Women in the Age of Economic Transformation: Gender Impact of Reforms in Post-Socialist and Developing Countries

by Pressman; Steven

• ISBN13: 9780415104227
• ISBN10: 041510422X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-12-08
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The world economy is undergoing a period of radical transformation. This is not only evident in post-communist Europe where centrally planned economies have slowly disintegrated, but also with the implementation of policies of liberalization and privatization that are currently sweeping the less developed world. While traditional theory predicts benign results from these changes, the practical outcome is less certain. Whatever its effect, it is clear that some citizens will pay a higher price than others. InWomen in the Age of EconomicReform,the contributors assess the impact of these dramatic structural changes upon women. Each chapter summarizes the changes that have taken place in a particular economy. This is developed further by an empirical analysis of the effect upon women. The contributors then discuss the evidence of gender bias and reach some telling, if unsurprising conclusions. Closely examining the socio-political conditions of women, theycontend that regardless of the type of change involved, women suffer more in the transformation process than men do. They repeatedly stress that addressing these issues is vital if the burden of economic transformation is to be distributed fairly, equitably, and, above all, justly.

Table of Contents

List of figures and tables	ix
Contributors	xii
Women and economic transformation	1	(10)
Nahid Aslanbeigui
Steven Pressman
Gale Summerfield
Part I Eastern Europe
Beyond socialism: The uncertain prospects for East German women in a unified Germany	11	(16)
Hedwig Rudolph
Eileen Appelbaum
Friederike Maier
The status of women and Poland's transition to a market economy	27	(16)
Bozena Leven
The economic status of women in Romania	43	(16)
Walter M. Bacon, Jr.
Louis G. Pol
The effect of economic and political reforms on Soviet/Russian women	59	(18)
Patrice C. McMahon
Part II Less developed countries
Africa
The impact of economic reforms on women's health and health care in Sub-Saharan Africa	77	(18)
Meredeth Turshen
Structural adjustment, the rural-urban interface and gender relations in Zambia	95	(18)
Gisela Geisler
Karen Tranberg Hansen
Asia
Chinese women and the post-Mao economic reforms	113	(16)
Gale Summerfield
Economic restructuring in Singapore and the changing roles of women, 1957 to present	129	(16)
Jean L. Pyle
Government reforms, economic restructuring and the employment of women: South Korea, 1980-92	145	(15)
Scott M. Fuess, Jr.
Bun Song Lee
Latin America
Neoliberal economic reforms and women in Chile	160	(18)
Veronica Montecinos
The 1982 reforms and the employment conditions of Mexican women	178	(14)
Richard P.F. Holt
State policy and the restructuring of women's industries in Nicaragua	192	(14)
Nan Wiegersma
Bibliography	206	(20)
Index	226