The Impact of Neoliberalism in Latin American Gender Inequality

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Overview

The exportation of Neoliberalism comes from the acclaimed Washington consensus, an ideological initiative that with support of different leading nations and high classes, would set sail for an economy of laissez faire and the institutionalization of social issues.[1]

Neoliberalism and gender inequality are interconnected issues that show the alienation of agency to women in a patriarchal structure that is driven by a movement of transnational elites[2]. The analysis of Neoliberalism in Latin America places many facts that overlap with the available information about Gender inequality and the dependency on the market neutrality over gender. Despite Margaret Thatcher being one of the leaders that promoted Neoliberalism, the male dominance over women is preceded by the socioeconomic inequalities that women face in Latin America and the world today.[3]

Neoliberalism and Gender Inequality

Neoliberalism[4] is in the economy a movement of de-regularization and expansion of markets, for society it is an alienation from the direct funding from the government and a dependency of social stability in the capitalist state.[5] With globalization empowered by Neoliberalism, governments can address local and immediate struggles to divert the attention from the source of the issues.[6] This free market control opts for an agenda that neglects social organization for social change.

With a system that aims for organization based in market expansion and for profit, the neoliberal model is criticized for being exclusionary and dispossesive for the feminist movement and promoting a heteronormative inclination.[7] Globalized production creates a subordination of non-male workers in the production sphere, promoting a segmentation in labour and introducing differentials for women that result in the deterioration of social status and the dependency of women to remain in the unskilled labor sphere.[8]

Some argue that Neoliberalism has silenced the movement towards a more equal society between genders. Mainstream policies that work through institutionalization are argued to neglect the cause.[9] Others argue that the issue locates in the close ties of institutional values being ruled by elites that belong to a gendered structure, an example is the World Economic Forum considered to be a meeting of the wealthiest people in the world.[10]

Gender Inequality in Latin America

The differences between genders are reflected in the trends of this century: women have increasingly become more participant in the labour market, although records show they lack the securities that the opposite gender does have. Lower wages, informal jobs, lack of contracts or short term employment are within the effects of the marginalized practices in this "dispossessive capitalism". [11]

In Latin America, Gender Socialization has become a key characteristic of the inequality that impacts women, especially in the workplace. The division of this social structure is rooted in the dichotomy of domestic and wage labour, thus the strict roles of reproduction -for women- and production -for men- can be attributed to Neoliberalism. Another factor of the systemic oppresion that women suffer in Latin America is the patriarchal culture that many of these countries share, this oppressive positions seem reflected in the criminalized femicides that account for 50% of the total worldwide, and keep women in an inferior position to disempower them.[12]

Neoliberalism in Latin America: Brazil, Mexico and Chile.

The arrival of Neoliberalism in Latin America came with a radical movement for market expansionism. In Brazil the reduction of social services given by the state authority and the concession of economic resources to non-domestic groups gave access to the interference of political ideology.[13] In the decade of the seventies, the Brazilian government in coalition with Non Governmental Organizations and leaders such as Fernando Henrique Cardoso opted to advocate for the rights of women and diverse race, sexuality and class groups; after the incorporation of Neoliberal policies, the adjustment of this projects reduced its impact given the reinforcement of inequalities with market based driven policies.

In Mexico the arrival of Neoliberalism was marked by the introduction of Maquiladoras. In the early seventies, the Mexican government decided to tackle unemployment and poverty by allowing foreign industries to invest in manufacturing with cheap intensive labour, low cost resources and tax free zones. The impact of Maquiladoras is represented in the gendered nature of commodity supply chains in the world, therefore the marginalization of women in the industry is rooted in an institutional level.[14]

For Chile, the presence of Neoliberalism in the early seventies was imported with the famous Chicago Boys, a groups of Chilean-born graduates from United States institutions that trained them in the Neoliberal mindset. With the fast economic upraising that this movement brought to the country, social tensions kept growing given the inequality in vulnerable groups -including women-[15]. With a leftist preference among society, the government transitioned to a balance of free-market policies to address female representation brought by president Frei Ruiz Tegle and later the appointment of President Bachetet.

Some argue that women nowadays are channeled exclusively to unskilled labour in globalized production: Mexican women with Maquiladoras, Brazilian female labour with industrial complexes and Chilean Agricultural business plantations.[16] Primarily, one of this gendered disadvantages lies in the lack of compensation for women during pregancny, this is neglected by privatization and lacks support from social services generally supported by the government. [17]

Mitigation of Gender Inequality

Despite Latin America being the region of the world with highest levels of gender violence, women are being increasingly involved in crime mitigation programs.[11] Some bodies that are part of the globalized regime, have started to take action: take the World Bank Group, who is launching projects such as the Strategy of Gender Equality, Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Growth. This program works with a four area project as follows:

  1. Improving human endowment
  2. Removing constraints for more and better employment
  3. Removing barriers to women’s ownership and control of as- sets
  4. Enhancing women’s voice and agency

Other institutions such as the Inter-american Development Bank, work towards the gender equality programs with proven efficiency. These include Conditional Cash Transfers as subsidies for financial assistance or the Bonus for Women's Work program in ChiIe[18]. Despite the existence of these advocacy parties, the IDB recognizes that policy cooperation, in addition to progress in cultural norms and attitudes is needed for the accomplishment of gender equality.

The World Economic Forum is also involved in the strategies to reduce the Gender Gap that women suffer in different environments. The 2020 Gender Gap index placed Nicaragua in the highest position of Latin American countries and Guatemala in the lowest (level to close the gender gap)[19]

There are many groups that by effect of the Neoliberal state, have taken place to mitigate the impact of the patriarchal characteristics of Neoliberalism. Nevertheless, some argue that the patriarchal state has configured a gendered democracy with Structural Adjustment to contribute to an equality paradigm that alleviates the issue but does not solve it.[3]

Statistics

  • Along the economic growth, an estimated 93 per cent of women in Mexico declared they felt discriminated in 2005.[1]
  • Between 1980 and 1990, gender diversification in the labour market doubled for women's participation.[2]
  • From 2000 to 2010, women participation in labour increased 2.9%, nevertheless they remain the lowest paid group with most vulnerability.[11]
  • 29 per cent of women in Latin America averaged a lack of income of their own in 2017.[20]
  • Women in Latin America and the Caribbean are 30% more likely to enter old age without holding a decent pension and be unemployed.[18]
  • The World Economic Forum expects the Gender Gap in Latin America to close in 59 years.[19]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Robinson, William I. "Latin America in the Age of Inequality: Confronting the New "Utopia"." International Studies Review, vol. 1, no. 3, 1999, pp. 41-67.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Schyllander, Alice, "The gendered impact of neoliberalism: Violence and exploitation of women working in maquiladoras" (2018).Senior Honors Theses. 627.https://commons.emich.edu/honors/627. Accesed on July 23 2020.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Campbell, B. (2014, January 06). Neoliberal neopatriarchy: The case for gender revolution. Retrieved from https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/neoliberal-neopatriarchy-case-for-gender-revolution/
  4. Smith, N. (2019, June 28). Neoliberalism. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/neoliberalism
  5. Schram, S. (2015, December). The Next Neoliberal Thing. Retrieved July 23, 2020, from https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190253011.001.0001/acprof-9780190253011-chapter-7
  6. Petras, James F., Henry Veltmeyer, and Palgrave Social Sciences Collection. Social Movements in Latin America: Neoliberalism and Popular Resistance. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2011.
  7. Cornwall, Andrea, Jasmine Gideon, and Kalpana Wilson. "Introduction: Reclaiming Feminism: Gender and Neoliberalism." IDS Bulletin (Brighton. 1984), vol. 39, no. 6, 2009;2008;, pp. 1-9.
  8. Robinson, William I. "Latin America in the Age of Inequality: Confronting the New "Utopia"." International Studies Review, vol. 1, no. 3, 1999, pp. 41-67.
  9. Bacchi, C., & Eveline, J. (2008, November 18). Mainstreaming and Neoliberalism: A Contested Relationship. Retrieved July 26, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1449403503700216
  10. Mudde, C. (2020, January 25). The high priests of plutocracy all meet at Davos. What good can come from that? | Cas Mudde. Retrieved July 26, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/25/davos-world-economic-forum-capitalism-plutocracy
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Schild, Verónica. "Emancipation as Moral Regulation: Latin American Feminisms and Neoliberalism." Hypatia, vol. 30, no. 3, 2015, pp. 547-563.
  12. Burbano, Eliza, "The Persistence of Patriarchy in Latin America: An Analysis of Negative and Positive Trends" (2016). Honors Theses. 123. https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/123
  13. Castro, Mary G., and Laurence Hallewell. "Engendering Powers in Neoliberal Times in Latin America: Reflections from the Left on Feminisms and Feminisms."Â Latin American Perspectives, vol. 28, no. 6, 2001, pp. 17-37.
  14. Schyllander, Alice, "The gendered impact of neoliberalism: Violence and exploitation of women working in maquiladoras" (2018).Senior Honors Theses. 627.https://commons.emich.edu/honors/627. Accesed on July 23 2020.
  15. Solimano, Andrés. Chile and the Neoliberal Trap: The Post-Pinochet Era. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
  16. Robinson, William I. "Latin America in the Age of Inequality: Confronting the New "Utopia"." International Studies Review, vol. 1, no. 3, 1999, pp. 41-67.
  17. Undurraga, T. (2015). Neoliberalism in Argentina and Chile: Common antecedents, divergent paths. Revista De Sociologia E Política, 23(55), 11-34. doi:10.1590/1678-987315235502
  18. 18.0 18.1 Bando, R. (2019, September 13). Gender Inequality in Latin America: The Long Road Ahead. Retrieved from https://blogs.iadb.org/ideas-matter/en/gender-inequality-in-latin-america-the-long-road-ahead/
  19. 19.0 19.1 Global Gender Gap Report 2020. (2019). Retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2020.pdf
  20. People without incomes of their own. (2019, February 12). Retrieved from https://oig.cepal.org/en/indicators/people-without-incomes-their-own