17 August 2010
24 January 2010
Long time...
Woah, it has been a long, long time since I updated this blog. Graduate school has kept me extremely busy and there seems to be a lot more work crammed into a short time in the quarter system. Here are some interesting news and sources I have found online...
New book on organized crime in Japan: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/japan/100118/going-underground-the-yakuza (read the author's article that appeared in Washington Post in 2008)
A Wikipedia Gender site (that I never knew about):
http://www.wikigender.org/index.php/New_Home
New book on organized crime in Japan: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/japan/100118/going-underground-the-yakuza (read the author's article that appeared in Washington Post in 2008)
A Wikipedia Gender site (that I never knew about):
http://www.wikigender.org/index.php/New_Home
28 August 2009
Farewell, New York
Tomorrow, I begin my long journey - a 800-mile drive - from New York to Chicago. We'll hopefully reach Cleveland or Toledo by Saturday evening and arrive in Chicago on Sunday afternoon. Then, the fun unpacking and buying new furniture to follow...
While I'm away, here are a few things to look out for this weekend:
While I'm away, here are a few things to look out for this weekend:
- Japan's election on the 30th - the anticipated victory of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) will be a historic moment in history as the LDP's five decades of uninterrupted rule besides a short period in 1993 comes to an end. Yet, most people won't be celebrating. People are NOT voting for the DPJ, they are voting against the LDP (http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-08-28-voa18.cfm)
- On the opposite side of the world, another election. The Gabonese are going to the polls on Sunday to vote for a successor to Omar Bongo, Africa's longest serving leader. His son, Ali Ben Bongo of the ruling party, PDG, is expected to win the election. According to VOA, the ruling party is managing both the electoral process and the media decreasing the likelihoods of a fair election. The latest news reports that certain candidates are withdrawing to support another candidate running against Bongo.
27 August 2009
Impasse on Mali's New Family Code?
The President of Mali, Toumani Touré, earlier today refused to sign the new family code that would have substantially expanded women's rights. Since early August when the National Assembly adopted the radical law, there has been high public outcry over this legislation in a predominantly Muslim, yet secular country in West Africa. Protests were led in the most part by religious leaders; Mali's High Islamic Council mobilized 50,000 people including women in Bamako.
The current family code hasn't been revised since 1962. Some of the controversial provisions in this new family code include a legal minimum age requirement for marriage, better inheritance rights for women, and equality in marital status. According to Touré, only 10 of the 1,143 articles has caused conflict. He has promised that this new law, which has been in the works for 10 years, would not be abandoned all together.
As states become signatories to numerous international conventions on human rights relating to the promotion of gender equality, they face mounting pressure to align its national legislation with these international treaties. Within this context, government officials in countries such as Mali and Senegal amongst others struggle to frame a document that can appease both conservative, Islamic groups and its Western allies (the donor community). Aware of all this, the Islamic Higher Council has threatened for further protests and neglect in the next election.
With so much dissent, to what extent will this liberalized family code be implemented once enacted? For example, in 1972, by enacting the family code offering greater protection for women, Leopold Senghor (a Christian President) provoked much anger amongst religious leaders throughout Senegal. As a result, the code was largely ignored in many rural areas controlled by the marabouts. Furthermore, implementation of the code also failed because most Senegalese were not made aware of the existence of such a code. Since the 1989 reform of the law, no changes have been made to the outdated Senegalese family code not in alignment with international treaties. Again, the close relation between state authorities and the leaders of the Muslim brotherhoods may partially explain the reason for the government's inaction.
In the end, this new legislation alone won't ensure greater gender equality and women's empowerment. In most cases, there is a significant disparity between what is written in law and what is practiced in reality. There was an interesting article in the New York Times, two weeks ago, on the status of women in Morocco five years after the new family code was promulgated.(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/world/africa/19tangiers.html)
I'm curious about what the new code states on polygamy and wonder what the revisions to the code will be after Touré meets with Islamic leaders.
The current family code hasn't been revised since 1962. Some of the controversial provisions in this new family code include a legal minimum age requirement for marriage, better inheritance rights for women, and equality in marital status. According to Touré, only 10 of the 1,143 articles has caused conflict. He has promised that this new law, which has been in the works for 10 years, would not be abandoned all together.
As states become signatories to numerous international conventions on human rights relating to the promotion of gender equality, they face mounting pressure to align its national legislation with these international treaties. Within this context, government officials in countries such as Mali and Senegal amongst others struggle to frame a document that can appease both conservative, Islamic groups and its Western allies (the donor community). Aware of all this, the Islamic Higher Council has threatened for further protests and neglect in the next election.
With so much dissent, to what extent will this liberalized family code be implemented once enacted? For example, in 1972, by enacting the family code offering greater protection for women, Leopold Senghor (a Christian President) provoked much anger amongst religious leaders throughout Senegal. As a result, the code was largely ignored in many rural areas controlled by the marabouts. Furthermore, implementation of the code also failed because most Senegalese were not made aware of the existence of such a code. Since the 1989 reform of the law, no changes have been made to the outdated Senegalese family code not in alignment with international treaties. Again, the close relation between state authorities and the leaders of the Muslim brotherhoods may partially explain the reason for the government's inaction.
In the end, this new legislation alone won't ensure greater gender equality and women's empowerment. In most cases, there is a significant disparity between what is written in law and what is practiced in reality. There was an interesting article in the New York Times, two weeks ago, on the status of women in Morocco five years after the new family code was promulgated.(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/world/africa/19tangiers.html)
I'm curious about what the new code states on polygamy and wonder what the revisions to the code will be after Touré meets with Islamic leaders.
Nepotistic Succession & Female Leadership
While emptying out my closet and packing boxes, I've been looking through and throwing out a lot of my old readings from my master's grad program. I came across this old NYT article, "It Takes a Family (to Break a Glass Ceiling" by Kerry Howley published January 5, 2008, long before Obama won the election. I used this article for a presentation on women and power in my gender class.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05howley.html
Hillary Clinton, Benazir Bhutton, Chandrika Kumaratunga, Aung San Suu Kyi, the list goes on and on - what do these female leaders share in common?
They all have family connections to politics. Howley argues that nepotistic advancement has actually helped the feminist movement. She writes, "The road to female advancement often begins at the altar." Many women has overcome political barriers because their family connections afforded them the opportunity. However, according to Howley, "women who rely on their last names to ascend to power are not especially likely to pursue explicitly feminist politics."
Is nepotistic advancement a means to opening up political opportunities for women without such family ties? Or is the election of a female leader (with such ties) merely symbolic - an end in itself of an increase in the number of elite female leaders? Furthermore, when women like Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutton, and Chandrika Kumaratunga followin in the steps of their fathers, to what extent are they representing their own voices? In other words, does an increase in women's political participation lead to an improvement in the lives of ordinary women?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05howley.html
Hillary Clinton, Benazir Bhutton, Chandrika Kumaratunga, Aung San Suu Kyi, the list goes on and on - what do these female leaders share in common?
They all have family connections to politics. Howley argues that nepotistic advancement has actually helped the feminist movement. She writes, "The road to female advancement often begins at the altar." Many women has overcome political barriers because their family connections afforded them the opportunity. However, according to Howley, "women who rely on their last names to ascend to power are not especially likely to pursue explicitly feminist politics."
Is nepotistic advancement a means to opening up political opportunities for women without such family ties? Or is the election of a female leader (with such ties) merely symbolic - an end in itself of an increase in the number of elite female leaders? Furthermore, when women like Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutton, and Chandrika Kumaratunga followin in the steps of their fathers, to what extent are they representing their own voices? In other words, does an increase in women's political participation lead to an improvement in the lives of ordinary women?
Sexism in Italy
When we think of Italy, we think of the romantic Trevi fountain and lovers throwing coins to wish their eternal love. However, according to today's article in NYT, Italian women are enjoying any romantic moments as they bear domestic burden and suffer female body objectification. It's a disconcerting article that highlights the fact that gender inequality and women's empowerment isn't only an issue in developing countries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/opinion/27volpato.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/opinion/27volpato.html
23 August 2009
Women in War
Chris Blattman (http://chrisblattman.com/2009/08/21/womenwar) and his colleagues have written an interesting paper on women's roles during and after war. Their findings reveal that women play an active role in the Lord Resistance's Army in Uganda; they are not solely sexual victims. They also discover that a large number of abducted women were highly educated compared to their male counterparts. The LRA sought out women who are more educated to support rebel forces in medical care, communication, and planning. Finally, within the LRA, sexual violence outside of forced marriage is very rare; sexual relations within is highly controlled and civilian rape is forbidden. In other words, the authors point out that "the LRA illustrates the civilian rape is not inevitable in war" (Annan & Blattman, 2009, p.21).
Here's an article that I'd like to read (but can't access) by Megan MacKenzie on former female soldiers in Sierra Leone and the reluctance of reintegration agencies to address women: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/19037/securitization_and_desecuritization.html
Here's an article that I'd like to read (but can't access) by Megan MacKenzie on former female soldiers in Sierra Leone and the reluctance of reintegration agencies to address women: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/19037/securitization_and_desecuritization.html
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