Between 2006-2009, 72% of the comprehensive culinary training program celebrated their one year employment. Work Options for Women’s sixteen week program provides skill building, resume building, and job placement for impoverished women in the Denver area. According to the US census bureau of 2008, female-led households living in poverty was 35% in the Denver/Aurora area, Colorado. By engaging women in this program alongside professional chefs, they will attain food-service skills and will be prepared to be employed in the food-service industry. In the realm of NGO’s, the program has been successful in the training process and job placement mission for impoverished women with that enabling them to become self-sufficient.
My project will consolidate the work and aims of a non-profit enterprise such as Work Options for Women (WOW), along with class material from anthropological perspectives. A few issues we touched upon in class correlate with efforts such as WOW such as poverty for example, where issues are tackled beyond the surface. How is poverty defined in this context? and more specifically, who is an impoverished woman? I will attempt to visualize poverty pertaining to this organized structure. I will refer to M.Green’s article from class readings (week 7).
Also, the question of gender comes into play, where I will project the light on feminism and asking specifically whether this movement is used as a tool to empower women in NGO”s. How does gender relate to development? Here I will refer to D. Murdock’s piece that we read in week 6. In addition, Development is a core issue in which I will incorporate in the project. Training takes place in the human services building , as well as in a Cafe Options located in downtown Denver, which demonstrate a physical and tangible development process. However, I want to tackle the issue more so from its intangible development such as the skills acquired by women (homeless, single mothers, and uneducated women) through the program. Here J. Furguson’s article from week 5 readings will provide me with support in accordance to development.
My project is still in the making, so by time the ideas will be more comprehensive and more clear.
Workoptions.org
Throughout its modern history, the UAE has had ‘tolerance’- for lack of a better word- toward other religions, nationalities, races..etc in terms of expanding their working force and granting millions of work visas as the economy was in the process of booming, creating some criticism with its more conservative neighboring countries. The diversification of its population brought about a vibrant multicultural society, in which each culture has joined in and stamped its influence in many aspects. Although the Emirati culture revolves around the religion of Islam and a traditional Arab culture, it is quite common to see churches, Hindu temples, alongside mosques. Such a prominent comsmopolitan environment also allowed for Asian-influenced school curriculums along with European ones, and more. Also a variety of cultural centers and the like, just to name a few examples; catering to the various nationalities.
This video was taken last winter in Abu-Dhabi, at the Hilton Hotel Luncheon, for the celebration of Christmas day in which I, my family, and some friends attended. Besides finding the video quite humorous, i did come to appreciate how growing up in Abu-Dhabi made for a unique and vibrant lifestyle that was ‘globalized’ so to speak.
The oil industry has attracted a large flow of expats, with that also drawing in vast number of foreign investment and integration of a variety of markets. This continuous and rapid growth shed the light on the UAE on the global level, with that towering over its neighbors and beyond. Its extreme wealth and the availability of job opportunity made it a financial and economic hub. The picture is of present day Abu-Dhabi.
Prior to the discovery of oil in the early 1950′s, the UAE’s economy was dependent upon fishing, along with a declining pearling industry. By the time the 1960′s came about Abu-Dhabi was the first of the Emirates to begin the exporting of oil, and with that creating a new era of trade activity for the country. This picture is of Abu-Dhabi in 1976, six years after its independence from European domination.
Sustainability, in one way or another, is being heavily penetrated in our lives, whether it was by overhearing a related conversation taking place on a public transit bus (true story), a reading assignment for class, or being asked the common question of ‘plastic or paper’ at your local grocery store. The choice of participation in living a sustainable and ‘green’ lifestyle has become evident, as we are constantly reminded of the ‘obligation’ we have for mother earth, that, in itself is heart lifting. O’Conner beautifully defines Sustainable Development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. That sounds like the utopia of a world I would love to live in, but in reality, as much as we love this idea, so do profit-making giant corporations.
Sustainable development is an ever erupting matter presented in households, communities, towns, cities, and even countries, where each has been racing toward a seemingly invisible finish-line. Point being, that local economies along with global ones have taken the stance to support this practice so we can save our world…for the time being at least. Sustainability and living green has undoubtedly been a shining topic on the global spectrum, a collaborative effort, and a trendy worldly practice…at a cost.
Robin Hahnel’s article asks the question of whether sustainable capitalism is possible. Sustainable and capitalism in the same sentence sounds… contradictory. So where does sustainability stand in the world of mass production, exploitation, and not-so-green practices? Hahnel raised a couple of contradictions that go hand in hand with capitalistic systems, one being ‘demand-side’, which poses the concern of having excess supplies of products and leading to less demand, and if this excess is not being in demand, then how will corporations satisfy their number one motive of maximizing profit? Not to mention that in the process, capital resources, human resources, along with natural ones are being exhausted which brings us to the second proposed contradiction: ‘cost-side’ where capitalist systems are minimizing costs while using strategies that will degrade over time and hence ones we will not be able to restore. So how are multinational corporations like Wal-mart going green? How does a giant like Wal-Mart have the ability to produce (I mean destruct) everything possible while managing to meet the needs of the present and ensuring the availability of resources for future generations?
Is there a medium-happy- ground? What about combining profit generating strategies with environmental approaches to create a balance? Can capitalism be in fact sustainable? Or has it become a fad, a trend, or another genuine idea becoming exploited by the elite?
Governments like Wal-Mart will not compromise profit in order to create value and engage in more ethical practices on their part. They will however create a tainted and misleading picture of going green by joining the movement (trend) to maintain a certain image, and hence maintain if not increase their profits.
I am by no means opposed to the efforts of becoming green, I am however in favor of starting in our homes and communities where we directly contribute and benefit from sustainability, and by that empowering ourselves as much as possible to create the world we want to live in and one where future generations would love to be in.
References:
O’Conner, J (1998) “Is sustainable Capitalism possible?” in O’Conner, Natural Causes: Essays in Ecological Marxism, New York: Guildford Press, 234-53
Hahnel R (2011) “What on earth is sutainable development,” in Hahnel, Green Economics: Confronting the Ecological Crisis, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 35-49
Hello to the world of Anthropology!
This blog will attempt to bring to the table discussions about various Anthropological topics based upon readings that are assigned to me in my Culture of Development and Globalization class. I am a graduate student in the Social Sciences discipline with a degree focus on International Studies, and will be taking this opportunity to begin this blog, with the hopes of sharing with my readers materials and reflections that are stimulating, engaging, and compelling.
See you soon!
Rana
