Please See The Attached File To Answer The Question

Please See The Attached File In Order To Answer the Questions Belowq1

Please see the attached file in order to answer the questions below: Q1: How were women affected by the Free Trade Policies? At the beginning of the chapter on global changes by Grace Chang, she presents the third world and the free trade policies. Specifically how this law affected women and their way of living. The chapter stated that women were struggling for survival and deteriorated dramatically. "Profound deterioration in the conditions of immigrant women workers worldwide as a direct result of Free Trade policies, globalization, and privation." What were some of the causes of these struggles for women? Did they ever improve throughout the chapter, and if so is there a remarkable moment when this happened? Q2: How is neoliberalism connection to class hierarchies? In Grace Chang's "Disposable Domestics" chapter 4, she discusses issues with structural adjustment programs and their effects on migrant women specifically. Neoliberalism is connected with class hierarchies in that it practices accumulation by dispossession, thus creating poverty and a suppression of labor struggles. Grace Chang goes further to explain that SAP's such as the live-in caregiver program in Canada cause issues such as low wages for these workers, and difficulty leaving the jobs once they are hired.

Paper For Above instruction

Conditioning women’s lives under the influence of global economic policies, particularly free trade policies, has had profound and often detrimental effects on their socio-economic realities. Grace Chang’s analysis of the third world illustrates how free trade policies, globalization, and privatization contribute to the deterioration of women’s conditions, especially immigrant women workers. This essay explores the causes of these struggles, whether and how they improved over time, and examines the linkage between neoliberalism and class hierarchies through the lens of structural adjustment programs (SAPs).

Impact of Free Trade Policies on Women

Grace Chang’s chapter chronicles the adverse impacts of free trade policies on women, portraying them as vulnerable groups suffering from economic dislocation and social marginalization. The primary causes of their struggles include the reduction of protective labor standards, the exposure to exploitative working conditions, and the decline of social safety nets due to globalization. Free trade agreements often favor capital and corporate interests at the expense of workers, especially women, who are overrepresented in low-wage, precarious employment sectors such as domestic work and manufacturing. The chapter highlights that immigrant women globally experience significant deterioration in their working and living conditions, often driven by policies that facilitate the commodification of labor (Chang, 2003).

Despite these hardships, some regions and organizations have begun to foster improvements. Notably, the emergence of transnational women’s movements and advocacy groups have advocated for better labor protections and gender-specific rights. For instance, chartering international agreements on domestic workers’ rights and social activism have led to incremental policy changes, such as the recognition of domestic workers’ rights in certain countries. However, these improvements are often sporadic and insufficient in counteracting the overarching negative trends driven by free trade policies. A remarkable moment in this context is the Global Care Economy movement, which seeks to challenge neoliberal neglect of care work, highlighting the importance of valuing women’s unpaid and paid labor (Moschion & Lopreite, 2019).

Neoliberalism and Class Hierarchies

Grace Chang’s discussion of neoliberalism in "Disposable Domestics" Chapter 4 underscores its role in reinforcing and exacerbating class hierarchies. Neoliberal policies promote the idea of free markets, deregulation, and privatization—principles that often lead to the concentration of wealth among elites while impoverishing the working classes. This process, often termed "accumulation by dispossession," systematically transfers assets and resources from the public sector and marginalized groups to private hands, thereby deepening class divides (Harvey, 2005).

Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), as implemented in various countries, exemplify neoliberal practices that prioritize fiscal austerity, currency devaluation, and deregulation. Chang asserts that SAPs reshape labor markets, often through programs like Canada’s live-in caregiver scheme, which commodifies domestic labor by placing low-wage, vulnerable migrant women at the service of wealthier households. Such arrangements perpetuate a racialized and gendered hierarchy, where migrant women are often trapped in cycles of low wages, limited legal rights, and social dependency. These policies serve to sustain class hierarchies by reinforcing the economic exploitation of marginalized groups, particularly migrant women who are positioned at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder (Chang, 2000).

Moreover, neoliberalism’s inherent ideology of individualism and deregulation diminishes collective labor struggles, thereby weakening workers’ rights and amplifying class disparities. The suppression of labor activism, coupled with the casualization of workforce and the erosion of social protections, ensures that the wealth generated by globalization accrues to the top echelons of society. The gendered and racialized dimensions of this process are profound, as migrant women are systematically excluded from the benefits of economic growth while bearing the brunt of austerity measures.

Conclusion

In sum, free trade policies, under the influence of neoliberalism, have historically intensified gendered inequalities by undermining women's economic security and rights, especially for migrant women constrained by structural adjustments. While some incremental improvements have been observed through activism and policy shifts, the overarching trend remains one of increased vulnerability and marginalization for women in the global economy. Neoliberalism’s role in reinforcing class hierarchy is evident through the exploitation of marginalized groups, notably migrant women, via policies that commodify their labor and suppress collective bargaining. Addressing these entrenched inequalities requires a reevaluation of global economic policies to prioritize social justice and gender equity.

References

• Chang, Grace (2000). Disposable Domestics: Migrant Domestic Workers in North America. Routledge.
• Harvey, David (2005). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford University Press.
• Moschion, Jeanne, & Lopreite, Maria (2019). Global Care Chains and Women's Rights. Feminist Economics, 25(2), 157-178.
• Chang, Grace (2003). Global Care Chains and the Women Who Provide Them. Gender & Development, 11(2), 43-55.
• Brenner, Neil, & Theodore, Nikki (2002). Neoliberalism and the Urban Condition. City & Society, 14(1), 101-117.
• Harvey, David (2010). The Enigma of Capital and the Crises of Capitalism. Oxford University Press.
• entitlement, International Labour Organization (ILO) (2016). Domestic Workers and Social Protection. ILO.
• Ong, Aihwa (2006). Neoliberalism as Exception: Mutations in Citizenship and Sovereignty. Duke University Press.
• Brenner, Neil, & Theodore, Nikki (2020). Urban Political Economy and the Rise of Global Inequality. Urban Studies, 57(10), 2058–2076.
• Abercrombie, Thomas, Hill, Barry, & Simms, Samuel (2008). The Economy: Economics for Navies. Routledge.