Many questions arise of an economic nature that are only partially addressed by standard economic analysis. These lacunae give rise to particular lines of critique in economics, including a wide-ranging and increasingly cogent feminist approach to reenvisioning economics. This book provides a comprehensive description of this intriguing new area of feminist economics. It includes discussion of what constitutes feminist economics and how feminist economics is different from other approaches. The intellectual origins of the area are explicated, and the current state of the subfield outlined. Specific topics covered include conflict over terminology, pedagogy, and content in the field of economics, measurement of the unmeasured economy, the role of caring labor in the economy, heteronormativity in economics, feminist approaches to economic development, multiple approaches to empiricism, modeling of intrahousehold relationships, consideration of the role of property rights in reifying gender roles, differential effects of international trade and finance by gender, and feminist approaches to public finance and social welfare.
This edited volume maps new advances in theories and practices in feminist economics and the valuation of women, care and nature since Marilyn Waring’s groundbreaking critique of the system of national accounts, If Women Counted (1988). It features theoretical, practical and policy oriented contributions, empirical studies, and new conceptualizations, theorizations and problematizations of defining and accounting for the value of nature and unpaid household work, eco-feminism, national and international policy processes, gender budgeting, unpaid care and HIV/AIDS policy, activism and artwork, and mirrors the wide-ranging impact and resonance of Waring’s work as well as the current frontiers of feminist economics.
Safe drinking water counts for nothing. A pollution-free environment counts for nothing. Even some people - namely women - count for nothing. This is the case, at least, according to the United Nations System of National Accounts. Author Marilyn Waring, former New Zealand M.P., now professor, development consultant, writer, and goat farmer, isolates the gender bias that exists in the current system of calculating national wealth. As Waring observes, in this accounting system women are considered 'non-producers' and as such they cannot expect to gain from the distribution of benefits that flow from production. Issues like nuclear warfare, environmental conservation, and poverty are likewise excluded from the calculation of value in traditional economic theory. As a result, public policy, determined by these same accounting processes, inevitably overlooks the importance of the environment and half the world's population. Counting for Nothing, originally published in 1988, is a classic feminist analysis of women's place in the world economy brought up to date in this reprinted edition, including a sizeable new introduction by the author. In her new introduction, the author updates information and examples and revisits the original chapters with appropriate commentary. In an accessible and often humorous manner, Waring offers an explanation of the current economic systems of accounting and thoroughly outlines ways to ensure that the significance of the environment and the labour contributions of women receive the recognition they deserve.
Economic agents can be male or female; they interact in families and households as well as in firms and markets. Yet it is only recently that economists have begun to take the implications of these facts into account in their theory, research, and policy analysis. Informed debate in economics, in other academic fields in which gender is of concern, and in society at large depends on an understanding of the economic issues underlying such questions as "why do women earn less than men" and "why, throughout the world, have men and women tended to work in separate spheres?" "The Economics of Gender, " Second Edition offers a comprehensive, balanced, and up-to-date introduction to the new work on the differences between women's and men's economic opportunities, activities, and rewards. Although Jacobsen's primary focus is on contemporary US patterns, she devotes four chapters to cross-societal comparisons. She also takes a close look at the evolution of contemporary patterns over time and the impact on them of race, ethnicity, and class. Throughout, she discusses the pros and cons of various policies, including "comparable worth" and welfare programs. Many real-life examples and anecdotes enliven the text. Appendices provide additional help for readers who have not had a course in economics and further detail for the economically sophisticated. Clear, readable, and provocative, the Second Edition of "The Economics of Gender" will continue to be welcomed as a primary text for the growing number of courses on gender economics. It remains a valuable supplement to courses in labor economics, economic policy, and women's studies. Finally, academics and policymakers in a wide range of fields will appreciate the book as a crucial reference.
"The essays in this volume confront the inroads that economics has made into the legal academy.... Law and Economics uses principles of neoclassical economics to develop laws and social policies that maintain if not bolster current allocations of power."—from the Introduction The Law and Economics school has had a significant impact on the legal and governmental landscape in the United States. It posits a perfectly rational "economic man"—homo economicus—who is unconstrained by familial and communal ties and who can and should make decisions solely in light of considerations of economic value. Feminism Confronts Homo Economicus offers a major intervention in debates about how law has come under the influence of economic principles. Drawing on the latest thinking in the fields of feminist legal theory, critical legal studies, and feminist economics, the essays critique the notion that legal and policy decisions should be made solely through the lens of economics. While the contributors question the wholesale incorporation of the neoclassical economic model into legal analysis, they do not all discard economic analysis and theory. Situated at the intersection of feminism, law, and economics, Feminism Confronts Homo Economicus will appeal to scholars and students of these disciplines as well as policy analysts and social theorists interested in family, education, labor, and welfare.
The excellent list of themes and chapters in this volume reflects the maturity reached by feminist economics in its different dimensions. Based on the notion of social provisioning for all as the basic objective of economics, they represent a challenge to conventional economic thought and they show the importance of understanding theory, institutions, empirical work, and policy from a gender perspective. The global perspective provided through themes and authors is a very useful contribution to the literature. Lourdes Bener'a, Cornell University, US Standard economics has a narrow and distorted vision of what the economy is, and how it works. Gender scholars are on the forefront of developing better, more encompassing models of human provisioning for well-being. This volume presents a wonderful sampling of these new theoretical and empirical developments. Paula England, New York University, US This is an impressive collection that delves deeply and broadly into the myriad ways that gender shapes and alters economic lives and illuminates complex facets of the economic and social provisioning process across the globe. The chapters, by an exciting variety of researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners from numerous fields, present a consistent and persuasive vision of economic well-being as critical to the flourishing of all people. Myra H. Strober, Stanford University, US In the aftermath of global economic downturn, it has never been more important to understand how gender relates to economic life and well-being. This interdisciplinary collection of original research details key areas of intersection, provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of research and proposes avenues for further investigation. The Handbook illuminates complex facets of the economic and social provisioning process across the globe. The contributors academics, policy analysts and practitioners from wide-ranging areas of expertise discuss the methodological approaches to, and analytical tools for, conducting research on the gender dimension of economic life. They also provide analyses of major issues facing both developed and developing countries. Topics explored include civil society, discrimination, informal work, working time, central bank policy, health, education, food security, poverty, migration, environmental activism and the financial crisis. Economists, sociologists and political scientists will find this book to be an invaluable research tool, as will academics, researchers and students with an interest in economics particularly feminist economics gender studies and global studies.
An important new book, bringing together into one volume many of the salient early articles in the field as well as important recent contributions, this reader is an examination of and response to the effects of heteronormativity on both economic outcomes and economics as a discipline. The first book to consolidate what has been published, filling a gap in the currently available literature and edited by an expert in the field, it contains a brief introductory essay; setting-out the reasons for and aims of the project, and a short section introduction; defining the topic at hand and introducing each of the key readings. This book is necessary reading for students in research areas including political economy, urban studies, economics, economic history and demographic economics.
The 1993 publication of Marianne A. Ferber and Julie A. Nelson's Beyond Economic Man was a landmark in both feminist scholarship and the discipline of economics, and it quickly became a handbook for those seeking to explore the emerging connections between the two. A decade later, this book looks back at the progress of feminist economics and forward to its future, offering both a thorough overview of feminist economic thought and a collection of new, high-quality work from the field's leading scholars.
Comprehensive reference work introducing readers to the field of feminist economics. It addresses key concepts as well as feminist economic critiques and reconstructions of major economic theories and policy debates.
This book provides a comprehensive and rigorous, yet accessible, analysis of classical and Marxian price and value theory using the tools of contemporary economic analysis. The broad conceptual framework and methodology of Marx and the classical authors offers interesting and relevant perspectives on the basic structure and evolution of modern capitalist economies. Arguably, the book provides a deeper and more nuanced understanding of today's economic problems than can be gained via mainstream approaches.
