Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: A Cross-National Study of Economic Globalization and Women's Rights Under Diverse Institutional and Cultural Contexts

Suny At Binghamton, Binghamton NY

Investigators

Abstract

This study will clarify our theoretical and empirical understanding of the ways in which contemporary economic globalization influences women's economic, social, and political rights. Most of the empirical and theoretical literature to date has neglected the ways in which women's rights are affected by changes in the global economy. There are four specific goals of this study: 1. To systematically examine the relationship between globalization and women's rights. 2. To examine the mediating role of domestic political institutions on women's rights. 3. To examine the mediating role of international institutions on women's rights. 4. To examine the role of religion in influencing cross-national variations in women's rights. The study will utilize a representative sample of 96 developing countries in all geographical regions of the world from 1980 to 1999. The broader effects of this study center on understanding at the policy level the areas and ways in which globalization influences women's rights attainment. This knowledge will help policy makers deal with long-standing and emergent social problems that directly impact women, such as the feminization of poverty. In addition, this research is aimed at promoting a better understanding in academic and policy circles of how globalization is negotiated or mediated in a variety of institutional settings. Much of current research portrays the globalization process as an inexorable occurrence with a foreordained outcome.