Globalization as Racialized, Sexualized Violence

Citation:

Kuokkanen, Rauna. 2008. “Globalization as Racialized, Sexualized Violence.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 10 (2): 216-233.

Author: Rauna Kuokkanen

Abstract:

In my article, I suggest that indigenous women are among the hardest hit by economic globalization - the expansion of markets, trade liberalization and cheapening of labour - and that globalization represents a multifaceted violence against indigenous women. I consider this with the help of two examples. First, I discuss the largely ignored case of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada and how the interlocking systems of oppression (colonization, patriarchy and capitalism) are further intensified by globalization. Second, I examine the death of a Hopi woman, Private Piestewa, in the context of militarization, history of colonization and globalization. I analyse these examples in an intersectional framework that reveals the links between colonization, patriarchy and capitalism all of which inform the current processes of globalization.

Keywords: global capitalism, indigenous women, US military, violence against women, war on iraq

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Globalization, Indigenous, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarization, Race, Sexual Violence Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Canada, United States of America

Year: 2008