FemNorthNet Webinar October 21, 2010 Restructuring FemNorthNet Webinar October 21, 2010

What is a Structure? A structure is a combination of: Material Conditions Institutions Ideas Sometimes all three come together in a relatively stable way for a period of time in a particular place (R.W. Cox).

EG - “Nuclear Family” male bread-winner with a stable, well-paying job often unionized able-bodied white industrial worker woman who worked at home without pay heterosexual couple

“Nuclear Family” Was the ideal, but many people excluded from the definition Aboriginal families, rural families, immigrant families, single-mother led families North American ideal In the years after the Second World War

Re-structuring When structures change, sometimes we can’t recognize the change until time passes. In the midst of it, sometimes we experience chaos, or crisis, or upheaval. But if we take a long term view, we can see how profound the changes have been.

What happened to the “nuclear family”?

Economic Restructuring A process of profound and prolonged economic change, brought about by the shifting interests of corporations

Economic Restructuring But, to identify what has changed, we need to think about how things once were. So, what has changed since our grandmothers’ time?

How has the economy changed? Reliance by firms on national markets to reliance on global markets Active state in economic planning to free trade agreements State-funded and publicly-delivered services to privatization of public services

How has the economy changed? US branch plants industrialization to plant closures Extraction of minerals and energy resources to super-exploitation of natural resources Some women in the labour market to most women working for a wage

Signs of Restructuring in our communities: No national childcare program Rise in domestic violence Pensions collapsing/lack of private pensions Poverty worsening Economic activity, but the community is suffering

Why is this happening?