AGAINST ALL FORMS OF DOMINATION
Bunch, Charlotte
Against All Forms of Domination BY CHARLOTTE BUNCH We must counter the Right's demand for "traditional values" by offering a re-invigorated vision of a society based on progressive and feminist...
...Progressives must value diversity and create positive ways for different peoples to live together and learn from each other...
...The United States should focus domestically on consumer demand for drugs instead of using the "war on drugs" as an excuse for military adventures abroad and erosion of civil liberties at home...
...Among those values are economic justice, participatory democracy, sexual and racial equality, respect for diversity and human rights, and community responsibility for the fate of the planet...
...We should legalize minor drugs and devote major resources to community efforts to eradicate hard-drug use...
...Flexible trade and debt-swapping policies hold more promise than continuing to place a burden on Third World debtors that is destroying many societies and increasing injustice and instability globally...
...Struggles against racism and ethnocentrism stretch from South Africa to Eastern Europe and North America...
...Yet, while race still divides people, we must also see that diversity of culture and lifestyle are not problems in themselves but rather enrich a country and provide more options, perspectives, and skills on which it can build...
...Support for diverse forms of families that provide caring environments would advance community values more than rewarding only one type of family even when it is dysfunctional...
...A society that condones daily violation of women teaches that domination is natural and acceptable...
...The resources that demilitarization could yield should be directed toward meeting human needs and addressing deficit/debt problems...
...This disregard is deadly in many areas, but it is particularly visible in AIDS policies that write off various populations as expendable-gay men, intravenous drug users, inner-city blacks and Hispanics, and whole regions of Africa—and that preach prejudice instead of assisting those in danger...
...A community ethic that calls on citizens to assume responsibility for each other and for government must counter the prevailing 1980s ethos of individual greed and disregard for others...
...Against All Forms of Domination BY CHARLOTTE BUNCH We must counter the Right's demand for "traditional values" by offering a re-invigorated vision of a society based on progressive and feminist values...
...Progressives must back women's demands for control over our bodies and freedom of choice in abortion and sterilization decisions...
...Violation of women's human right to control our bodies takes many forms, from mandatory pregnancy to sexual mutilation, rape, female feticide, compulsory heterosexualty, and forced prostitution, but the most pervasive is the domestic violence that haunts more than half the world's women and children...
...Finally: democracy and diversity...
...Our ethics of responsibility should not impose narrow moralism on individual behavior, but should promote responsible relationships among people in all areas, including sexuality...
...We must end the complicity of silence that protects perpetrators, devote resources to fighting gender violence, engage in public education especially in the schools, oppose the spread of violent pornography in mainstream culture, and create safe space for victims both in and outside of their homes...
...Other barriers stand in the way of a peaceful and just world, suggesting more priorities: ¶ Demilitarization of society...
...A multicultural vision of respect for diversity and human rights is crucial to the progressive agenda...
...Economic justice...
...Thus, violation of women fuels militarism and violence against differing races, religions, sexualities, and nationalities...
...Police action should back up communities and break drug rings, but drug education and rehabilitation programs should have priority...
...A major reduction in military spending and demilitarization of the world economy are vital to promoting peace and ending the militaristic attitudes that dominate local and global life...
...Millions of people live in functioning family units that provide caring relationships and sustenance but are burdened by social stig-matization and lack of benefits simply because they do not fit the "traditional" mold...
...Our strength lies in the belief that people will reach for the best in us, given the opportunity, and will enhance life on an interconnected planet that is dependent on the care we give to the Earth and to all her people, Charlotte Bunch is the editor of several feminist anthologies, author of "Passionate Politics: Feminist Theory in Action," and director of the Center for Global Issues and Women's Leadership at Rutgers University...
...If any other group were as systematically terrorized and killed as women are, we would recognize it as a state of emergency...
...Passionate movements for democracy in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and China remind us of the potency of people's desire for real participation in their societies...
...As hate crimes and ethnic conflicts increase globally, policies to counter all forms of domination are critical if a peaceful world is to emerge as the Cold War ends...
...An often neglected problem that threatens families and tears at the social fabric is violence against women...
...World debt relief...
...Just such a declaration of crisis and commitment to change is required today...
...Reproductive rights...
...This debt created by financial institutions in lending as well as debtor nations needs solutions that involve all parties...
...We must continue to search for structures that provide for both economic growth and a more equitable distribution of resources...
...Drug education and rehabilitation...
...Meanwhile, meeting people's basic needs for food and shelter should be the bottom line in a society that calls itself civilized and wants to prevent civil strife...
...Statistics from various countries show that 40 to 80 per cent of women are beaten at home and more than 50 per cent of female homicides are committed by male family members...
...However, more attention to sex education in the schools, affordable and safe birth control and health care, stopping rape, and increasing men's responsibility for pregnancies would reduce women's dependence on abortion...
...In the United States, where a rape occurs every six minutes, domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women—more than rape, muggings, and auto accidents combined...
...Whether femaleViolation of women fuels violence against other races, religions, sexualities, and nationalities...
...headed households, gay and lesbian couples, or other arrangements of adults and children sharing a home, all nonabusive families should be assisted in their efforts to create loving, responsible stability...
...Creating a caring community ethic is the only alternative to the violent barricade mentality growing between the rich and healthy on the one hand and the poor and neglected on the other...
Vol. 54 • November 1990 • No. 11
