To start to answer the question of whether economic activism is transforming and deconstructing economic norms and identities, I place the feminist economic activist strategies I have discussed in this chapter in a diverse economies framework. In addition to this, I also reiterate whether they are affirmative or transformative, meaning whether they affirm maldistribution of resources and/ or respect, or transform underlying power dynamics. This analysis shows firstly, where Australian feminists have focused their efforts in relation to the diverse economy model, and will also show whether the activism described in this chapter has been largely transformative or affirmative.
The Australian feminist economic activism discussed in this chapter has focused on influencing labour and transactional areas of economy. Labour and transactions are two of the three areas of economy in the diverse economies table I first discussed in the Introduction to this thesis (Figure 0.1). Feminists calling for more universal government-funded services rather than tax breaks, for example, would fit into the alternative-market transactions area of the diverse economy. Campaigns for maternity leave focus on alternatively paid (non-wage) labour. Campaigns to raise the income thresholds for welfare payments to sole parents fits into both transactional and labour areas of the diverse economy. This is laid out in Figure 3.1, where I have placed the different activist campaigns discussed in this chapter in the three diverse economies fields. Feminist activism in Australia is economic, and it mostly focuses on transactions in the alternative and non-market areas, and labour, both market, alternative-market and unpaid.
In this table (Figure 3.1), I have also categorised the activism as transformative or affirmative. The transformative or affirmative strategy is marked with the notation of an (A) or (T) and a note if this refers to one aspect but not another, for example, is affirmative regarding redistribution but not gender. The labour activism is roughly evenly split between affirmative and transformative in nature, meaning it sometimes affirms gender maldistribution or inequality based on identity categories or maldistribution, and sometimes transforms or disassembles
the maldistribution or identity. For example, removing the requirement for permanent government teachers in NSW to be ready to serve anywhere in the state, meant many more women teachers were able to accept permanent rather than contract or casual employment. Rather than removing the requirement for
women, the barrier was simply removed altogether, for both men and women,
making the change transformative of gender and work norms. Direct affirmative action on the other hand, with quotas for a certain number of women or men to be employed, affirms the maldistribution of respect for women by confirming their status as needy or inadequate. Unlike activism on labour, activism on transactions (services) was mostly transformative in nature, with the exception of state funding for migrant women’s organisations. A transformative example is, again, more universal government-funded services, rather than tax breaks, which would affirm the identity of worker. Therefore, the majority of feminist activist strategies on transactions (including social services) and work that I have covered here are transformative in nature.
Enterprise was the area of the diverse economy that none of the feminist activism touched on. While the NSW Department of Education is an alternative enterprise in the diverse economy framework, the activism directed to this department seemed to be more about the working conditions there. This leads me to a concluding question and observation. Firstly, is enterprise not an area of economy that feminist activists in Australia address, and if not, why? Secondly, diversifying or queering the enterprise may be an area for further exploration by feminist activists in Australia.
Transactions Labour Enterprise Market Wage Removing requirement for government teachers to serve anywhere à more permanent female teachers (T) Direct affirmative action in government departments (A) Equal pay campaigns to remove male and female wages (T) Equal pay campaigns to increase wages for feminised jobs (A, T) Capitalist Alternative market Funding for universal services not tax cuts (T) Taxing individual not family (T) State funding for migrant women’s organisations (A) Government funded translation and interpreting services for NESB women (T) Alternative paid Maternity leave payments (A) Parental leave payments (T for gender, A for redistribution, as recipients must show they have been in paid work) State payments to white mothers (A) Higher earnings welfare thresholds for sole parents (T) Alternative capitalist Non-market Higher earnings welfare thresholds for sole parents (T) Unpaid Non-capitalist
Figure 3.1 Transformative (T) and Affirmative (A) Australian feminist
activism in the diverse economy, source: modified from Gibson-Graham 1996:
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Conclusion
This chapter provided the reader with a short and selective history of Australian feminist activism, activism that is often also economic activism. Feminists in Australia have been particularly, though not solely, focused on work, both paid and unpaid – from payments to mothers, to working conditions and equal pay campaigning. Another major focus has been social services. Feminist economic activism has often transformed the economy; at other times it has affirmed gender difference or economic disadvantage. The strategies of this feminist economic activism, as I have shown, can both reify and disrupt gendered and economic identities, leading me to question how current feminist campaigns transform or affirm both economic discourses and gendered identities. In the following chapter,
I explain my methods for researching in and with my chosen case studies of feminist economic activism in Sydney.