This Special Issue of Weltwirtschaft & Entwicklung ("World Economy & Development in brief" - No. 9-10/September 2005) presents:
* The Case for a New Feminist Social Critique * The New Aid Architecture: Gender in Poverty Eradication * The Challenge of Islamic Fundamentalism * Privatisation of Public Goods at the Expense of Women? * Bio-politics between Autonomy and Marketisation * Women's Winding Road into the Information Society
Ten years after the World Conference on Women in Beijing, this second Special Issue “Femme Globale” updates further central themes in the international feminist debate. It is introduced by Ewa Charkiewicz, who critically questions the common global feminist canon. Mirjam van Reisen and Maxi Ussar review the recent development policy strategies for eradicating poverty and ask what significance they give to gender justice. Taking the example of Pakistan, Marion R. Mueller looks at the challenges of Islamic fundamentalism for feminist movements. Ingrid Spiller asks what specific women’s interests are crucial in the discussion on public goods. The difficult balancing act between autonomy and new forms of dependence in using new reproductive technologies are examined by Andreas Poltermann. Finally Heike Jensen takes the preparatory process for the second part of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to be held in Tunis in November to shed light on women’s opportunities in the information society.
This Special Issue is published in co-operation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin, on the occasion of the international conference Femme Globale: Gender Perspectives in the 21st Century, 8 – 10 September 2005 (www.femme-globale.de).
The Special Issue is reserved for subscribers (>>> here) and also available as special offer together with Special Issue Femme Globale (I) >>> here.
EU-India Free Trade Talks: In Whose Interest? + The Risk of a Global Economic Recession + FDI at New Heights + EITI Beyond German G8 Presidency + Are We 'All Keynesians Now'? + South-South Cooperation against Child Labour
Lisbon EU-Africa Summit + Shift in Globalisation Debate + Trade Unions and Globalisation + The Falling Dollar + The Biofuel Debate in Brasil + Agentina's Comback without the IMF
Is there anything unusual about the events in question? An African despot, a good deal of bloodshed - at least 80 dead, 10,000 injured, 200,000 displaced -, a rigged election, a concentrated effort to dilute international interest which is very little in the first place - that list contains nothing out of the usual or expected, does it?
The world´s 50 poorest nations saw the values of their exports climb by a collective 80% from 2004-2006 and recorded their highest rates of economic growth in 30 years. But their increased dependence on selling a few unsophisticated products leaves them vulnerable to a reversal, this years LDC report of UNCTAD warns.
The new century started with streamlining initiatives from the IMF and the World Bank to their conditionality, but these have not managed to deliver real change. The arguments have not changed over the last years, and opponents have become firmly entrenched in their positions. The machinery, however, seem to be coming slowly to life after the impasse.
According to the new UN's World Economic and Social Survey, recent optimism that the corner was being turned on poverty thanks to faster growth in emerging markets and even some very poor economies is turning to anxiety, as the global economy downshifts, prices spike and weaknesses in formal-sector employment are exposed.
For the first time at a G8 summit the group of five countries which are called Outreach-5 (O5) by the G8 (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa) held its own meeting prior to the meeting with the G8 leaders. The G5 Political Declaration is providing substantial alternatives to the multiple crises of the world - from finance to food security, from energy to climate and development.