Suchergebnisse

This is a video of Joan Tronto's Keynote address at the Sexual Contract: 30 Years On conference held at the School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University on 10-11 May 2018.In her address, Tronto begins with Carole Pateman's insight in The Sexual Contract (1988) about the incapacity of contract to produce freedom and equality, and considers the possibilities for an alternative organisation of human relations based on care ethics. She observes that in the years since the publication of The Sexual Contract, neoliberalism has resulted in a rewriting of the sexual contract. Under neoliberalism, the entry of women into the labour market, the full commodification of women's work and increasing economic disparities between men have resulted in some women becoming 'honorary individuals', substantially autonomous of men, with the consequent disruption of both men's political and sexual domination of women. This process has, in turn, given rise to a violent, misogynist and antidemocratic backlash in the form of neopopulism, in which men who have lost out economically feel a sense of deprivation, blame women, and seek a return to earlier forms of patriarchal domination. Against this background, she argues, care ethics provides a means of rethinking democratic commitments. A more just allocation of caring responsibilities could lead to a caring democracy without a return to gender subordination.

Examines women's agency in Turkish Islamic revivalism, focusing on the 1980s new veiling movement. The Islamist women's movement is situated along the continuum of Turkish women's activism before scrutinizing how Islamist women's identity is defined in terms of the Kemalist idea of the new Turkish woman & the Islamist construct of the traditional woman. It is argued that Islamist women's veiling in the public sphere confronts the legitimacy of the secular republic & stands in contention with secular women's groups. In addition, some Islamic women are redefining their identity with reference to Islamic sources to challenge the elite patriarchy. Together, these actions, termed "double patriarchy," curtail the possibility of Islamist women's political equality. Thus, demonstrated is how the identity claims of Islamist women are inhibited by the patriarchal Islamist elite & secular, Kemalist women. J. Zendejas

Examines women's agency in Turkish Islamic revivalism, focusing on the 1980s new veiling movement. The Islamist women's movement is situated along the continuum of Turkish women's activism before scrutinizing how Islamist women's identity is defined in terms of the Kemalist idea of the new Turkish woman & the Islamist construct of the traditional woman. It is argued that Islamist women's veiling in the public sphere confronts the legitimacy of the secular republic & stands in contention with secular women's groups. In addition, some Islamic women are redefining their identity with reference to Islamic sources to challenge the elite patriarchy. Together, these actions, termed "double patriarchy," curtail the possibility of Islamist women's political equality. Thus, demonstrated is how the identity claims of Islamist women are inhibited by the patriarchal Islamist elite & secular, Kemalist women. J. Zendejas

Much demographic research implicitly or explicitly views family changes over the past half century as examples of the "pathology of matriarchy" first raised in Moynihan's 1965 report on The Negro Family: The Case for National Action. The basis of this perspective is the correlation between female-headed families and negative outcomes for children. Yet the magnitude of family changes and any ill-effects vary across social groups within their cultural, economic, and political contexts. By reviewing the research on family, market, and policy changes over the past half-century with this in mind, I argue that the pattern of group variation does not point to an inherent pathology of matriarchy because the differences in life chances across family types are minimized where institutional arrangements support greater gender (and class) equality. In fact, the gendered responses to the inter-related family, market, and state institutional changes suggest instead it is a growing pathology of patriarchy disproportionately hurting the life chances of boys and men in post-industrial societies. Only with full gender equality in states, markets, and families will the pathology recede.

This paper elucidates the issues regarding violence against women also termed as gender based violence, in its magnitude and its physical and psychological impact on them. Violence against women is the manifestation of gender inequality which also reflects the psyche of patriarchy to maintain unequal balance of power. The marginalisation and subjugation of women throughout ages have made them vulnerable and victim in the hands of the ruling patriarchy. The gender based violence includes horrendous crimes such as rape, domestic violence, female foeticide, dowry deaths, trafficking, acid attacks, honour killing (the list is not exhaustive) by the potential perpetrators under the mask of spouse, father, brother, son, friend and so on. The paper also unravels that men in power become the biggest perpetrators committing serious crimes against women and leave them helpless and hapless. The heinous crimes leave deep impact on the women psyche thus violating her most basic right to live. Lack of social support, slow legal procedures, and poor laws contribute to the misery of the victim thus making women empowerment a distant dream. The society where half of its population is living under threat could be anything but civilized.

Theories concerning the state sometimes treat it as a rational system. This paper raises questions about this assumption by examining the coherence of the ideological frameworks underlying state policies in Singapore. The contradictions are shown most clearly when state policies deal with gender issues, especially where they concern women. Through an examination of such policies, we show that, under some conditions, state patriarchy may be subverted by the state's capitalistic developmental considerations. We are aware that patriarchy does not stand or fall by state policies alone, but the following article illustrates how such policies can limit the space for negotiation so that it becomes even more difficult for women (and men) to break out of patriarchy. In general, writings about women and the state in Asia have focused on three possible ways of examining the relationship between women and the state— namely, the state as a prime locus of patriarchal power; the contradictions within the state on gender issues; and the ways in which feminists can infiltrate the state and influence its policies (see Blackburn 1994). In this paper, our intention is to focus on women and the Singapore state by considering some state policies that impact on women's lives directly or indirectly, and how these policies have changed or persisted through the years since Singapore's independence in 1965.

[Extract] The head of the government's curriculum review, Kevin Donnelly, said yesterday that corporal punishment in schools was an effective way of disciplining children. The conversation continued, leading to the implication that Donnelly is not averse to reintroducing corporal punishment into Australian schools. Australia is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Australia therefore has obligations to protect children from violence or abuse, by their parents or anyone caring for them (article 19); and discipline in schools should respect children's human dignity (article 28). There is no overarching statute however that implements the provisions of this Convention and regulation of schools and criminal laws that may apply, are left to the states. A number of news outlets have conveniently summarised the legal framework on corporal punishment in schools - see eg Crikey's explainer. There seem to be examples in both West Australia and Queensland where corporal punishment is integral to some schools' program - including in one reported case, the requirement for parents to accept corrective punishment as a condition of enrolling their child. For a government appointee ostensibly holding expertise in education and charged with advising government on matters of education, these comments and their implication are concerning. This is so despite Minister Pyne's rejection of the idea. What these views really tell us about the state of play in Australia at the moment is the resurgence of patriarchal views and patriarchal control. These views are apparent, for example, in the government's discourse around 'lifting and leaning'. Donnelly's views play into this discourse. I'm interested in this post to explore the way in which this patriarchal attitude underpins support for corporal punishment in schools, and the lack of logic in Donnelly's ideas.