FR | EN

Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières

    • Issues
      • Health (Issues)
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Issues)
          • AIDS / HIV (Health)
      • Individuals
        • Amilcar Cabral
          • Miguel “Moro” Romero
        • Antonio Gramsci
        • Baghat Singh
        • Benedict Anderson
        • C.L.R. James
        • Che Guevara
          • Che Guevara (obituary)
        • Clara Zetkin
        • Claude Jacquin, Claude Gabriel
        • Daniel Bensaïd
          • Daniel Bensaïd (obituary)
        • David Graeber
        • David Rousset
        • David Sanders
        • Diego Maradona
        • Ellen Meiksins Wood
        • Enzo Traverso
        • Eric Hobsbawm
        • Erik Olin Wright
        • Ernest (‘Ernie’) Tate
        • Ernest Mandel
        • Fernando Cardenal
        • Fidel Castro
        • Franz Fanon
        • Franz Kafka
        • Gabriel Kolko
        • Gisèle Halimi
        • Görgy Lukács
        • Henk Sneevliet
        • Herbert Marcuse
        • Hugo Blanco
        • Immanuel Wallerstein
        • István Mészáros
        • James Cockcroft
        • James Connolly
        • John Lewis
        • Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
        • Ken Post
        • Lal Khan
        • Larry Kramer
        • Lenin
        • Leo Panitch
        • Leon Trotsky
          • Leon Trotsky (obituary)
        • Livio Maitan
        • Louis Althusser
        • Mahdi Amel / Hassan Hamdan
        • Malcolm X
        • Marielle Franco
        • Marshall Berman
        • Marta Harnecker
        • Martin Luther King
        • Michael Löwy
        • Michel Lequenne
        • MN Roy
        • Neil Davidson
        • Nelson Mandela
        • Norman Geras
        • Orlando Gutiérrez
        • Patrice Lumumba
        • Paul Levi
        • Peter Gowan
        • Peter Waterman
        • Pierre Granet
        • Randolf “Randy” S. David
        • Roland Lew
        • Rosa Luxemburg
          • Rosa Luxemburg (obituary)
        • Rossana Rossanda
        • Samir Amin
        • Sergio D’Amia
        • Stuart & Brenda Christie
        • Sultan Galiev
        • Troglo – José Ramón Castaños Umaran
        • Victor Serge
        • Walter Benjamin
      • Solidarity
        • Solidarity: ESSF campaigns
          • ESSF: Bangladesh
          • ESSF: Burma, Myanmar
          • ESSF: Funds
          • ESSF: Global balance sheets
          • ESSF: Indonesia
          • ESSF: Japan
          • ESSF: Malaysia
          • ESSF: Nepal
          • ESSF: Pakistan
          • ESSF: Philippines
        • Solidarity: Geo-politics of Humanitarian Relief
        • Solidarity: Humanitarian and development CSOs
        • Solidarity: Humanitarian Disasters
        • Solidarity: Humanitarian response: methodologies and principles
        • Solidarity: Internationalism
          • Solidarity: Pandemics, epidemics (health, internationalism)
        • Solidarity: Political economy of disaster
      • Capitalism & globalisation
        • History (Capitalism)
      • Civilisation & identities
        • Civilisation & Identities: unity, equality
      • Ecology (Theory)
        • Animals’ Condition (Ecology)
        • Biodiversity (Ecology)
        • Climate (Ecology)
        • Commodity (Ecology)
        • Ecology, technology: Transport
        • Energy (Ecology)
        • Energy (nuclear) (Ecology)
          • Chernobyl (Ecology)
        • Technology (Ecology)
        • Water (Ecology)
      • Agriculture
        • GMO & co. (Agriculture)
      • Commons
      • Communication and politics, Media, Social Networks
      • Culture and Politics
      • Democracy
      • Development
        • Demography (Development)
        • Extractivism (Development)
        • Growth and Degrowth (Development)
      • Education (Theory)
      • Faith, religious authorities, secularism
        • Family, women (Religion, churches, secularism)
          • Religion, churches, secularism: Reproductive rights
        • Abused Children (Religion, churches, secularism)
        • Blasphemy (Faith, religious authorities, secularism)
        • Creationism (Religion, churches, secularism)
        • History (Religion, churches, secularism)
        • LGBT+ (Religion, churches, secularism)
        • Marxism (Religion, churches, secularism)
        • Political Islam, Islamism (Religion, churches, secularism)
        • Secularism
        • The veil (faith, religious authorities, secularism)
      • Fascism
      • Gender: Women
      • History
        • History: E. P. Thompson
      • Labor & Social Movements
      • Language
      • Law
        • Exceptional powers (Law)
        • Religious arbitration forums (Law)
        • Women, family (Law)
      • LGBT+ (Theory)
      • Marxism & co.
        • Theory (Marxism & co.)
        • Postcolonial Studies / Postcolonialism (Marxism & co.)
        • Identity Politics (Marxism & co.)
        • Intersectionality (Marxism & co.)
        • Africa (Marxism)
        • France (Marxism)
      • National Question
      • Parties: Theory and Conceptions
      • Patriarchy, family, feminism
        • Ecofeminism (Patriarchy, family, feminism)
        • Fashion, cosmetic (Patriarchy, family, feminism)
        • Feminism & capitalism (Patriarchy, family, feminism)
        • Language (Patriarchy, family, feminism)
        • Prostitution (Patriarchy, family, feminism)
        • Reproductive Rights (Patriarchy, family, feminism)
        • Violence against women (Patriarchy, family, feminism)
        • Women and Health ( (Patriarchy, family, feminism)
        • Women, work (Patriarchy, family, feminism)
      • Political Strategy
      • Politics: Bibliographies
      • Politics: International Institutions
      • Psychosociology and politics
      • Racism, xenophobia, differentialism
        • Jewish Question
      • Science and politics
      • Sciences & Knowledge
      • Sexuality
      • Social Formation, classes, political regime, ideology
        • Populism (Political regime, ideology)
      • Sport and politics
      • The role of the political
      • Transition: before imperialism
      • Transitional Societies (modern), socialism
      • Wars, conflicts, violences
      • Working Class, Wage labor, income, organizing
    • Movements
      • Analysis & Debates (Movements)
        • Epidemics, pandemics (Movements)
        • History of people’s movements (Movements)
      • Asia (Movements)
        • Globalization (Movements, Asia) (Movements)
        • APISC (Movements, Asia)
        • Asian Social Forum (Movements, Asia)
        • Asian Social Movements (Movements, Asia)
        • Counter-Summits (Movements, Asia)
        • Free Trade (Movements, Asia)
        • IIRE Manila (Movements, Asia)
        • In Asean (Movements, Asia)
        • People’s SAARC / SAAPE (Movements, Asia)
        • Social Protection Campaigns (Movements, Asia)
      • World level (Movements)
        • Feminist (Movements)
          • Against Fundamentalisms (Feminist Movements)
          • Feminist Movements: Epidemics / Pandemics (health)
          • Feminist Movements: Rural, peasant
          • Feminist Movements: World March of Women
          • History of Women’s Movements
        • Asia-Europe People’s Forums (AEPF) (Movements)
        • Ecosocialist Networks (Movements, World)
        • Intercoll (Movements, World)
        • Internationals (socialist, communist, revolutionary) (Movements, (...)
          • International (Fourth) (Movements, World)
          • International (Second) (1889-1914) (Movements, World)
          • International (Third) (Movements, World)
        • Internet, Hacktivism (Movements, World)
        • Labor & TUs (Movements, World)
          • Epidemics, pandemics (TUs, international) (Movements, World)
        • Movements: Indignants
        • Movements: World Days of Action
        • Radical Left (Movements, World)
          • IIRE (Movements, World)
          • Movements: Sal Santen (obituary)
          • Radical Parties’ Network (Movements, World)
        • Social Movements Network (Movements, World)
        • World Social Forum (Movements)
      • Africa (Movements)
        • Forum of the People (Movements)
      • America (N&S) (Movements)
        • Latin America (Mouvments)
        • US Social Forum (Movements)
      • Europe (Movements)
        • Alter Summit (Movements, Europe)
        • Anti-Austerity/Debt NetworksAlter Summit (Movements, Europe)
        • Anti-G8/G20 in EuropeAlter Summit (Movements)
        • Counter-Summits to the EUAlter Summit (Movements, Europe)
        • Free TradeAlter Summit (Movements, Europe)
        • Movements: European Social Forum
      • Mediterranean (Movements, MEAN)
        • Mediterranean Social Forum (Movements)
        • Political Left (Movements, MEAN)
      • Agriculture & Peasantry (Movements)
        • Women (Movements, Peasantry)
      • Antiwar Struggles (Movements)
        • History of antimilitarism (Movements)
        • Military Bases (Movements)
        • Nuclear Weapon, WMD (Movements)
      • Common Goods & Environment (Movements)
        • Biodiversity (Movements)
        • Climate (Movements)
        • Ecosocialist International Networky (Movements)
        • Nuclear (energy) (Movements)
          • AEPF “No-Nuke” Circle (Movements)
        • Water (Movements)
      • Debt, taxes & Financial Institutions (Movements)
        • IMF (Movements)
        • World Bank (Movements)
      • Health (Movements)
        • Women’s Health (Movements)
        • Asbestos (Movements, health, World)
        • Drugs (Movements, health, World)
        • Epidemics (Movements, health, World)
        • Health & Work (Movements, health, World)
        • Health and social crisis (Movements, health, World)
        • Nuclear (Movements, health, World)
        • Pollution (Movements, health, World)
      • Human Rights & Freedoms (Movements, World)
        • Women’s Rights (Movements, HR)
        • Corporate HR violations (Movements, HR)
        • Disability (Movements, HR)
        • Exceptional Powers (Movements, HR)
        • Justice, law (Movements, HR)
        • Media, Internet (Movements, HR)
        • Non-State Actors (Movements, World)
        • Police, weapons (Movements, HR)
        • Rights of free meeting (Movements, HR)
        • Secret services (Movements, HR)
      • LGBT+ (Movements, World)
      • Parliamentary field (Movements, health, World)
      • Social Rights, Labor (Movements)
        • Reclaim People’s Dignity (Movements)
        • Urban Rights (Movements)
      • TNCs, Trade, WTO (Movements)
        • Cocoa value chain (Movements)
    • World
      • The world today (World)
      • Global Crisis (World)
      • Global health crises, pandemics (World)
        • Epidemics, pandemics (economic crisis, World)
      • Economy (World)
        • Financial and economic crisis (World)
          • Car industry, transport (World)
      • Extreme right, fascism, fundamentalism (World)
      • History (World)
      • Migrants, refugees (World)
      • Terrorism (World)
    • Africa
      • Africa Today
      • African environment
      • African history
      • Women (Africa)
      • Africa: epidemics, pandemics
      • African economy
      • Angola
        • Angola: History
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cameroon
        • Cameroon: LGBT+
      • Central African Republic (CAR)
      • Chad
      • Congo Kinshasa (DRC)
      • Djibouti (Eng)
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Gambia
      • Ghana
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Ghana)
        • Ghana: LGBT+
      • Guinea (Conakry)
      • Ivory Coast
      • Kenya
        • Kenya: WSF 2007
      • Liberia
        • Liberia: LGBT+
      • Madagascar
      • Mali
        • Women (Mali)
        • Mali: History
      • Mauritania
      • Mauritius
        • Women (Mauritius)
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • Niger
        • Niger: Nuclear
      • Nigeria
        • Women (Nigeria)
      • Réunion
      • Rwanda
      • Senegal
        • Women (Senegal)
      • Seychelles
      • Sierra Leone
        • Sierra Leone: LGBT+
      • Somalia
        • Women (Somalia)
      • South Africa
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, South Africa)
        • On the Left (South Africa)
        • Women (South Africa)
        • Culture (South Africa)
        • Economy (South Africa)
        • Environment (South Africa)
        • History (Freedom Struggle and first years of ANC government) (South (...)
        • Institutions, laws (South Africa)
        • Labour, community protests (South Africa)
          • Cosatu (South Africa)
          • SAFTU (South Africa)
        • Land reform and rural issues (South Africa)
        • Students (South Africa)
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
        • Women (Sudan)
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
        • Uganda: LGBT
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • Americas
      • Ecology (Latin America)
      • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Latin America)
      • Indigenous People (Latin America)
      • Latin America: History
      • LGBT+ (Latin America)
      • Migrations (Latin America)
      • Women (Latin America)
      • Amazonia
      • Argentina
        • Economy (Argentina)
        • History (Argentina)
        • Women (Argentina)
          • Reproductive Rights (Women, Argentina)
      • Bahamas
        • Bahamas: Disasters
      • Bolivia
        • Women (Bolivia)
      • Brazil
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Brazil)
        • Women (Brazil)
        • Ecology (Brazil)
        • History (Brazil)
        • History of the Left (Brazil)
        • Indigenous People (Brazil)
        • Justice, freedoms (Brazil)
        • Labor (Brazil)
        • LGBT+ (Brazil)
        • Rural (Brazil)
        • World Cup, Olympics, social resistances (Brazil)
      • Canada & Quebec
        • Women (Canada & Quebec)
        • Ecology (Canada & Quebec)
        • Fundamentalism & secularism (Canada & Quebec)
        • Indigenous People (Canada & Quebec)
        • LGBT+ (Canada & Quebec)
        • On the Left (Canada & Quebec)
      • Caribbean
      • Chile
        • Women (Chile)
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Chile)
        • History (Chile)
        • LGBT+ (Chile)
        • Natural Disasters (Chile)
      • Colombia
        • Women (Colombia)
      • Costa Rica
      • Cuba
        • Women, gender (Cuba)
        • Epidemics / Pandemics (health, Cuba)
        • History (Cuba)
          • Cuban Revolution (History)
        • LGBT+ (Cuba)
      • Ecuador
        • Women (Ecuador)
        • Ecuador: Ecology
        • Ecuador: Humanitarian Disasters
      • El Salvador
        • Women (El Salvador)
        • El Salvador: Salvadorian Revolution and Counter-Revolution
      • Grenada
      • Guatemala
        • Guatemala: History
        • Guatemala: Mining
        • Guatemala: Women
      • Guiana
      • Haiti
        • Women (Haiti)
        • Haiti: History
        • Haiti: Natural Disasters
      • Honduras
        • Women (Honduras)
        • Honduras: History
        • Honduras: LGBT+
      • Latin America: Left
      • Mexico
        • Women (Mexico)
        • Disasters (Mexico)
        • Epidemics / Pandemics (health, Mexico)
        • History of people struggles (Mexico)
      • Nicaragua
        • Women (Nicaragua)
        • Nicaragua: History
        • Nicaragua: Nicaraguan Revolution
      • Paraguay
        • Women (Paraguay)
      • Peru
      • Puerto Rico
        • Disasters (Puerto Rico)
      • Uruguay
        • Women (Uruguay)
      • USA
        • Women (USA)
          • History (Feminism, USA)
        • Disasters (USA)
        • Far Right, Religious Right (USA)
        • Health (USA)
          • Epidemics, pandemics (health, USA)
        • On the Left (USA)
          • History: SWP and before (USA)
        • Secularity, religion & politics
        • Social Struggles, labor (USA)
          • Epidemics / Pandemics (health, Social struggles, USA)
        • Agriculture (USA)
        • Ecology (USA)
        • Economy, social (USA)
        • Education (USA)
        • Energy (USA)
        • Foreign Policy, Military (USA)
        • History (USA)
          • History of people’s struggles (USA)
        • Human Rights, justice (USA)
        • Human Rights: Guantanamo (USA)
        • Human Rights: Incarceration (USA)
        • Institutions, political regime (USA)
        • LGBT+ (USA)
        • Migrant, refugee (USA)
      • Venezuela
        • Women (Venezuela)
        • Ecology (Venezuela)
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Venezuela)
      • West Indies
    • Asia
      • Disasters (Asia)
      • Ecology (Asia)
      • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Asia)
      • History
      • Women (Asia)
      • Asia (Central, ex-USSR)
        • Kazakhstan
        • Kyrgyzstan
          • Kyrgyzstan: Women
        • Tajikistan
        • Uzbekistan
      • Asia (East & North-East)
      • Asia (South, SAARC)
        • Disasters (South Asia)
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, South Asia)
        • LGBT+ (South Asia)
        • Religious fundamentalism
        • Women (South Asia)
      • Asia (Southeast, ASEAN)
        • Health (South East Asia, ASEAN)
          • Epidemics, pandemics (health, South East Asia, ASEAN))
      • Asia economy & social
        • Epidemics / Pandemics (health, Asia)
      • Afghanistan
        • Women, sharia, fundamentalism (Afghanistan)
        • Afghanistan: History, society
      • Bangladesh
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Bangladesh)
        • Ecological Disasters, climate (Bangladesh)
        • Fundamentalism & secularism (Bangladesh)
        • The Left (Bangladesh)
        • Women (Bangladesh)
        • Economy (Bangladesh)
        • History (Bangladesh)
        • Human Rights (Bangladesh)
        • Indigenous People (Bangladesh)
        • Labour (Bangladesh)
        • LGBT+ (Bangladesh)
        • Nuclear (Bangladesh)
        • Rohingya (refugee, Bangladesh)
        • Rural & Fisherfolk (Bangladesh)
      • Bhutan
        • LGT+ (Bhutan)
      • Brunei
        • Women, LGBT+, Sharia, (Brunei)
      • Burma / Myanmar
        • Arakan / Rakine (Burma)
          • Rohingyas (Burma/Myanmar)
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Burma/Myanmar)
        • History of struggles (Burma/Myanmar)
        • Labor (Burma/Myanmar)
        • Natural Disasters (Burma/Myanmar)
        • Women (Burma/Myanmar)
      • Cambodia
        • Women (Cambodia)
        • History (Cambodia)
          • The Khmers rouges (Cambodia)
        • Labour / Labor (Cambodia)
        • Rural (Cambodia)
        • Urban (Cambodia)
      • China (PRC)
        • Health (China)
          • Epidemics, pandemics (health, China)
        • Gender equality and women’s movements (China)
        • Global Rise (China)
          • China Today
          • China & Japan
          • China & Latin America
          • China & North America
          • China & South Asia
          • China and Africa
          • China and Europe
          • China § Asia-Pacific (economy)
          • China, ASEAN and the South China Sea
          • China, Korea, & North-East Asia
          • Military expansion (China)
          • Silk Roads/OBOR/BRICS (China)
          • World Economy (China)
        • On the Left (China)
        • Political situation (China)
        • China § Xinjiang/East Turkestan
        • Civil Society (China)
        • Ecology and environmental struggles (China)
        • Economy, technology (China)
        • History (China)
          • Beijing Summer Olympic Games 2008
          • History pre-XXth Century (China)
          • History XXth Century (China)
          • History: Transition to capitalism (China)
        • Human Rights, freedoms (China)
        • Labour and social struggles (China)
        • LGBT+ (China)
        • Rural poverty and struggles (China)
        • Social Control, social credit (China)
        • Social Protection (China)
      • China: Hong Kong SAR
        • Hong Kong: Epidemics, pandemics (health)
        • Hong Kong: LGBT+
        • Hong Kong: Migrants
      • China: Macao SAR
      • East Timor
        • East Timor: News Updates
      • India
        • Political situation (India)
        • Caste, Dalits & Adivasis (India)
          • Dalits & Other Backward Castes (OBC) (India)
        • Fundamentalism, communalism, extreme right, secularism (India)
        • Health (India)
          • Epidemics, pandemics (health, India)
        • North-East (India)
        • The Left (India)
          • The Left: ML Updates (DISCONTINUED) (India)
          • Trupti Shah (obituary) (India)
        • Women (India)
        • Antiwar & nuclear (India)
        • Digital Rights (India)
        • Ecology & Industrial Disasters (India)
        • Economy & Globalisation (India)
        • Energy, nuclear (India)
        • History (up to 1947) (India)
          • Baghat Singh (India)
        • History after 1947 (India)
        • Human Rights & Freedoms (India)
        • International Relations (India)
        • Labor, wage earners, TUs (India)
        • LGBT+ (India)
        • Military (India)
        • Narmada (India)
        • Natural Disaster (India)
        • Refugees (India)
        • Regional Politics (South Asia) (India)
        • Rural & fisherfolk (India)
        • Social Forums (India)
        • Social Protection (India)
        • Urban (India)
      • Indonesia & West Papua
        • Epidemics / Pandemics (health, Indonesia)
        • Papua (Indonesia)
          • Pandemics, epidemics (health, West Papua)
        • The Left (Indonesia)
        • Women (Indonesia)
        • Common Goods (Indonesia)
        • Ecology (Indonesia)
        • Economy (Indonesia)
        • Fundamentalism, sharia, religion (Indonesia)
        • History before 1965 (Indonesia)
        • History from 1945 (Indonesia)
        • History: 1965 and after (Indonesia)
        • Human Rights (Indonesia)
          • MUNIR Said Thalib (Indonesia)
        • Indigenous People (Indonesia)
        • Indonesia / East Timor News Digests DISCONTINUED
          • Indonesia Roundup DISCONTINUED
        • Labor, urban poor (Indonesia)
        • LGBT+ (Indonesia)
        • Natural Disaster (Indonesia)
        • Rural & fisherfolk (Indonesia)
        • Student, youth (Indonesia)
        • Urban Poor (Indonesia)
      • Japan
        • Political situation (Japan)
        • Health (Japan)
          • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Japan)
        • Okinawa (Japan)
        • Women (Japan)
        • Anti-war movement (Japan)
        • Disasters (Japan)
        • Ecology (Japan)
        • Economy (Japan)
        • Energy, nuclear (Japan)
          • History (nuclear, Japan)
        • History (Japan)
          • History of people’s struggles (Japan)
        • Human Rights (Japan)
        • Institutions (Japan)
        • International Relations (Japan)
        • Labor, TUs & the Left (Japan)
        • LGBT+ (Japan)
        • Migrants, Racism (Japan)
        • Military, Nuclear weapon (Japan)
      • Kashmir (India, Pakistan)
        • Kashmir: Pakistan
        • Kashmir: K&J, India
      • Korea
        • Antiwar, military bases (Korea)
        • History (Korea)
        • Korean Crisis (Geopolitics)
        • North Korea
        • South Korea
          • Epidemics (health, South Korea)
          • Women (South Korea)
          • Ecology, common goods (South Korea)
          • Free Trade, FTA & WTO (South Korea)
          • Labor & co. (South Korea)
          • LGBT+ (South Korea)
          • Migrant (South Korea)
          • Nuclear (South Korea)
          • Rural & fisherfolk (South Korea)
          • The Left (South Korea)
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
        • Women, family (Malaysia)
        • Clean elections, clean government! (Malaysia)
        • Ecology (Malaysia)
        • Health ( Malaysia)
          • Malaysia: Epidemics, pandemics (health, Malaysia)
        • History (Malaysia)
        • Labor, TUs & people’s movements (Malaysia)
        • LGBT+ (Malaysia)
        • Malaysian international solidarity initiatives
        • Migrant, Refugee (Malaysia)
        • Religion, law, fundamentalism (Malaysia)
        • The Left (Malaysia)
          • The Left: PSM (Malaysia)
      • Maldives
      • Mongolia
      • Nepal
        • Women (Nepal)
        • Nepal: Background articles
        • Nepal: Ecology, Climate
        • Nepal: Humanitarian Disasters
        • Nepal: Rural
      • Pakistan
        • Balochistan (Pakistan)
        • Gilgit Baltistan (Pakistan)
          • Baba Jan (Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan)
        • Health (Pakistan)
          • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Pakistan)
        • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (NWFP - Pakistan)
        • Labor & Women (Pakistan)
        • Women, fundamentalism (Pakistan)
        • AWP (The Left, Pakistan)
        • China & CPEC (Pakistan)
        • Ecology, Nuclear (Pakistan)
        • Economy (Pakistan)
        • Fundamentalism, Taliban (Pakistan)
        • History (Pakistan)
        • Human Rights & religious violence (Pakistan)
        • Human Rights (Pakistan)
        • Labor & TUs (Pakistan)
        • LGBT+ (Pakistan)
        • Natural Disasters (Pakistan)
        • Nuclear, antiwar, solidarity (Pakistan)
        • Regional Politics (Pakistan)
        • Rural & fisherfolk (Pakistan)
        • Social Forum (Pakistan)
        • Student, youth (Pakistan)
        • The Left (Pakistan)
          • LPP (The Left, Pakistan)
          • The Struggle (The Left, Pakistan)
        • Urban (Pakistan)
      • Philippines
        • Health (Philippines)
          • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Philippines)
        • Mindanao (Philippines)
          • Political Situation (Mindanao)
          • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Mindanao)
          • Bangsamoro Political Entity (Mindanao)
            • Moros Movements (history, Mindanao)
          • Clans & violence (Mindanao)
          • Climate (Mindanao)
          • Economy, social (Mindanao)
          • Humanitarian Disasters (Mindanao)
          • Lumad (Mindanao)
          • Peace process (Mindanao)
          • Secular, Politics & Churches (Mindanao)
        • The Left (Philippines)
          • CPP (killings) (Philippines)
          • CPP (Purges) (Philippines)
          • The Left and self-determination (Mindanao)
        • Women (Philippines)
        • Antiwar, International Solidarity (Philippines)
        • Debt, poverty, Common Goods (Philippines)
        • Disasters (Philippines)
        • Ecology (Philippines)
        • Economy & trade, social (Philippines)
        • Education (Philippines)
        • Geopolitics and international relations (Philippines)
        • History, society, culture (Philippines)
        • Human Rights (Philippines)
        • Labor (Philippines)
          • Migrant, Migration (labor, Philippines)
        • LGBT+ (Philippines)
        • Military policy (Philippines)
        • Nuclear (Philippines)
        • Rural (Philippines)
        • Urban (Philippines)
      • Singapore
        • Singapore: Epidemics / Pandemics (health)
        • Singapore: Migrant workers
      • Sri Lanka
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Sri Lanka)
        • The left (Sri Lanka)
          • Left Voice / Wame Handa (The Left, Sri Lanka)
          • NSSP-NLF (The Left, Sri Lanka)
          • Working People Party (Sri Lanka)
        • Women (Sri Lanka)
        • Aid, humanitarian crisis (Sri Lanka)
        • Economy (Sri Lanka)
        • Fundamentalism, Religious violences (Sri Lanka)
        • History (Sri Lanka)
          • History (after independence, Sri Lanka)
          • History (Ceylon before independence)
        • Labor & TUs (Sri Lanka)
        • LGBT+ (Sri Lanka)
        • Muslims (Sri Lanka)
        • Rural (Sri Lanka)
        • Tamils (Sri Lanka)
      • Taiwan
        • Taiwan: Epidemics / Pandemics (health)
        • Taiwan: LGBT+
      • Thailand
        • Health (Thailand)
          • Pandemics (health, Thailand)
        • On the Left (Thailand)
        • Regime, society (Thailand)
        • Women (Thailand)
        • Culture, society (Thailand)
        • Deep South (Thailand)
        • Disasters (Thailand)
        • Ecology, climate (Thailand)
        • Economy (Thailand)
        • Géopolitics (Regional) (Thailand)
        • History (Thailand)
          • History of people’s struggles (Thailand)
        • Human Rights, law, justice (Thailand)
        • Labor (Thailand)
        • LGBT+ (Thailand)
        • Migrants, refugees (Thailand)
        • Rural (Thailand)
      • Tibet
      • Vietnam & Indochina
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Vietnam)
        • Human Rights & Freedoms (Vietnam)
        • Women (Vietnam)
        • Chemical War, Agent Orange (Vietnam & Indochina)
        • Ecology (Vietnam)
        • Géopolitics (regional) (Vietnam)
        • History and debates (Vietnam & Indochina)
        • In the capitalist transition (Vietnam)
        • LGBT+ (Vietnam)
        • Rural (Vietnam)
        • Social Movements, Labour (Vietnam)
        • The solidarity movements (Vietnam & Indochina)
    • Europe & U.K.
      • European Union
        • Catalonia crisis (EU)
        • Constitution, history & crisis (EU)
        • Countries (EU)
          • Health (EU)
            • Epidemics, pandemics (health, EU)
          • Racism, xenophobia (countries, EU)
        • Health (EU)
          • Epidemics, pandemics (health, EU)
        • Institutions, regime (EU)
        • Agriculture (EU)
          • GMO (EU)
        • Economy, social (EU)
        • Education & youth (EU)
        • Energy, nuclear (EU)
        • Environment (EU)
          • Biodiversity (EU)
          • Climate (EU)
        • External Relations (EU)
          • Europe-Africa Relations (EU)
          • Europe-Asia Relations (EU)
          • Europe-Latin America relations (EU)
          • Europe-Mediterranean Relations (EU)
          • Europe-North America Relations (EU)
        • Housing (EU)
        • LGBT+ (EU)
        • Migration (EU)
        • Public Services (EU)
        • Transport (EU)
      • United Kingdom (Europe)
        • Health (UK)
          • Epidemics (health, UK)
        • Women (UK)
        • Brexit (UK)
        • Education (UK)
        • Environment (UK)
        • Extreme right / Fascism (Britain)
        • History (UK)
        • LGBT+ (UK)
        • Migrants - refugees, racism (UK)
        • Monarchy (UK)
        • North of Ireland (UK)
        • On the Left (UK)
        • Racism, xenophobia (UK)
          • Blacks / Black people/African diaspora (UK)
          • Chinese (UK)
          • Jew (UK)
          • Muslims (Racism, Britain)
        • Secularism (UK)
      • Which Europe?
      • Women (Europe)
        • Debt (women, Europe)
        • History (women, Europe)
        • Reproductive Rights (Europe)
        • Violence against women (Europe)
        • Women & work (Europe)
      • Fascism, extreme right, fundamentalism (Europe)
      • History (modern) (Europe)
      • History (pre-modern) (Europe)
      • Migrants, refugees, racism (Europe)
      • On the Left (Europe)
        • Left, epidemics, health (Europe)
        • EACL, European conferences
        • History of people’s struggles (Europe)
        • History of the Left (Europe)
        • Project K (Europe)
        • The European Left Party (Europe)
      • Racism (Europe)
      • Religion, churches, secularity (Europe)
      • Social movements, labour (Europe)
        • EU: Car Industry
        • EU: Housing
        • EU: Pensions
      • Balkans
        • Women (Balkans)
        • Balkans: Yugoslav Crisis in the 1990s
      • France
        • Political situation and debates (France)
        • Health (France)
          • Epidemics, pandemics, (health, France)
        • Ecology (France)
          • Energy (France)
          • Nuclear (France)
        • Ecology: Parc des Beaumonts (France)
          • France: Ornithology: from elsewhere
          • France: Ornithology: log
          • France: Ornithology: reports
        • Education (France)
        • French Imperialism, international relations (France)
          • Armament, nuclear (France)
          • France & the Middle-East & Mediterranean
          • France: France-Asia Relations
          • Franco-African Relations (France)
          • Relations France – LA/Carribean (France)
        • History & Memory (France)
        • Human Rights Freedoms (France)
          • Terrorism (Human Rights, France)
        • LGBT+ (France)
        • Migrant, Refugee, Migration (France)
        • Military (France)
        • Political regime, parties, ideologies (France)
        • Racism (France)
        • Social Movements, economy and labor (France)
      • Russia & Eastern Europe post-USSR
        • Economy (Eastern Europe)
        • Belarus
        • Eastern Europe: Social and labour resistance
        • Moldava
        • Russia Today
        • Russia: LGBT+
        • Russia: On the left
        • Russia: Women
        • South Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Karabakh)
          • South Caucasus: Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
        • Ukraine
        • Ukraine: LGBT+
        • Ukraine: On the left
      • Russia, USSR, Soviet Bloc (history)
        • History (USSR)
          • Russian Revolution
        • Transition to capitalism in USSR and Eastern Europe
        • Women (Soviet Bloc)
      • Turkey
        • Women (Turkey)
        • Turkey: Economy, social
        • Turkey: History, society
        • Turkey: Islamism
        • Turkey: Kurdistan
        • Turkey: LGBT+
        • Turkey: Migrants
    • Middle East & N. Africa
      • Women (MENA)
      • MENA: Ecology
      • MENA: Labour
      • MENA: LGBT+
      • MENA: The region
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, MENA)
      • Algeria
        • Women (Algeria)
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Algeria)
        • History (Algeria)
          • History: 1945-1962 (Algeria)
          • History: post-1962 (Algeria)
      • Bahrain
      • Egypt
        • Women (Egypt)
        • Egypt: Economy
        • Egypt: Fundamentalism, secular
        • Egypt: History
        • Egypt: Labor
        • Egypt: LGBT+
        • Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood, Islamism
        • Egypt: On the Left
      • Iran
        • Women (Iran)
        • “Khiaban” and other bulletins (Iran)
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Iran)
        • History (Iran)
          • History of people’s struggles (Iran)
          • History, society, regime (Iran)
        • LGBT + (Iran)
        • Religion, secular (Iran)
      • Iraq
        • Women (Iraq)
        • Iraq: Kurdistan
        • Iraq: LGBT+
      • Jordan
        • Women (Jordan)
      • Kuwait
      • Lebanon
        • Women (Lebanon)
        • Industrial Disasters
        • Labour (Lebanon)
        • LGBT (Lebanon)
      • Libya
        • Women (Libya)
        • Libya: LGBT+
        • Libya: Society, history
      • Morocco & Western Sahara
        • Western Sahara
        • Women (Morocco)
        • Ecology (Morocco)
        • Human Rights and Freedoms (Morocco)
        • Left forces (Morocco)
        • Rural (Morocco)
        • Society, economy, history (Morocco)
      • Oman
      • Palestine & Israel
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Palestine & Israel)
        • Women (Palestine & Israel)
        • Boycott, Disinvestment, Sanctions: Solidarity (Palestine & (...)
        • Economy (Palestine & Israel)
        • Fundamentalism (Palestine & Israel)
        • History (Palestine & Israel)
        • Human Rights (Palestine & Israel)
        • In Memory (Palestine & Israel)
        • Labor, social movements (Palestine & Israel)
        • Left (Israel)
        • LGBT+ (Palestine & Israel)
        • Movements (Palestine)
        • Society (Palestine & Israel)
      • Qatar
      • Saudi Arabia
        • Women (Saudi Arabia)
        • Saudi Arabia: Fundamentalism, sharia
        • Saudi Arabia: Migrants
        • Saudi Arabia: Society, history
      • Somalia
      • Syria
        • Kurdistan (Syria)
        • Pandemics (Health, Syria)
        • Women Syria)
        • History, society, culture (Syria)
        • International left (Syria)
        • Secularity (Syria)
      • Tunisia
        • Women (Tunisia)
        • Tunisia: Economy
        • Tunisia: Ennahdha, Islamism
        • Tunisia: LGBT+
        • Tunisia: On the Left
      • United Arab Emirates
      • Yemen
        • Women (Yemen)
    • Arctic
    • South Pacific
      • Australia
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Australia)
        • Women, (Australia)
        • Australia: History of people’s struggles
        • Australia: Regional Role
        • Disasters - Humanitarian and ecological (Australia)
        • History (Australia)
        • LGBT+ (Australia)
        • Racism (Australia)
      • Easter Island
      • Fiji
      • Kanaky / New Caledonia
      • Marshall Islands (inc. Bikini Atoll)
      • New Zealand / Aotearoa
        • Women (New Zealand/Aotearoa)
        • Epidemics, pandemics (health, New Zeland)
        • New Zealand/Aotearoa: Racism
      • Papua New Guinea
        • Papua New Guinea: Epidemics, pandemics (health)
      • Polynesia
      • Solomon Islands
      • Tonga
  • Home
  • English
  • Issues
  • Health (Issues)
  • Epidemics, pandemics (health, Issues)
  • Covid-19: Globally, the pandemic hits women

Covid-19: Globally, the pandemic hits women

Wednesday 9 September 2020, by CONWAY Terry

  
  • Coronavirus / Covid-19 (EN, FR)
  • Coronavirus/Covid-19 (EN)
  • Women
  • Social reproduction
  • Domestic workers / Domestic labour
  • Precariat / Informal Sector
  • Precarity

In his article, “C’est la lutte finale“, Mike Davis argues: “The current pandemic on a global scale exposes and widens the existential divides within and between societies, and reminds us that the survival of the poorest fifth of humanity is increasingly at question.” [1] It’s an important piece in many regards, but there is a significant omission – the word women does not appear in almost 9,000 words.

  Contents  
  • And the Informal economy?
  • Multiple whammy
  • Domestic labour
  • Context of struggle
  • Social reproduction

In this article, I start to explore the impact of the pandemic, and the sharp economic crisis that has deepened in its wake on 52 per cent of humanity – on women. The current political situation is both laying bare and exacerbating existing inequalities. To assess it without making women’s position central will not adequately equip us to respond to either the profound challenges or the seeds of positive change facing us.

While statistics indicate that a greater proportion of men than women have died as a direct result of Covid-19, in other significant ways women’s position is more adversely affected.

The International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) June report on the world of work puts it like this;

“In contrast to previous crises, women’s employment is at greater risk than men’s, particularly owing to the impact of the downturn on the service sector. At the same time, women account for a large proportion of workers in front-line occupations, especially in the health and social care sectors. Moreover, the increased burden of unpaid care brought by the crisis affects women more than men.” [2]

 And the Informal economy?

This quote from the ILO ignores the informal economy, which has also been particularly impacted.

People working in the informal economy in the vast majority of cases live hand to mouth, with neither savings nor food supplies to fall back on if they are not able to engage in their “normal” activity. These two billion workers represented 60 per cent of the world’s employed population in 2018. For many of them, the need to quarantine if they show symptoms of the virus, or to physically distance while selling their wares, is impossible. This raises the serious risk of further spread of the virus. The fact that a high proportion live in dense shanty towns exacerbates the risks even further.

In its April 2018 report, “Women and men in the informal economy; a statistical picture (third edition)” the ILO notes;

“Countries with the lowest level of GDP per capita tend to have the highest level of informality …. The gender gap in the share of informal employment is also more likely to be positive in countries with the lowest level of GDP per capita, which means that women are more likely to be in informal employment than men. The gender gap is actually positive in two out of three low- and lower-middle income countries.” [3]

Those who work in the informal economy are more likely to feel impelled to continue to work, despite the threat to their and their families’ health, than those in more secure forms of employment. But it’s not always possible.

If you make your living selling to tourists, as huge numbers do across different continents, when there are no tourists, there is no income. If you normally travel to your place of informal work on cheap public transport, several hours walk from where you live, and there is no public transport because of the pandemic, you cannot sell your goods. if you are a sex worker, whether working on the streets or as an escort, the market for your services is severely affected by lockdown in many countries.

For many informal workers, the repression and militarisation that has frequently accompanied lockdowns (from Duerte’s Philippines to Bolsonaro’s Brazil, from Orban’s Hungary to Trump’s USA) make their lives even more precarious. This is particularly the case for those whose migration status and or lack of gender conformity pushes them further to marginalisation. [4]

 Multiple whammy

To unpick this further we can say that women are faced with a multiple whammy:

• Women have lost income, as sectors such as hospitality are disproportionately affected by the crisis. There have been measures of partial protection, mainly in the global north, where workers have not initially been sacked but laid off and paid a proportion of their normal income by the state. But even here women are disproportionately hit.

• If your pre-pandemic life, working two or more jobs, left you on the edge of poverty, then the loss of even part of that income is even more disastrous. And many of these jobs will permanently disappear as the crisis deepens. And for many women, employment also means some independence and self worth.

• Significant numbers of women work in socially necessary services – health, education, care, food production and distribution, and transport. In these sectors, the provision of personal protective equipment and other essential health and safety measures have often been life threateningly lacking. This criminal deficit has been met with resistance, as we can see from the hunger strikes of doctors in Pakistan in April or the action of Nigerian doctors in June and Zimbabwean nurses and doctors as I write. Women, and particularly migrant and indigenous women, are more likely to work in the least protected jobs within these sectors e.g. as cleaners in the health service or in care homes. [5]

• “Stay home stay safe” is dangerous for those of us for whom home is a site of abuse. [6] In 2017, 38 per cent of murders of women in Europe were committed by a male intimate partner. 30% of women who have been in a relationship report that they have experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner in their lifetime.

• This also applies to younger people including LGBTQI youth forced back into parental homes by the economic crisis, or deprived of the social support that community organisations or places to socialise previously offered.

The dangers are compounded where increased criminalisation and militarisation accompanied lockdown.

 Domestic labour

The most gendered effect of the pandemic is the reprivatisation – and feminisation – of domestic work. Women spent more than 3.2 times as much time on unpaid work as men before the pandemic. The gap between the hours of domestic work carried out by women and by men was narrowing very, very slowly.

Food poverty has deepened during the pandemic including in the global north. The lengthening of queues in shops and food projects, the shortages of supplies of basic staples as well as the closure of cafes and restaurants disproportionately affect women. Women often make sure that children and adult males are fed before themselves.

But childcare is also central. For millions of people the informal support that was central to the patchwork that makes up childcare, from older relatives and family friends, has been torn away. The fact that the pandemic itself is generally more often fatal amongst older people is a factor, but so too are the effects of lockdown and sometimes militarisation.

Schools have closed in 190 countries according to the UN. [7] Where online education has been provided, this has served to illustrate the sharp digital and other forms of poverty that exist in working class communities. Living in overcrowded homes is not is not conducive to learning, even where individual motivation and parental support exist.

Even for those working from home, the differentials are sharp. In households where two adults in a heterosexual relationship live with children and both work at home, there are many anecdotes that tell how women’s working day is interrupted to deal with children while men seem much more able to ignore them.

So the differences between the levels of domestic labour carried out by women and by men are almost certainly increasing again.

And there is a vicious circle between increased domestic labour and unemployment for women. A survey conducted in Nairobi’s informal settlements, for example, revealed that 42% of women were unable to get paid work because of an increased care and domestic workload caused by the pandemic. [8] In Britain, half of working mothers said they were unable to find the childcare they needed to return to work. [9]

 Context of struggle

Objective reality seems bleak and governments and bosses are determined to make sure that the costs of the crisis are borne by the already dispossessed. But we are not passive observers of what is happening to our lives, livelihoods and communities.

In recent years we have seen a new wave of mass feminist movements and an increased participation and leadership of women in mass broad protest movements and uprisings. [10] So internationally women went into the pandemic in a better position to resist backlashes than would otherwise have been the case.

The growth and international spread of the Black Lives Matter movement since the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020 is impressive. The movement was originally created by three women in 2013 to protest police violence in the United States. Now, millions, particularly of young people, have mobilised. Discussions about the legacy of slavery, of imperialism and racism were previously the preserve of Black activists, and to a lesser extent of the left. Now they are extensively covered by significant sections of the mainstream media.

And political debate is extending on other questions too. Across the globe, existing community organisations, spawned to deal with previous disasters, have reanimated, while others have sprung into existence, dealing with food poverty, isolation, state violence and more.

The pandemic has led to discussion about what kind of work is valuable in itself (creates what Marxists call ”use value”) and what forms of work have the primary function of producing profits for the employers through the extraction of surplus value from the labour of workers.

Food production and distribution, education, health and local transport are, as already noted, sectors in which large numbers of women work. This is the labour that holds societies together. But it is not valued, economically or socially, precisely because it is seen as traditional women’s work.

 Social reproduction

Despite decades of campaigning by feminists and sections of the labour movement, women’s position in the labour market is largely circumscribed by what is assumed to be our ”natural” role in the family.

The labour of cooking, cleaning, caring for our immediate and extended families, nursing, educating and socialising of our young is work carried out by women - and for no pay. Family forms and the specificities of women’s unpaid labour, not to mention the division of labour between older and younger women, vary significantly in different societies. But core tasks and the reality of the division of labour between (the majority of) women and (most) men do not.

These tasks clearly require a multitude of skills – from complex timetabling, to the chemistry involved in cooking. It is assumed that anyone can carry them out – and therefore, because there is a greater supply than demand, they can be low paid.

One key aspect is that they involve emotional labour, because they are relational. They involve negotiation, persuasion and the ability to read other’s needs and wants, including when they can’t (or won’t) articulate them, at least through verbalising.

But because the transmission of those skills takes place largely invisibly through family and community (although often reinforced through highly gendered education systems) they are not valued even when they are transferred into the labour market itself.

This is seen most sharply in paid domestic work, where the division of tasks between childcare, cleaning, shopping, cooking - and not infrequently providing sexual “services” to the men of the family - is entirely at the employer’s will. Many women live where they work and many are migrant workers, with few if any rights, making them even more vulnerable to many forms of abuse.

Even where public services exist and therefore there is a great division between say education and health care, genderised pay differentials exist. In many countries, for example, education for young children is worse paid than that for older ones, and more feminised.

Questions about how to transform jobs in destructive industries, from arms production to fossil fuel-driven transport, into a green new deal based on renewable energy and on social justice for the global south are being popularised by ecosocialists. Given the depth of environmental devastation, it is indeed an urgent discussion. This is the case also for trade unions who too often react to the economic crisis in a purely defensive manner, more under the slogan of build back any old how. They forget that there are no jobs on a dead planet.

But we also need to use this opportunity to demand a stronger care sector in its widest sense - more care, education, youth services; what feminist economists call purple jobs, alongside the green jobs that environmentalists demand. And like green jobs we need to organise to make sure these are well paid, that the clapping that happened for carers in many countries does not continue to go alongside badly paid and insecure work for millions of women. [11]

Terry Conway


P.S.

• http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article6807

Footnotes

[1] Progressive International, 30 April 2020 “C’est La Lutte Finale”:
https://progressive.international/blueprint/34da398a-af05-43bb-9778-c27023932630-la-lutte-finale/en

[2] 30 June 2020 ILO Monitor COVID-19 and the world of work. Fifth edition.

[3] International Labour Office, April 2018 “Women and men in the informal economy; a statistical picture (third edition)”.

[4] Outright Action International, 6 May 2020 “Vulnerability Amplified: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on LGBTIQ People”.

[5] AA, 27 April 2020 Pakistan: Doctors on hunger strike over lack of PPE, Garda World, 16 June 2020 “Nigeria: Doctors strike over lack of PPE and increased benefits from June 15”, Eyewitness News, 16 July 2020 “Zimbabwe doctors to join nurses on strike as virus cases rise”.

[6] IWorld Health Organization, 29 November 2017 “Violence against women”.

[7] UNDP, 18 June 2020 “Unpaid care work in time of the Covid-19 crisis”.

[8] Oxfam Media Briefing, 9 July 202 The hunger virus: how Covid-19 isfuelling hunger in a hungry world.

[9] The Guardian, 24 July 2020 “UK working mothers are ’sacrificial lambs’ in coronavirus childcare crisis”.

[10] Fourth International, ESSF (article 54733), Draft Resolution: The new rise of the women’s movement.

[11] Özlem Onaran “Rebuilding an economy for all in the aftermath of the Covid 19 crisis”.

Copyright
  • Newsletter
  • Search by keyword
  • Search by author
  • Links

Also in this section

  • Defend Pablo Hasel the rapper, defend democratic rights in the Spanish State
  • Double jeopardy: Poorer countries hit with higher price tag for Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine
  • Covid-19: How to fight the pandemic? Notes on experiences in Asia and Europe
  • Pandemic: Covid mortality down dramatically since start of pandemic, study finds
  • Pandemics: Dummy’s guide to how trade rules affect access to COVID-19 vaccines
  • Pandemics: No country is an island: collective approach to COVID-19 vaccines is the only way to go
  • Pandemics: What is COVAX and why does it matter for getting vaccines to developing nations?
  • Pandemic: Keeping up with Covid mutations could require vaccine cooperation
  • Covid-19: a frightening future looms
  • Covid-19: Can we actually learn to live with coronavirus? Not until we have a vaccine

1996-2021  — Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
What about us ? | Site Map | Credits | Log in |  RSS 2.0 | Twitter | Facebook | Contact

SPIP