Content uploaded by Madelaine Adelman
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Madelaine Adelman on May 11, 2016
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
The Battering State: Towards a Political Economy of Domestic Violence
Abstract
A political economy of domestic violence situates domestic violence within cultural-historical context to reveal the intersection between domestic violence and (1) the organization of the polity, (2) the arrangement of the economy, and (3) the dominant familial ideology expressed normatively through state policies. The combination of these components makes visible the articulation between domestic violence and an often invisible set of conditions in US society–structural inequality as shaped by ‘family values’ and the logic of state-economy relations. The analysis of the political economy of battering as it intersects with poverty and globalization highlights the contours of “the battering state.”
... Merry 2009, 2). A state may facilitate gender-based violence not only if it leaves the latter unpunished but also if its economy favors some segments of society over others so that it actively produces vulnerability, for instance, via crowded housing conditions (Adelman 2004). Statistically, Mexican Indigenous women have less access to the resources that would enable them to leave and be safe from an abusive relationship than mestiza or white women as a legacy of Spanish colonial rule, which "favoured the whiter, the urban, the masculine, and the wealthier over others" (Radcliffe 2015, 4). ...
... Most anthropologists employ the term "violence" pejoratively, following its usage in common Anglosphere parlance (Riches 1986), which is also the case in some of the most influential violence studies (Adelman 2004;Farmer 2004;Scheper-Hughes and Bourgois 2004). It is often assumed that violence that does not cause suffering or harm of any kind is not really violence (Hinton 2004, 183). ...
When violence clearly conveys a message and produces order, it simplifies meaning. Worded differently, it creates a “dead zone” (Graeber 2012). This article argues that intense, passionate love, like intense, physical violence, drastically diminishes meaning and enhances the potential for harm. In recent globalized feminist discourse, it is commonly claimed that love and violence are mutually exclusive, which rests on the assumption that violence is bad and love is good. Yet strictly separating love and violence (e.g., by purging sacrifice from one's understanding of love) intensifies the two and produces dead zones. By contrast, many inhabitants of Milpa Alta, a rural, partially Nahuatl‐speaking community south of Mexico City, contend that violence can only be understood in relation to love. They define both concepts in terms of their affective qualities and potential to transform marital and social life. Violence, like love, is neither inherently negative nor positive because sacrifice and punishment are often considered key ingredients for maintaining a productive love among spouses, siblings, and within the wider community. Leaving the boundary between love and violence conceptually and morally porous allows them to remain generative of meaning and retain their productive potential. Cuando la violencia transmite un mensaje y produce orden, crea una “zona muerta” que simplifica el significado (Graeber 2012). Este artículo argumenta que separar estrictamente el amor y la violencia intensifica los dos y produce zonas muertas, aumentando su potencial dañino. Aunque muchas feministas afirmen que el amor y la violencia son mutuamente excluyentes, muchos habitantes de Milpa Alta, una comunidad rural náhuatlhablante al sur de la Ciudad de México, definen ambos conceptos en términos de sus cualidades afectivas y su potencial para transformar la vida conyugal y social. La violencia, como el amor, no es inherentemente negativa ni positiva porque el sacrificio y el castigo a menudo se consideran ingredientes clave para mantener un amor productivo. Reconocer a las afinidades conceptuales y morales entre el amor y la violencia les permite seguir siendo generadores de significado y retener su potencial productivo. [violencia íntima, amor, sacrificio, náhuatl, México] Wenn Gewalt eine Botschaft vermittelt und Ordnung herstellt, schafft sie eine “dead zone” (tote Zone), die Bedeutung vereinfacht (Graeber 2012). Dieser Artikel argumentiert, dass die strikte Trennung von Liebe und Gewalt beide intensiviert und tote Zonen erzeugt, wodurch ihr Potenzial erhöht wird, Schaden anzurichten. Viele FeministInnen verbreiten die Botschaft, dass Liebe und Gewalt sich gegenseitig ausschlössen, basierend auf der Annahme, dass Liebe positiv und Gewalt negativ sei. Dagegen nehmen viele EinwohnerInnen von Milpa Alta, einer Nahuatl‐sprechenden ländlichen Gemeinde südlich von Mexiko‐Stadt, beide Konzepte ambivalent wahr, da sie diese im Sinne ihrer affektiven Eigenschaften und ihres transformativen Potenzials in Bezug auf das Eheleben und das Soziale definieren. Gewalt ist mit Liebe verwandt, da Aufopferung und Bestrafung oft als Schlüsselfaktoren für die Aufrechterhaltung einer produktiven Liebe angesehen werden. Über Mexiko hinaus ermöglicht die Anerkennung der konzeptuellen und moralischen Verwandtschaft von Liebe und Gewalt es, ihr sinngebendes und produktives Potenzial zu bewahren. [Intime Gewalt, Liebe, Opferhandlungen, Nahuatl, Mexiko]
... Similar to the approach of intersectionality, this sub-theory encircles all facets of sexual violence (exploitation, pimping, trafficking); and describes the link between the state and the economy, in which the political economy angle veers into the fact that violence against women takes place because of a politico-economic imbalance in the welfare system. This then converts to poor women becoming more dependent on in-kind assistance from their sexual partners because of their precarious socioeconomic status (Adelman, 2004). The sub-theory follows the logic of Marxist feminism, where women belonging to lower economic ranks drive the supply of sex commerce, as they are more predisposed to use sex to survive. ...
... In the context of sex trafficking, economic welfare and political processes deeply affect women's experiences and weaknesses, as impoverished women become more dependent on cash coming from the in-kind provision of sexual partners. If the political environment reformed the welfare system, this segment of women would not be compelled to sell sex, but instead be granted equal opportunities to gain socio-cultural and economic capital, decreasing, therefore, their likelihood to be taken advantage of or of being trafficked(Adelman, 2004).Notwithstanding, some migrant women are fully aware of the sexual nature of their labour or that they are being trafficked; this means they still own a certain degree of agency and can negotiate some of the economic and sexual constraints they face. By being irregular, undocumented, or even illegal workers, it remains cumbersome to capitalise on the actual number of trafficking cases and to distinguish between voluntary and forced migrant sex labour in the EU(Anthias, 2014). ...
What drives the demand for migrant sex trafficking across the European Union? Could it be better addressed by advanced technologies, and if so - what is the applicability of such instruments in curbing the phenomenon? This research examines the debate surrounding the Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) in the context of a growing European market for migrant sex workers originating from Romania. By building upon a theory of political economy paired with international migration (PEIM), and by applying a mixed-methods design, it contributes to the existing literature and identifies two major hindrances that both national authorities and international organisations are confronted with when addressing this dynamic issue. Firstly, there is a paucity of a cohesive set of definitions and up-to-date statistics on the application of THB-related laws (namely the Palermo Protocol); and secondly, the dictums that do exist are by default corrective and focused on the supply of sex. Thus, they fail to integrate the socio-economic dimension imperative to embed appropriate responses. As such, the research design holds a significant contribution to the hitherto research as it argues that both national and European agencies need to relocate efforts towards discouraging the demand for sex, for which it presents an Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI)-based model to better identify and diagnose migrant sex trafficking. The model, part of a threefold macro-methodological choice, is configured on a par with the work of the Romanian National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons (ANITP) and roots out THB activities by endorsing transnational antitrafficking action in identifying victims and prosecuting criminal networks.
... Eroglu (2009) claimed that the distinction between financial management and control is significant to poverty in that these concepts draw our attention to the hierarchy of financial responsibility and its implications for power relationships within the household. Poverty limits women's options through a lack of economic autonomy, stability, or mobility, which may in turn further exacerbate structural inequality (Adelman, 2004). Taken together, money can be used in certain gender patterns as a means of gender control. ...
... Rather, the degree of economic credit available to women should be compared to the credit, property, and economic abilities of men in the family, regardless of the economic model employed (joint account, independent account, or stipend). Therefore, the contribution of this article is to draw attention to economic violence as a type of domestic violence that is typically excluded in domestic violence studies (Adelman, 2004). Since the current law in Israel does not recognize economic violence as domestic violence, policy makers may use the findings to initiate legislation that will have the potential to establish criteria for determining when normative economic behavior becomes violent, and therefore, prohibited by law (to be legislated) and justifying intervention if necessary. ...
A key factor in promoting egalitarian gender relations is financial independence for women. Palestinian women citizens of Israel (PWCI) serve as a case study for gender relations in a patriarchal society. The financial identity of these women develops alongside general institutional discrimination, dual judicial systems (civil and religious), civil status, and cultural norms. However, factors affecting family budget allocation and financial autonomy of women in this society are not well understood. The present qualitative study used in-depth, semi-structured interviews to analyze patterns of financial allocation in the family system. The findings reveal that the financial independence of most PWCI is limited, although the spectrum ranges from partially autonomous financial management to economic violence. Most couples keep separate accounts, where the wife receives an allowance from her husband, and the wife’s relative financial autonomy is determined by the magnitude of this allowance. Under such conditions, gender relations and power relations are unequal. Most PWCI are unemployed or working in low-paid jobs, and consequently, their contribution to the family budget is considered negligible. However, this meager contribution enables women to participate in financial decision-making, from which they are often excluded by their husband. Furthermore, the ability of women to save money is limited as well, and some must do so in a clandestine manner. The findings shed light on economic autonomy of women, and will allow policy makers to establish criteria for determining when normative economic behavior becomes violent, to promote legislation ensuring equal rights for women.
... This qualitative study draws on a political economy of domestic violence theoretical approach in anthropology to analyze the ways that cultural, social, political, and economic forces in the upland community-and in Vietnam more broadly-influenced the experiences and perceptions of domestic violence among members of the three ethnic groups, and the community leaders' responses to this form of gender violence. According to Adelman (2004), this approach "situates domestic violence within cultural--historical context to reveal the intersection between domestic violence and (1) the organization of the polity, (2) the arrangement of the economy, and (3) the dominant familial ideology expressed normatively through state policies" (p. 46). ...
In ethnographic analyses of gender‐based violence (GBV), anthropologists working on the front‐lines of advocacy and service delivery have increasingly adopted dual roles as activists and researchers. While these positionings have allowed for alternative fields of vision in the ethnographic process, less attention has been dedicated to what these roles do ethnographically, and the kinds of skills and core competencies advocacy roles teach us as feminist anthropologists. If front‐line work has become a tacit best practice of ethnographies in contexts of GBV, then we must ask what kinds of training and preparation is necessary for contemporary anthropologists who want to pursue research among survivors or care providers responding to conditions of violence. I propose that we need to develop capacity‐building strategies that more transparently address these implicit best practices as part of our feminist ethics of care. This investment in capacitating care would acknowledge the moral compulsion to research the experiences and needs of survivor populations, while also considering how we equip ourselves to respond to the specialized needs of survivors, and the forms of care work with survivors necessitates.
It goes without saying that feminist International Political Economy (IPE) is concerned in one way or another with the everyday – conceptualised as both a site of political struggle and a site within which social relations are (re)produced and governed. Given the longstanding grounding of feminist research in everyday gendered experiences, many would ask: Why do we need an explicit feminist theorisation of the everyday? After all, notions of everyday life and everyday political struggle infuse feminist analysis. This article seeks to interrogate the concept of the everyday – questioning prevalent understandings of the everyday and asking whether there is analytical and conceptual utility to be gained in articulating a specifically feminist understanding of it. We argue that a feminist political economy of the everyday can be developed in ways that push theorisations of social reproduction in new directions. We suggest that one way to do this is through the recognition that social reproduction is the everyday alongside a three-part theorisation of space, time, and violence (STV). It is an approach that we feel can play an important role in keeping IPE honest – that is, one that recognises how important gendered structures of everyday power and agency are to the conduct of everyday life within global capitalism.
This article explores the issue of (female) sexual consent in a non-western context by examining narratives of the non-consensual sexual debut in Tanzania within the institutional and cultural tolerance for intimate violence, and the role of the state and media in condoning “proper” gender roles. None of the young women interviewed during a year of ethnographic fieldwork on a college campus were willing to identify this activity as “rape,” though they frequently detailed the ways that aspirations for “respectability” created conditions of vulnerability to ongoing exploitative sexual relationships with older men in positions of authority whom they once trusted. In the socio-sexual premarital landscape of school girls, sex is never given away for free, but may be dispensed with reasonable expectation of return. In an effort to contextualize sexual intimacy and avoid careless use of labels like “prostitution,” feminist public health researchers began to frame sexual encounters in transactional terms. Although not entirely unproblematic, the less stigmatizing terminology reveals more nuanced intimate economies among men and women which include structurally and culturally-derived elements of deprivation, agency, and instrumentality. This article pays careful attention to the narrative of one young women who describes a socio-sexual premarital landscape which almost universally positions male partners as culturally-empowered to proceed with aggressive, even violent, advances toward young women they wish to have sex with, “date,” or marry. Within this context, this article then teases out emerging discourses about structural conditions that reinforce violence.
An analysis of marriage patterns in nineteenth-century Cuba, a society with a large black population the majority of which was held in slavery but which also included considerable numbers of freedmen. Dr Martinez-Alier uses as her main source of evidence the records in Havana of administrative and judicial proceedings of cases in which parents opposed a marriage, of cases involving elopement, and of cases of interracial marriage. Dr Martinez-Alier develops a model of the relation between sexual values and social inequality. She considers the importance of the value of virginity in supporting the hierarchy of Cuban society, based on ascription rather than achievement. As a consequence of the high evaluation of virginity, elopement was often a successful means of overcoming parental dissent to an unequal marriage. However, in cases of interracial elopement, the seduced coloured woman had little chance of redress through marriage. In this battle of the sexes and the races, the free coloured women and men played roles and acquired values which explain why matrifocality became characteristic of black free families.
A decade ago, a landmark study by Indian law affairs specialist Rupert Ross suggested that alternative methods of crime prevention based on traditional Aboriginal values would lower crime rates in Native communities. Since then, reform measures that have been implemented have resulted in fewer criminal charges, less vigorous prosecution, and shorter jail terms for Aboriginal offenders. Unfortunately, such research and reforms have often failed to address two groups greatly hurt by criminal violence: women and children.
The impetus for this book arose out of a 1995 Winnipeg study involving twenty-six Aboriginal women. The compelling accounts these women give of the domestic violence they experienced, first as children and later as wives and mothers, make it all too clear that any plan to implement diversionary reforms must first take into account this under-represented group. For survivors of domestic violence, jail terms for abusers allow time for healing, and the threat of criminal prosecution may quell violent outbreaks. Lax responses from an inconsistent criminal justice system often put Native women at risk.
Drawing on the experiences and views of the women affected, Black Eyes All of the Time analyses how this pervasive cycle of violence evolved and suggests possible solutions involving both the dominant Canadian justice system and Aboriginal traditions.
Widely praised as an outstanding contribution to social welfare and feminist scholarship, Regulating the Lives of Women (1988, 1996) was one of the first books to apply a race and gender lens to the U.S. welfare state. The first two editions successfully exposed how myths and stereotypes built into welfare state rules and regulations define women as "deserving" or "undeserving" of aid depending on their race, class, gender, and marital status. Based on considerable new research, the preface to this third edition explains the rise of Neoliberal policies in the mid-1970s, the strategies deployed since then to dismantle the welfare state, and the impact of this sea change on women and the welfare state after 1996. Published upon the twentieth anniversary of "welfare reform," Regulating the Lives of Women offers a timely reminder that public policy continues to punish poor women, especially single mothers-of-color for departing from prescribed wife and mother roles. The book will appeal to undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students of social work, sociology, history, public policy, political science, and women, gender, and black studies - as well as today's researchers and activists.
Historically, anthropology has occupied a central place in the construction and reconstruction of race as both an intellectual device and a social reality. Critiques of the biological concept of race have led many anthropologists to adopt a “no-race” posture and an approach to intergroup difference highlighting ethnicity-based principles of classification and organization. Often, however, the singular focus on ethnicity has left unaddressed the persistence of racism and its invidious impact on local communities, nation-states, and the global system. Within the past decade, anthropologists have revitalized their interest in the complex and often covert structures and dynamics of racial inequality. Recent studies shed light on race’s heightened volatility on contemporary sociocultural landscapes, the racialization of ethno-nationalist conflicts, anthropology’s multiple traditions of antiracism, and intranational as well as international variations in racial constructions, including the conventionally neglected configurations of whiteness.
