The world that counts, 1996, n. 32

EDITORIAL, The world that counts, pp. 2-7

Although feminist work in economics is as yet in its beginnings, the expectation of a new "general theory" stemming from feminist inquiry is very strong. This expectation might be misleading. Instead what is needed is a systematising reflection on the main areas of feminist inquiry in this field. This means opening a debate, first of all acknowledging the obstacles which may hinder such an attempt. "Exogenous" obstacles (i.e. the "male" nature of economics and of its practitioners and theorists), as well as "endogenous" obstacles (i.e. the effort to re-value at all costs traditionally female activities such as caring).

ROSSELLI Annalisa, Economy, women economist, and feminism, pp. 8-16

The paper deals with the impact of feminism on economics and on the women in the economics profession. While feminist thinking has been redefining debates in many disciplines since the seventies, it is only in the early nineties that women engaged in a new field of economics - feminist economics - and began to question the gender bias of their science. The Italian case is no exception. In Italy too for a long time economics has been a bastion of male power, in spite of the participation in the profession of a number of women. Only in 1993 did a group of thirty three economists start to investigate the underrepresentation of women in the profession, particularly at the top positions of the academia. The research, which is financed by the National Research Council, is quite innovative in its approach and in its meticulous collection of data and will shed a new light on the profession in general.

ADDIS Elisabetta, Equity towards Women in the Reform of the Welfare State, pp. 18-38

This article proposes different criteria for "fairness" towards women in public policies. A "fair" reform of the Welfare State should take in account the new roles of women and the new processes of family formation. In Italy, only workers for the market and family members of such workers have rights to public transfers and services (other than health care which is universal). Care work for the family as well as work for pay should instead be recognised as an independent source of rights. But acknowledging care work done by women for the family must not discriminate against women who work for the market as well. Intervention moreover should be fair towards people who wish to marry, as well as towards people who cannot, or choose not to. Therefore, parenthood, rather than marriage, should be used as the relevant relation for public intervention. The joint income of a couple should not be the indicator to compare with the poverty line below which to provide assistance: rather, the maximum of two incomes of the parents should. A reform of the Welfare State should provide few, clear provisions, not many overlapping privileges which favour the informed rather and may exclude the needy. These criteria are used to criticise recent law proposals by the center-left Government.

F.O.B. [MASI Paola - CACIOLI Patrizia ], The lights of the market, pp. 39-43

Is the globalisation of the markets "the magna causa of the end of the western model of welfare state and individual nights, or is it a great opportunity, since everybody can take part in a global market?". The article sums up the reasons given for the one and the other position, and proposes an explanation why in our contemporary times the mediation between economics and politics has become more difficult.

BETTIO Francesca - VILLA Paola, A model at the crossroads, pp. 44-62

Actual gains in gender equality within the labour market in Italy were substantial, but often "unintended" in the sense that women benefited of labour market policies that were not specifically aimed at them. More than elsewhere they have been rewarded for compliance to a "male breadwinner" model of labour market participation and, as a consequence, have suffered less from some of the usual shortcomings associated with female labour in industrialised countries such as discontinuity, low pay, ghettoization through part-time. This path to gender equality in the labour market is now coming under attack from different sources, including women. Compliance to a male pattern of labour market participation is now perceived to be the main culprit behind the worrying combination of low participation, high unemployment and very low fertility that characterises the country at present. The temptation to imitate other industrialised countries where the pattern of female participation is more distinctive, less continuous, part-time or short-hours-friendly but seems to have been able to reconcile relatively higher fertility with higher participation, is understandably strong. This paper critically examines this temptation and briefly sketches possible alternatives.

FOLBRE Nancy, "Holding hands at midnight": the paradox of caring labour, pp. 63-89

This paper puts recent feminist theorising about "care" within an economic context by developing the concept of caring labour and exploring possible reasons for its undervaluation. It describes the relevance of tensions between neo-classical and institutionalist thought, as well as between pro-market and anti-market views. The final section explores the implications for feminist public policy.

COLLIN Françoise, Politics and Poetics, pp. 90-100

Feminism (taking the term in its widest meaning) needs to work on the symbolic order. Otherways, Collin argues, even women's achievements in the social order will be at risk, because they will not produce a new foundation for a shared understanding of the world. The author discusses the possible criteria for a feminist critique which would empower the works of art of women, past and present.