Another paradigm

This means more than simply achieving sexual equality within the current dominant political and economic system, although short-term reforms are essential and require broad mobilization. It is no surprise that many women are involved in diverse economic initiatives, because “the great majority of women around the globe are responsible for human reproduction, preserving life and caring for individuals. Women’s initiatives and efforts to invest the economy, ‘dominant’ or not, are in large part influenced by the urgent need to protect life and to assure access to essential goods and services for themselves and their families.”

These efforts will continue. But we must go even further and address the actual foundations of capitalism and patriarchy from women’s point of view and propose new directions based on:

·        a strong, solidarity-based concept of the economy as opposed to the dominant, machismo and war-based economy that produces a small number of winners and a huge mass of losers; a new economy that collectivizes the benefits of productivity rather than privatizing them.

·        another concept of wealth, production and consumption  What is wealth? Who produces it? How? For whom? These questions lead us to define new, multiple indicators of wealth, based on human development, taking into account women’s invisible work in production and social reproduction.

- The “other world” should be very critical about the unrecognized work of social reproduction accomplished for the most part by women and ignored in calculations of wealth. They must challenge the compulsive productivity and consumption that is destructive to the environment and characteristic of the current system, and that are the only things counted in countries’ GNP.

- Working in this direction means proposing another way of consuming, investing, trading; among other things, this means rejecting the military, pollution, “useless gadget,” and speculation industries, and valuing fair trade, reasonable consumption, socially and ecologically responsible investment and complementary currencies.

- Working in this direction means questioning the notions of “private ownership of the means of production and capital” and experimenting with diverse forms of economic democracy.

·        another concept of work and its place in the economy, implying diverse approaches such as:

-        the reduction and sharing of work hours so that everyone has access to work;

-        the recognition and emergence into the formal public sphere of women’s

          “invisible” work, including, “recognition of traditional knowledge and

          experiential knowledge acquired outside of the “dominant” economic sphere.

          These forms of knowledge contribute to the well-being of individuals and

          communities. They must be valued and recognized as being socially, as much

          as economically “profitable.”9

-          recognition that work,10 i.e., the productive activity that allows society to

assure the reproduction of the material conditions of life, and individuals to participate in economic exchanges, is not the only human activity essential to life. Work should be balanced with other, equally essential human activities relating to: family, friendships and love, activities that involve people in other dynamics and social relationships; political activity in the sense of participating in determining the conditions of daily life and the common good; non-professional, personal cultural activities. This approach involves an economy and policies that assure women and men the possibility of balancing all these activities.

·        another concept of the family and the roles assigned to parents, which implies, among other things:

-          balancing the different roles and family and domestic daily activities;

-          sharing time devoted to the education and care of children (supported, naturally,  by a public childcare system);

-          sharing responsibility for the care of old and disabled people living at home (supported, naturally, by a public system of home care services);

-        being open to diverse types of “family” (blended families, families headed by homosexual partners, etc.;

It is crucial to deconstruct the persistent myths and prejudice concerning men’s role in educating and caring for their children, domestic work, and all the tasks essential to family life. Men should assume all of these tasks on an equal basis with women—not doing so diminishes the overall quality of their lives. 

·   a strong focus on the “quality of life,” or bread AND roses.

The slogans of African women reflect the desire to enjoy not only a decent standard of living but also “quality of life.” Sometimes—even often—these things do not go together. One may be rich materially speaking, but have a “rotten” life style. This is the case in the West where the level and style of life, production and consumption, jeopardize peace, the environment, social relations and  individuals’ mental health.

- Burkina Faso : “Jil, Suma, Neema” = Water, food, plenitude

- Guinea : “Boyésa-balo-kelhal” = Peace, food, good governance

- Mali : “Lafia ani Hera” = Bread and well-being

- Togo : “À manger pour tous et Paix du cœur” (Food for all and peace of mind)

Excerpted from “The Long March of the World March of Women Toward Another World,” presented by the WMW in  Porto Alegre II, January 2002.

Summary report of the “Women and the Economy Workshop” of the Alliance for a Responsible and United World, 2001.