Feminist Responses to Economic Globalization: Some Examples of Past and Future Practice

This article aims to make trade agreements more comprehensible to non-economists so that proposals for more gender equitable international trade can be better understood. The author provides a brief overview of the agreement on Trade Related International Property (TRIPS) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The author then discusses how trade and other economic policies are gendered, as well as how globalization has led to changes in the international organization of labour. Several feminist responses to globalization are presented with the intention of stimulating discussion on ways to mainstream gender issues into international trade.