Dear friends n 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day). Today earth seems to be in crisis due to neo-liberal assault leading to crisis for labourers, marginal and small farmers and and women, dalits and adivasis amongst them. This was leading to assault on women's bodies too. It is time to reclaim paradigms, mother earth and women's bodies from a Justice lens
I went to a meeting of Women's Earth Alliance and Gorakhpur Environment Action Group wherein poor women farmers came from UP, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttarkhand came. So much I learnt from them when i went with an empty cup, their pains of (international/national) corporate usurspation of land, resources, water etc and failure of agriculture schemes to reach them hit my heart. It was leading to climate change, disasters, distress migration, in debtedness of women left behind, greater kidney problems amongst women, violence in society, domestic violence and dowry being used as a strategy for poverty reduction/equalization etc. I learnt that dalits, adivasis, women from landless households, muslims, women headed household, and positive women were amongst the poorest. Apart from global neo liberal inter-state organisations and nation state, markets, community and households were also responsible Amidst there negative stories, were positive stories of women demanding equal wages in rural employment guarantee schemes, indigenous seed preservation strategies, crop diversification strategies, organic agriculture practices, self sufficiency, and sound climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies (in the area of gorakhpur environment action group visited), mothers in law/fathers in law willing land to daughters in law as sons were alcoholics and so on. In UP some men were registering land as registration fees were waived, but women did not have control. but still some progress Write to: GEAG <[email protected]>; geag <[email protected]>; to know organisation details and good practices The negative stories were more than positive ones- the organisations present were not responsible for they were doing wondeful work. At the end of the Gorakhpur trip, I felt the crisis of neo liberal paradigm and wondered why we cannot revisit paradigm as the earth and poor women can survivie only when justice exists, why the global powers and government promote corporate control, unsustainable agriculture and no land reforms (with title deeds on women), why agriculture credit cards have to be linked to amount of land owned, why agriculture extension schemes do not function effectively and in fact use women to achieve targets, why agriculture cooperatives do not function (and women do not sit on boards) , why employment guarantee shcemes do not function in favour of women (two groups of participants of five reported payment were made to men, none got got 100 days or compensation), why land reform and employment guarantee schemes cannot be linked up, why no income/asset ceilings exist for the elite, and why connections were not made between assault on earth and assault on poor women's bodies My subjective interpretation of voices of poor women - gratitutde to poor women peasants, GEAG, Women's Earth Alliance, Future Studies, International Cultural Affairs members, Ariel, Video unit and others present in the workshop. They may or may not endorese my interpretation -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en.
