Zed Books The Remaking of Social Contracts: Feminists in a Fierce New World

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Remaking of Social ContractsFeminists in a Fierce New WorldBy Gita Sen, Marina DuranoZed Books LtdCopyright © 2014 Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN)All rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-78032-159-2ContentsForeword JOSEFA FRANCISCO, ix, PART I INTRODUCTORY OVERVIEW, Social contracts revisited: the promise of human rights GITA SEN AND MARINA DURANO, 3, PART II GOVERNING GLOBALIZATION: CRITIQUING THE REPRODUCTION OF INEQUALITY, CHAPTER 1 Financialization, distribution and inequality STEPHANIE SEGUINO, 33, CHAPTER 2 New poles of accumulation and realignment of power in the twenty-first century YAO GRAHAM AND HIBIST WENDEMU KASSA, 53, CHAPTER 3 The modern business of war OSCAR UGARTECHE, 70, CHAPTER 4 The convergences and divergences of human rights and political economy ALDO CALIARI, 89, PART III POLITICAL ECOLOGY AND CLIMATE JUSTICE: TACKLING SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE, CHAPTER 5 Climate non-negotiables ANITA NAYAR, 105, CHAPTER 6 Geoengineering: a gender issue? DIANA BRONSON, 124, CHAPTER 7 Land grabs, food security and climate justice: a focus on sub-Saharan Africa ZO RANDRIAMARO, 143, PART IV SECULARISM AND BIOPOLITICS: CONFRONTING FUNDAMENTALISM AND DECIPHERING BIOPOLITICS, CHAPTER 8 Negotiating sexual and reproductive health and rights at the UN: a long and winding road ALEXANDRA GARITA AND FRANÇOISE GIRARD, 163, CHAPTER 9 The making of a secular contract FATOU SOW AND MAGALY PAZELLO, 181, CHAPTER 10 Sexuality as a weapon of biopolitics: rethinking Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill ROSALIND P. PETCHESKY, 201, PART V FRONTIER CHALLENGES: BUILDING NATION-STATES AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, CHAPTER 11 The state of states CLAIRE SLATTER, 239, CHAPTER 12 Religious fundamentalism and secular governance AMRITA CHHACHHI, 259, CHAPTER 13 Reframing peace and security for women KUMUDINI SAMUEL, 276, CHAPTER 14 Feminist activisms for new global contracts amidst civil indignation JOSEFA FRANCISCO AND PEGGY ANTROBUS, 293, Contributors, 312, Index, 316, CHAPTER 1Financialization, distribution and inequalitySTEPHANIE SEGUINOA distinguishing feature of economies over the past three decades has been the widening income and wealth gap both within and between countries (Galbraith, 2011). In addition to growing economic polarization, this period has witnessed a slowdown in economic growth rates except for some Asian countries, and greater limitations on the state's ability to promote rising living standards and social protection. Moreover, economies have experienced greater instability, with over a hundred financial crises occurring since 1980 (Eichengreen and Bordo, 2003).The Great Recession, which began in 2008, is only the most recent disruption in an increasingly unstable global economy. Although the proximate cause of the Great Recession was the US financial crisis, prompted by the subprime mortgage debacle, its deeper roots can be traced to the widening income and wealth gap. Rather than hit the 'reboot' button in response to the crisis, there is both a brief space and a strong justification to rethink the previous path and to forge a new one. Policies that will move to a sustainable path of improvements in living standards require a macroeconomic policy framework that enables greater equity with growth.This essay explores the role of inequality in contributing to the most recent global economic crisis, and the related tendency to 'financialization' – the increase in size and importance of an unregulated financial sector. It then discusses what an equity-led macroeconomic policy framework would look like, with suggestions for proposals not only to produce greater equality but also to reduce economic instability, while stimulating rising living standards.The crisis is not just a financial crisisMany analysts identify the immediate cause of the Great Recession as the meltdown of the subprime mortgage market in the USA. Facilitated by a period of financial sector de