Economic globalization has intensified social and economic polariza-
tion, both within and across states. Feminist scholars document how this
globalization process has increased the world-wide inequality between
men and women, with disproportionate numbers of women in poverty –
frequently referred to as the ‘feminisation of poverty’ – due to Third
World debt crises, structural adjustment policies (SAPs) in the South and
state restructuring in the North (Afshar and Dennis 1992; Sparr 1994;
Jacqui True
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Porter and Judd 2000). As economic policy has become increasingly
governed by the global imperatives of export earnings, financial markets
and comparative labour costs, states have struggled to meet their com-
mitments to full employment and citizen well-being. Empirical feminist
research shows how this shift from a largely domestic state to global
market provision of services has imposed a disproportionate burden on
women to pick up the slack of the state (Bakker 1994; United Nations