IPG, Week 22
Workshop Aims
 Continue to draw connections across the module
 Provoke refinements in your revision strategies
 Think through the remaining topics – some key points
 Discuss strategies in the exam room
The Exam
When?
Where?
Thursday 6 June, 9.30am
Westwood Games Hall
Revision Reminders
 Material for revision includes: revision notes; lecture
notes; core readings; seminar questions and notes;
additional readings from module handbook; notes
written as essay preparation; class essay content,
additional material
 Acquire, consolidate, organize material, then practice
moulding it to particular questions
 You need to cite authors as you write in exams: just a
surname, no bibliography required, paraphrasing
 Be as legible as you can, practice legible speed-writing
 Any questions?
Topic by Topic Revision 1
 Work in small groups on one of the following topics:
South Africa; India; Religious Fundamentalism/
Hindutva; Islam; Ireland; Global Capitalism
 Identify which module concepts are particularly
relevant. Then try to come up with three or four bullet
points that reflect major issues/learning points for this
topic that you would need to keep in mind when revising
it. Can you think of any authors/studies relevant to this
topic?
 You won’t remember everything – don’t worry, it’s not a
test; it’s an opportunity.
Strategies in the Exam Room
 Scenario 1: Your time management has gone awry and
there’s 10 minutes left but you’re only half way through
your answer to the last question.
 What do you do now, and what could you have done
earlier?
 Scenario 2: You got started ok but now your mind’s gone
blank and you feel you can’t remember anything.
 What do you do now, and what could you have done
earlier?
Topic by Topic Revision 2
 Work in small groups on a different one of the following
topics:
South Africa; India; Religious Fundamentalism/
Hindutva; Islam; Ireland; Global Capitalism
 From what you can recall about each topic, identify
which module concepts are particularly relevant. Then
try to come up with three bullet points that reflect major
issues/learning points for this topic that you would need
to keep in mind when revising it, together with relevant
authors/research.
South Africa: Apartheid
 Apartheid=‘separate development’=institutionalised racism 1948





1994, introduced by Afrikaaner National Party
Precursors in 1910 Union denying black people the vote; 1913 &
1936 Land Acts: black population g0t 13% of (poorest) land
Migrant labour system: secured cheap, plentiful (mainly male)
black labour for mines, factories and servicing urban areas
Many African women ‘left behind’, families divided
Africans with residence rights beyond the ‘reserves’ confined to
shanty-towns on edge of towns and cities they served
Black female domestic workers serviced white families living in,
forced to live apart from own children, on call 24/7, poorly paid
Bantustan policy – to create ‘independent’ countries and remove
South African citizenship (eg. Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei)
South Africa: Post-apartheid
 African resistance to apartheid non-violent at first, then
ANC launched armed struggle in early 1960s
 State response: detention without trial, banning, violence
 Ongoing resistance from black population, through ANC,
trade unions, women organising (some as mothers), youth
 Mandela released in 1990 – core apartheid laws repealed
 ANC win first free and fair elections in 1994, still in power
 Decades of racial inequalities cannot be overcome quickly
 Women’s coalition ensured gender could not be ignored,
but many black women still can’t exercise their new rights
 Has feminism been diluted through incorporation?
 Ongoing problems of sexual violence, feminization of
(black) poverty, HIV/Aids, brutality of mine work
India: Colonialism and Nationalism
 Became British colony first through trade then indirect rule
 Gandhi pioneered non-violent resistance to British rule, met
with suppression, violence and political tinkering
 Modernity, declared aim of Indian nationalists, partly
defined in terms of improving women’s public status (eg
political rights) but not private status in gendered family
 British sought to justify colonialism as freeing Indian women,
but also didn’t envisage full gender equality
 Both sides used women’s status to justify their actions
 Differences between women were not acknowledged
 Nationalist struggle politicized domestic space and gave
many middle class Indian women access to the public sphere
 Independence in 1947 brought Partition
India: Post-colonial
 Women gained suffrage and education rights but gap
between rights and implementation and initially economic
rights neglected (for welfarism)
 Some family law reform (but resisted, Muslim exemption)
 Wanted new woman to symbolize modernity of new India
(radical agenda) but also traditional family woman to
protect authentic Indian culture (conservative agenda)
 Differences between Indian women perpetuated: re class
and caste; contrast of women leaders while many unborn
(son preference – sex selective abortion – missing girls)
 Fragmented women’s movement resurged in 1970s
 Ongoing campaigns against sexual violence; against
dependence of women on men; for sexual rights
Religious Fundamentalism/Hindutva
 Patriarchal claim to religious truth (found in all major religions),






imbued with nationalism, attempt to fuse religion and state
Control over women central: assume womanhood= motherhood;
control women’s sexuality and fertility; entrench men as
household heads/ leaders. Women define nation/honour.
Hindutva: religious fundamentalism (or communalism) in
Hinduism, seeking Hindu state in India, anti-Muslim
BJP incited destruction of Ayodyha mosque a key moment
Uses images of Hindu motherhood as symbol vs. negative images
of ‘enemy’ women (Muslim); contrasts disciplined Hindu men
with out of control Muslim men
Sees western feminism as imperialist, corrupt, destructive (eg of
family)
Other examples: Islamic fundamentalism; 1950s Irish Catholicism
Islam and Iran
 Must recognize extent and diversity of Islamic world, not all







fundamentalist, some Muslim states secular
Video: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b1358026~S1
Is the Qur’an essentially patriarchal or a product of patriarchal
times? Some Islamic theologians reinterpret for women’s rights
Case study of Iran – 1st modern fundamentalist Islamic state, 1979
Both Shahs and Mullahs linked women to nation – as ‘unveiled’
for western modernity; ‘reveiled’ for eastern values and tradition
Many women chose ‘veiling’ in 1979, now compulsory
Post-revolution, Haremi groups men as mullahs, martyrs and
ordinary: all control their women but not all are equally powerful
Women scholars and activists in Iran have tried to claim back
rights for women, some liberalization under Khatami then setbacks
Islam: The ‘veil’
 Western stereotypes about women and Islam generally
negative: construct Islamic women as passive victims
 Such stereotypes are used discursively to construct Islamic
countries in Orientalist terms
 Need to ask about the social and historical context of
Islamic practices that discriminate against women
 ‘Veil’ taken as emblematic of Muslim women’s oppression –
but must recognize diversity of ‘veil’ and its history
 Modesty prescribed for Muslim men as well, head-covering
for women has Christian history around Mediterranean
 Compulsory full cover very different from optional scarf
 Considering perspectives of Muslim women who ‘veil’
complicates any analysis
Ireland: Nationalism
 Modern history=one British colony split in two: Irish Free State






(26 of 32 counties, majority Catholic, gets independence) and
Northern Ireland, remaining 6, mainly Protestant, still in UK
Ireland not Catholic state per se but Catholicism dominant
Ideal Irish woman: Catholic, motherly, self-sacrificing, virtuous,
pure, heart of home etc. Ideal Irish man: Provider, authority
Irish women were involved in nationalist struggle but barred from
joining key organisations, formed own, played support roles, some
fought in (guerilla-type) war for independence
Usual tensions emerged between feminism and nationalism –
women’s equality must await independence
Tradition and Catholicism informed DeValera’s new government
legislation confined women to homes as wives and (necessarily)
prolific mothers, including article 41.2 of 1935 Constitution
Women workers earned just over half men’s earnings on average
Ireland: Modernization
 1959: Lemass began modernisation, opening up to world
 Rapid industrialisation via export-orientation, joined EEC in 1973,







employment soared and Irish emigration fell
New jobs for women improved their status, but wages low
Women’s organisations campaigning for access to: divorce (legal
from 1995); contraception; abortion (still illegal); equal pay
Campaigning against gender discrimination; sexual violence
Setbacks with recession of 1980s, conservative backlash
1990s – the booming Celtic Tiger, Mary Robinson as President,
more women in work and women having fewer children
But double burden, high levels of domestic violence, few women
in political power. Meanwhile poor health outcomes for men
2008: boom ends with banking crisis, unemployment and shorttime working, emigration again
Gender and Global Capitalism
 Old IDL rooted in imperialism vs. NIDL in post-colonial world;




relocation of manufacturing, services, agribusiness, care-work
ISI phase favours men as workers but EOI brings feminization of
labour: women preferred as highly productive, can be paid less
Pros and cons of industrial employment for women workers:
independence, financial autonomy, a social life beyond the
family, mobility, but also long working hours, poor working
conditions, risks to health, paternalistic control. Impact
contradictory
If women are ‘cheap’ labour then they are made so socially and
culturally
Marrying and having children worsens women’s labour market
position, given lack of child-care, and even more poorly paid
homeworking may be only option
Taking on Global Capital
 Women workers are not docile; long history of organising to








improve wages and working conditions but face many barriers
Unions may be banned, members harassed, time and gender
interest constraints
Consumer pressure can also raise wages and working conditions
via fair trade and ethical trade
To what extent are FT and ET for workers but not by workers?
To what extent do FT and ET recognise gendered work?
How are workers’ lives used to sell the idea of fair trade?
Is there a danger of ‘fairwashing’
Does ET put impossible pressure on employers to do right by
their workers while also selling their produce ever cheaper?
Can’t expect economic justice without cultural justice
Finally…
 Best of luck with your revision and the exam
 I hope you’ve enjoyed the module