Judy Aulette

Conclusions: Everyday Acts of Resistance

We initiated this study by asking how globalization has shaped women’s personal stories, and by examining the ways women are resisting the challenges presented to them in a globalized world. As we began to explore these questions, we were thinking of globalization as mostly an economic process and we were looking for ways that globalization might open up new economic opportunities but especially how it created more economic oppression of women in the South. We also started with a belief that this economic oppression would elicit political dissent in the form of protest and calls for policy reform internationally and within nation states.

Snapshots of History and Life in Cape Verde

The streets of Cape Verde are filled with people talking, working, and playing. Children shoot marbles and wind strings around their hands, women swap gossip and news, and men deal cards and drink beer. Even a quick glance at Cape Verde, however, shows women at the center of the picture. Everyday women are outdoors cleaning fish and washing clothes by hand. Other women carry baskets of fruit, vegetables, or fish on their head for sale, shouting as they walk, “atun freska!” (fresh tuna). Two women take turns crushing and pounding corn with a pestle and mortar. Students in uniforms rush off to class, attempting to catch the local bus already packed with riders. The call of the bread woman causes a crowd to gather round in the cobblestone streets. Women walk back from the chafaris (community water channel), slowly steadying the plastic jug on their heads, which each hold 25 liters of water.

Insiders and Outsiders Exploring Cape Verde

Our study of Cape Verde was done using two forms of qualitative methods, a thematic analysis of critical ethnography and critical discourse analysis. In the previous chapter we outlined the characteristics of ethnography. Here we will elaborate on that description. In addition, we will spell out the differences between ethnography and critical ethnography and the ways in which our research fits into the latter type. We will also provide a review of critical discourse analysis and the way we used it as a tool for understanding the data on Creole.

Language as Resistance

In this chapter, we examine the perceptions Cape Verdeans attach to the importance of Creole in order to fully understand the culture. In addition, we listen to Cape Verdeans speak of important problems in their lives and explore the ways they use Creole to both reflect and challenge the power relations by gender and class in Cape Verdean society.

About This Book

Cape Verde, an island country 450 kilometers off the coast of Senegal, West Africa, has been swept into globalization just as every other nation in the twenty-first century. Through in-depth interviews, this research looks at what Cape Verdeans have to say about women’s lives today, their economic and personal difficulties, and the ways that women do not accept their fate but actively engage to challenge their surroundings. Women form the core of Cape Verdean society—there were over 13,000 more women than men in Cape Verde in 2006. Awareness about women’s needs and challenges is essential not only to understand their experience but also to understand Cape Verde as a whole. Furthermore, as we will see in this manuscript, understanding Cape Verde women may help us to better understand globalization and routes to transforming globalization into a force for improving the lives of people in the Global South.

Batuku Dance as Resistance

Cape Verde is a country affluent in oral traditions. These include proverbs, riddles, stories, songs, as well as popular beliefs, myths, superstitions, and games, which can be heard and seen when walking through the streets. One of the most popular oral traditions is the batuku (Creole) (batuque in Portuguese) song and dance (Hurley-Glowa, 2001). Men might clap their hands to the sound of the drum in the batuku dance or play an accompanying instrument, but it is primarily a woman’s dance (Maximo, 1998).

Cape Verde in a Global Economy

As the twenty-first century opened, Cape Verde was among the poorer nations of the Global South. International economic institutions have recently changed Cape Verde’s status from the very poorest category “least developed country” to the status of “lower medium developed country.” With a gross national income of

She Works Hard for a Living

596 million, which amounts to

Cape Verdean women and globalization : the politics of gender, culture, and resistance

1,310 per person per year, however, it is still considered among the poorer nations in the world (Europa World Year Book, 2003).

Cape Verdean Women and Globalization

A glimpse into Cape Verde shows a portrait of women at work: they are the buyers and sellers at the market, the caretakers of children, the fish cleaners, the water collectors, and the shopkeepers. Men are there too, but they are more likely to be on the sidelines talking with friends, playing cards, or listening to music. The women are the life-blood of the country. Comprehending their experience fills out our understanding of Cape Verde in general (Solomon, 1992). It also allows us to see the lives of women who are often overlooked and whose experience helps us to gain a fuller picture of women in the world.