Commentary

International Women's Day 2002

March 8^th is International Women's Day, a day dedicated to the struggle of women around the world for economic, social and political rights. Today, as neo-liberalism spreads its tentacles across the globe, those rights are under attack as never before.

Deteriorating wages and working conditions, the rapid expansion of part-time jobs and cutbacks to spending on health, education and social spending impact most forcefully on women, who are among the most vulnerable in society.

Yet, when we look at the state of the women's movement in Canada, we do not see a vigorous, vibrant movement leading the entire society to solve these urgent problems. Rather, we see a movement in disarray, split into dozens of currents. How did such a situation develop?

During the 1960s in Canada, as around the world, a massive upsurge of youth and students occurred. Thousands of young women emerged from this movement, convinced that their emancipation could only be achieved through the emancipation of the entire society from the backward relations engendered by the capitalist system.

However, almost immediately another trend emerged in the women's movement, a trend claiming that men were the real enemy of women, not the backward capitalist relations. The leaders of this trend sought to convince women that governments at various levels were the natural ally of women in their struggle against men and advocated reliance on government grants. They also argued that women could achieve their emancipation within the capitalist system by lobbying governments for legislative reforms, such as pay equity, daycare and other so-called "women's issues", while struggling to overthrow the capitalist system was "counter-productive".

Those who advocated such positions were quickly accommodated within the system, receiving appointments to Cabinet, the Senate and various governmental commissions. They were also promoted as the real leaders of women. On the other hand, those women who opposed splitting the movement on the basis of gender, who argued that women should organize on the basis of their own strength and that capitalism, not men, was the enemy, often faced the loss of their jobs, personal attacks and other forms of persecution.

The women's organizations built on a foundation of government handouts have all gone into crisis with the arrival of neo-liberalism. Faced with an end to government grants, their institutions have been closed down. Others have been torn apart by the ideology that the movement should be split not only on the basis of gender, but on every other conceivable difference, as well. As a result, women have been left without viable defence organizations precisely when they need them the most.

International Women's day is a day to celebrate the central and indispensable role of women in the construction of a modern society. It is also a day to reflect on the weaknesses and failures of the women's movement, to learn from past mistakes. On the occasion of International Women's Day 2002 women must question seriously what politics created the current crisis in the women's movement, with the aim of overcoming that crisis and advancing the cause of women everywhere for emancipation and social justice.