Globalising gender justice?

This paper focuses on the impact of the global market on gender relations. It argues that there is insufficient emphasis within contemporary feminist legal analyses on the inequalities associated with globalisation. While there has been major developments around the human rights of women at an international level, there has been much less focus on the economic aspects of the development of global trading. This paper considers the regulatory frameworks associated with three forms of trading chains: in vegetables and flowers, in care and in sex. It seeks to develop a framework through which to consider the ways in which different forms of legal interventions impact on gender relations. The aim is to open debate on the utility of feminist analytical ‘ tools’ and action oriented strategies. The paper begins with a brief discussion of the extent to which feminist legal analysis provides a suitable framework for tackling global economic inequalities. It then sets out the contexts for each of the three trading chains, using the UK to concentrate on the relationships at the consumer end of the chain and African contexts for the various sites of production. Thereafter the paper explores the various ways in which the relationships between the consumer and producer sites are constructed legally. The paper concludes by exploring the ways in which a relational approach to gender justice, using the feminist concept of the ethic of care, can be developed in the context of a global economy