scarcity? Alternatively, we'll see advances in women's leadership worldwide, and ask why Rwanda tops the list of countries with the greatest share of women in parliamentary bodies. We'll see women at the forefront of social change. How were several hundred women activists able to thwart Exxon Corporation in Nigeria? Why did Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Matthai see as planting trees as an act of feminist, environmental and political activism?