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On the Feminism of the Gift Economy
By Rokeya Begum, Bangladesh
1. Feminism in Bangladesh
Feminism is a consciousness of everything which prevents a woman from realizing her full human potential and is a commitment to challenge and change these conditions, in solidarity with other women. It is necessary to know its different evolving strategies in relation to colonialism and global issues. Women, whether as feminist activists or as mothers, daughters, wives, have a passion towards human values. Their nurturing and caring efforts work towards improvement of social, economic, political and human rights.
History and background
Women in Bangladesh are constantly deprived of their rights. Feminist theory highlights that such deprivation is discrimination against the female gender as a whole. However, many Bangladeshi women blame themselves and do not recognize the true source of their troubles. Men control women's productivity both inside the household and outside in paid work. Women provide all kinds of free services to their children, husbands and other members of the family throughout their lives. Men control women's labor outside the home, both by imposing work on them and by preventing them from working. They also exclude women from better-paid jobs. Women are used as a cheap labor force in Bangladesh. They are also voiceless regarding their reproductive power. They have no right to decide when and how many children they want. It is astonishing that patriarchy is controlling women's reproduction even through so-called "family planning programs."
In the long history of women, almost the only thing to be found is their exploitation and deprivation due to caste, class, and gender disparity. Historically they appear as prostitutes, call girls, temple dancers, pious and good housewives, which is not comparable with men's history. Those stereotypes have ignored women's knowledge in agriculture, their technological skill, and artistic creativity. In fact, the social evolution and patriarchal hegemony of colonialism prevents women's empowerment. Patriarchy is continuously controlling women's existence in public and in private space.
Therefore the main purpose of feminism can be seen as spreading information and building consciousness among the people about the patriarchal structures of society that create the obstacles in women's life. Only when women see their common problems can initiatives be taken toward improvement of women's situation in a sustainable way. The lack of women in high income positions is not due to their lack of ability to keep such jobs but to the socialization and education of all the people into the patriarchal system.
However, feminism is not a new phenomenon for Bangladesh. The book Sultana's dream by Rokeya Shakhawat Hossain (1924) showed that a wonderful, equal, women-directed Utopian feminist world , free from exploitation , is possible . Sultana's struggle for existence and her work for women's emancipation is an example of feminism. The political message of gender is very clear in her other acclaimed book Padma Raag.
The 'Empowerment' approach to women is applied much more by Third World grass roots organizations than it is in First World countries. So it is a fact that feminism is not a recent Western or middle class idea, nor imposed by the United Nations upon women, but it has its own history in Third World countries like Bangladesh.
Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, Third World countries have been giving importance to the changing role of women but this has taken place while these countries were in the trap of colonialism and in a world economy that is exploitative. So Bangladeshi women have to be united against the present situation and search for an alternative economy. The current predominant economic model is that of the Exchange Economy, where goods and services are exchanged for equivalent valuables.
How are the problems of the individual women linked to the Exchange Economy?
a. Family
The parents normally arrange the marriage in Bangladesh. After the wedding the woman is expected to leave her own family and move into her in-laws' house. This practice affects the way that children are looked upon. Boy children mean support of the parents in old age while girl children are only temporarily staying in their parents' house and will add nothing to the prosperity of the family. Girls are given less food and also in times of crisis mothers are expected to be the first to cope with less for the sake of the rest of the family Maternal morbidity and mortality is common The head of the family is always the oldest man. Discrimination is rooted in the family in terms of food, education, health, freedom of choice and expression, and even inter-personnel relationships. The same discrimination exists in access to and control over money, as well as in decision-making processes. A study showed that in relation to access to the economy, the participation of all classes of women is low except for the cheap labor done by poor and landless women. Women came to international attention because of their cheap and bonded labour. Traditional patriarchal household practices helped women to go readily into the garments factory . Women transformed their previous roles to become income earners in the family. This was the first time women got the chance to gain control over money and scope of mobility.
b. Community
The community has great controlling power over all members. Communities in Bangladesh tend to be very rigid and do not accept deviance from social customs and practices enforced by men.. A double standard in the judgment of the morality of the behavior of women and men exists. Most crimes committed against women are considered women's fault. Therefore being divorced, raped, beaten and/or mistreated creates a negative image of the woman. This leads to greater ill treatment of the victims. Even the respect women receive in the society depends on position of their husbands and fathers.
c. Wider social structures
There is very little possibility for women to get socially accepted jobs, not to speak of higher positions. Therefore judges, professors, politicians, doctors and policemen are almost all males. This often results in obstacles to women who need to use the institutions where those men are employed.
d. Traditions and culture
The traditional role model of men and women is of crucial difference. The glorified ideal of female virtues makes it almost impossible for women to be emancipated and respected at the same time. Good women are supposed to be shy and selfless. Women questioning or even trying to improve their situation inevitably will get into conflicts and often be outcast because of the social pressure of not fitting into the accepted ideal.
e. Religions
The family law in Bangladesh varies according to the religion of the family concerned. This creates problems since for example the Hindu religion proscribes no marriage registration so the possibility that a case of divorce might occur is also not foreseen. The religious family law is a way of ignoring human rights, even if they are granted in the constitution. This is a reason for unjust practices. Examples of bad practice in Muslim family law are many: men getting custody of the women, or men easily able to divorce and abandon their wives, taking second and third wives, the lack of mobility of women, etc.
f. Environmental problems
Women are the caretakers of the household, where a main part of the work is the caring and bringing up of children, washing, cleaning, fetching water, food processing and participating in 80% of the agriculture work. Women are the keepers of all the traditional knowledge of conservation and preservation of bio-diversity. Bangladesh is a country with a high variety of rice, fruits, vegetables and herbal plants, which are the responsibility of women. But globalization, a new kind of patriarchy, gives patents on their skills and knowledge. Also their bondage to the household makes it hard for them to move when there is an environmental disaster. The new structure of mechanized irrigation systems lowers the normal water level. But if a water crisis occurs it is often up to the women to go long ways to fetch water. The environmental degradation is a threat and makes women even more vulnerable.
2. Economy in Bangladesh
The economy is patriarchal, led and run by men. Evidence of the patriarchal power structures in the economy can be found when looking at the ruling class, the rich and economically successful people who are predominantly male. The economy is very hierarchical. It can be said that the hierarchy of political power is slowly transforming into an order where economic success determines position. An example of this is that of the hundred leading economies in the world, only about half are states, while the other half are private companies. This is leading to the point where private companies have greater power in decision-making than governments that are elected to power by the people. Decisions regarding payment rates, environmental law etc. are taken in favour of the big companies and not of the people, because the states can not afford to impose laws and lose the support of these powerful enterprises. Often government representatives are also part of the elites, who conspire to retain their positions and power through such decision-making, at a cost to the masses.
3.The recent changes in the economy have important effects on individuals and the community.
In the global economy, Bangladesh stands in the position of the margins. However, the small economic elite of the country has widely adopted the capitalistic world-view, which originates in the West. Furthermore this elite carries parts of the patriarchal cultural heritage of past rulers in the area. Because of its weak economic power, Bangladesh is deeply dependant on foreign investments.
The garment industry, which forms the most crucial part of the country's GDP and its exports, is closely tied to the industrial world's markets. The garment industry also faced depression when the U.S. industry sloped downward after the September 11th incidents. Unemployment increased.
Recent studies by the organisation ¨Rights¨ declared that every day 100 women and 50 children are illegally trafficked for a range of bonded labour activities. About one million women and children are trafficked in India, Pakistan and the Middle East. In Pakistan there is a market for selling women and a big trading net work earning 10 ñ 20 billion dollars per year and connected directly to another sub-economy.
On the other hand, there is a strong demand for imported products (e.g. pharmaceuticals, foreign textiles, foodstuffs) in Bangladesh. There is an increasing addiction to imported products because when they first appeared on the market they were seen as superior, and therefore caused the disappearance of the local equivalent products. With the disappearance of traditional knowledge an alternative to imported goods disappeared.
For an agricultural country like Bangladesh some concrete results of these actions are the introduction of hybrid seeds, pesticides and chemical fertilizers, which slowly replace the local varieties and techniques. Farmers, who gradually lose their ancient knowledge, cannot reproduce them anymore by themselves. This process creates further dependency on the multinational companies.
Another factor that strengthens the need for imported products is the declaration of patent rights given to foreign companies. This deprives Bangladesh of the possibility of fulfilling its own demands by producing local products.
The development programs aimed at building infrastructure do not take into account the needs of the majority. Western structures are copied hastily and without sustainability. For example, supplying TV cables in a country where most people do not even own a radio is missing the point.
The dependendent nature of Bangladesh, which makes it hard for the government to implement economic protection policies, in combination with the increasingly embedded poverty has a big impact on individuals.
4. What does a gift-economy mean?
The system of the market is in theory based on the exchange of goods for equivalent valuables. Where there is profit coming from the exchange there has obviously been an unequal exchange. This we call forced gift giving. But next to the economic market there another system exists. A lot of valuables are given away without the expectation of getting anything in return. Women traditionally give these valuables that do not fall within the traditionally recognised economic market. These include housework, raising of children, giving birth, knowledge passed on to friends and family members. More and more this system of payment-free receiving is taken over by the economic market through a new form of patriarchy: globalization. This applies to land, water and bio-diversity, which used to be seen clearly as common goods, not private property for sale.
A gift economy is not conditional like exchange for money. It is not incorporated with the exchange economy. The traditional long-practiced gift giving can play a vital force in supporting an alternative economy:
5. How can the gift economy be used in the local context? How could it be used to improve the empowerment of women at the grass root level? How can it be integrated with a global vision?
The gift economy can be found in different forms. Traditional knowledge, skills and plants which are freely passed on from one generation to the next is one of them. Patent rights slowly destroy this existing gift economy. According to the nature of gifts the following gifts can act in the local economy to empower women and create a feminist option to integrate with global vision:
A) Biodiversity and the different natural species are now under the threat of globalization and these are the best gift resources for an alternative economy. Women from the SUS (Sabalamby Unnayan Samity) self- reliance organization in rural villages expressed their opinion regarding these resources:
- Traditional knowledge of food preservation.
- Conservation and preservation of different local seeds.
- Traditional organic agriculture to save nature.
- Traditional system of seed preservation and innovative new appropriate low cost technology.
- Exchange skill and knowledge within the community according to its value and nature.
- Save traditional knowledge about irrigation and adapt new appropriate technology for overcoming future water crises.
- Use collective traditional coping mechanisms for facing disasters and floods according to the geographical area.
- Collect and save different traditional knowledge including knowledge of herbal plants; protect and prevent those from patenting and pharmaceutical companies.
- Encourage mobilization and documentation of all kinds of natural resources under the local community.
- Initiate biodiversity fair to reclaim diverse wealth.
B) Cultural, religious and traditional gifts. Those are very important to create an alternative economy. The rural women from SUS northeast part of the area offer their opinion:
- Traditional ceremonies like donation as religious duty, gift giving as traditional culture for all. These ceremonial gifts can transform into new innovative alternative.
- Sharing wealth as a part of religious duties can accumulate wealth in the local economy, for example, Zakat, Fitrah in Islamic religion.
- Disseminate collective raditional folk culture and analyze its internal spirit to transform it into innovative knowledge.
- Small handicrafts works like pottery, knitting, carpentry, home gardening, small fish and poultry farming culture which was long tradition can act as localized economy.
C) Women as the root of Mother Earth are the best gifts to our society. The rights and empowerment of women are the important strength for a gift economy The SUS women from the rural and urban areas offer their opinion regarding women's values:
- The work of women's reproductive , social and cultural roles is being transferred to the free market as cheap labour, instead of transforming their knowledge as gift economy. It is a most important task to recognise them and ensure their basic and fundamental rights.
- It is necessary to recognise women's long traditional, spiritual and political knowledge and its integrity.
- Discourage use of women's body for amusement and commercial propaganda for transnational corporations.
- Discourage the use of family planning methods or devices only on women, as it takes away their good health and peace of mind. Indigenous methods are preferred by them. Maybe look at safer alternatives; reproductive rights are fundamental to the freedom of women. How to encourage a man to wear a condom in Bangladeshi society is a challenge. What are the indigenous methods? Are there clear examples? are they safe? - and dont forget multiple births kill women every hour.
- Discourage drinking Coca Cola , Sprite, Seven-up, Fanta, etc. Replace by local green plain drinking water, coconut water, lemon water and processed local fruit juice.
- Encourage a debate or campaign on local fruits, local seed conservation and preservation, use of surface water as irrigation instead of deep water pump.
In this way the gift economy can play a role in mainstreaming localization to complete and integrate with a global vision.
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