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By Rachael McGuin It is interesting to note the way the media can use the issue of empowerment of women as a forum for propaganda for free market liberalism. Women at the United Nations Non-Government Forum on Women, in China 1995, were voicing their discontent with the current situation of Western imperialism on a global scale and the global structure of patriarchy which uses a hierarchical philosophy to alienate and oppress both women and men. Mainstream Australian media coverage was disappointing but predictable: projecting a politically biased analysis of Chinese Communist policy, focusing on the harassment that women at the conference faced from Chinese officials, the state of accommodation at the forum and weather and transport problems, while conveniently ignoring the radical demands of women for change on a global level. A number of articles in mainstream Australian newspapers were filled with political rhetoric critically analysed China's human rights record and its status in the international market economy. These issues were of course relevant and necessary to comment on, and indeed there was some degree of difficulty experienced by women at the conference. However, the focus on the Communist system as the worst abuser of human rights and oppressor of women and men, conveniently took the focus away from the often insidious forms of discrimination and oppression in the Western world. Once again the real issues being discussed — challenging the structure of our global society, expressing the need for revolutionary change in philosophy and lifestyle and breaking down the structural system of hierarchy and inequality imposed by the patriarchy — were completely ignored. The term "globalisation of the economy" was a catchcry of many workshops and plenaries at the non-government forum. This term describes the global movement towards free market capitalism and the push towards unlimited economic development. It has allowed multinational companies, and the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, unrestricted access to resources and wealth on a global scale. These companies have the power to dictate their own conditions of operation with little opposition from national governments, which welcome investment. Guidelines or controls on operating procedures are virtually non-existent, so these companies have free rein to exploit workers and the environment. The seriousness of this exploitation was evident in the global environmental crisis; it directly affects the lives of women. Some of the effects spoken of at the forum were: sweatshop working conditions, pollution of vital water supplies, land degradation due to monoproduction of cash crops and toxic waste dumping. Women from developing countries were particularly opposed to this globalisation process, because they were the ones most directly affected by this oppression. The major concern for many of these women was land and forest degradation, which translated to a fight for physical survival. Women from developing countries called on their sisters in developed nations to use the power of their democracy to draw attention to the materialism and global greed that were destroying their livelihood. There was recognition amongst women of our interdependency on a global scale and the need to work with each other and with the environment, to look at quality not quantity, to balance the material and spiritual, to heal the Earth. The voices of women in China and around the globe were calling for a revolutionary change in philosophy, structure and lifestyle for men and women. The slogan "Women's issues are world issues!" emphasised the relevance of this event in world history. While gender bias at all levels of society was discussed, the overriding conclusion was that both men and women were suffering under a hierarchical, power-based, patriarchal structure that had been the predominant method of development. The word patriarchy was used not to emphasise man against woman but rather to recognise the existence of a world philosophy which in its essence is discriminatory and oppressive. This philosophy allows power — physical, economic or spiritual — to be used for the benefit of a few while the great majority are powerless and discriminated against. The patriarchy separates individuals using false assumptions of superiority/inferiority of class, race or gender. This assumption of the inherent inequality of human beings and the need for competition to sustain oneself at a comparable level of existence, creates a system of abusers and victims and ensures continued violence and oppression. The essential challenge of the women's forum was the breaking down of this system of inequality at all levels, and the creation of a system which could maintain individual identity and belief systems, while also providing for a functional system of community. Women were creating a more holistic, equality-based perspective to challenge the current world philosophy. This perspective included ideals such as recognition of spiritual and cultural values, peace, sustainable development and equality. In the words of a mother from Zambia, "If we cannot teach them tolerance and fairness and peace, along with our mother's milk, then we are failing".
[Rachael McGuin, from the Northern Territory, attended some 20 workshops at the non-government forum associated with the United Nations Women's Conference in Beijing in September.]