| Introduction:
The
discussion of globalization has come to dominate the international
discourse; the national discourse is dominated by the issue
of “economic reform”. In fact, globalization and economic
reform are related because one of the key tenets of economic
reform in the last ten years has been the opening up the national
economy to international competition through more openness
in trade and in capital flows. The other, and related, key
tenet has been the rolling back of the state in major areas
of economic and social activity.
How
have globalization and economic reform played themselves out
over the last ten years? There has been a furious debate on
this question. The perspectives used in the debates have ranged
from broadly ideological and theoretical (e.g. “markets versus
state”), through the macro level empirical (e.g. “does trade
openness lead to growth?”), to the micro level perspectives
of poor households and individuals gaining or losing from
the global and national level processes (e.g. “exporting creates
jobs but increases vulnerability”). In SEWA we have tried
to examine the consequences of globalization and economic
reform as seen from the ground level. In particular, we have
conducted studies with various sectors and categories of SEWA
members.
This
paper summarizes some of the findings of the studies made
by SEWA to know the impact of globalization on various sectors.
Findings will be updated, as soon as we will be able to capture
the impact on other sectors made by globalization. Also the
findings made in the under given sectors will be updated accordingly.
Agriculture
Farmers:
-
Production cost has increased due to use of hybrid seeds,
pesticides and chemical fertilizer from 1991 to 2002.
-
Total profit made in rice crops has decreased by 6% from
1991 to 2002.
-
Use of pesticides and chemical fertilizer has increased
the soil pollution, which remains on land due to improper
washing of soil due to lack of water.
-
Decrease in income and productivity has resulted in decrease
of sustenance from agriculture as farmers are buying grains
from the market and some of them are also opting for occupation
other than agriculture to sustain themselves.
-
Use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides has an impact
on health, as farmers are complaining about severe headache,
fever, skin irritation and other skin related diseases.
Agricultural
Workers:
-
Availability of water for cultivation has encouraged the
farmers to cultivate their lands for two to three seasons.
This has increased the employment opportunity among agricultural
workers, instead of one season they are getting work for
three seasons. On the other hand, in many areas mechanization
has decreased the available employment.
-
Use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers has made the
agriculture farmers to work in polluted atmosphere. Most
of the workers have complained about headache, skin and
eye irritation and vomiting tendencies during the use
of pesticides.
Construction
Workers:
-
Competition has increased among construction workers in
last ten to twelve years as closure of textile mills and
printing factories has increased the number of labourers
in the sector.
-
Decrease in employment days as construction workers are
getting seven days work in a month. The reason said to
be the mechanization of construction sector, which has
decreased the demand of labourers in the sector.
- With
the current policy of increase in privatization and mechanization
of construction sector by Government of India, there would
be a massive displacement of labour in all the operations
of construction sector. Clearly, this emerging scenario
will have its worst affect on women construction workers,
as they will be completely eliminated from the main operations
in which they have been traditionally deployed.
-
Change from traditional construction work to more mechanized
and skilled construction work.
The
Garment Industry:
-
Change in market demands - instead of petticoats and children’s
wear demand is more for sophisticated items according
the national and international fashion world.
-
Instead of cotton cloth, synthetic clothes including satin
and velvets are mainly used as raw material for the current
garment market products.
- Majority
of the self-employed women garment workers owns older
variety of sewing machine, which does not work well other
than cotton material. This has affected the productivity
of women workers. Unavailability of capital also restricts
the workers to upgrade their machines as per the demand
of current garment industry.
Forestry
-
Lowering of import duty on forest produce has also encouraged
the import of gum, consequently decreasing the price of
gum. This has affected the income of gum collectors, as
forest department has to reduce its rates.
-
Continued State control and monopoly of non-timber forest
produce has restricted the gum collectors to sell their
product in open market. They have to sell their products
to government agencies or subcontractor deployed by government
in much lower price then open market price of the gum.
Insurance
-
In the late 1990s’, the Indian Parliament passed an Act
allowing private insurance companies into sector. However,
the Act is promoting only very large insurance companies,
as the minimum capital required to register a company
under the Act is Rs. 100 crores. Although SEWA was able
to expand insurance to its members it is not being allowed
to start insurance co-operative due to the large capital
requirement.
-
With privatization, SEWA has been able to get better deals
for its members, as there is more competition among the
insurance companies.
Conclusion:
What do we learn form SEWA’s ground level perspective on the
consequences of the global and national forces that go under
the labels of “globalization” and “economic reform”? We draw
the following five lessons:
i.
The effects of globalization and economic reforms on poor
women are highly differentiated and nuanced, so a blanket
analysis or stance is not justified. Some features of the
economic reform process, such as reducing the role of the
state in Forestry, and some consequences of greater openness,
such as the easier access to international markets for poor
women’s products, are beneficial to poor women. But other
features are not.
ii. Despite the benefits of globalization and economic reform,
the three troubling features identified from first principles—relative
decline in unskilled wages, increased risk and vulnerability,
and a declining bargaining power of unskilled labor—are
indeed seen in SEWA’s ground level experience.
iii. Maximizing the benefits and minimizing the costs requires
active management of the process of globalization and economic
reform with the outcomes for poor in mind. A hands off policy,
is not an option. Strategies for management should be developed
by listening to the experiences of the poor and their representatives.
iv. In some cases, managing the negative consequences may
indeed involve some slowing of the pace of reform or opening
up, as in the case of the mechanization of the construction
sector. In all cases, direct interventions to enhance the
skills of the poor, and to develop insurance tools to manage
the risks they face, will be crucial. These interventions
need to combine government action and action by organizations
of the poor.
v. The poor, and especially unskilled poor women, need organization
to counteract the growing economic power of capital and
skilled labor as a result of their greater national and
global mobility. Organization is also the sine qua non for
representation of the interests of poor women in local,
national and global policy making councils.
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