Women, Law and the Global Economy - Professor Elvia R. Arriola
This is a legal scholarship seminar. Students are introduced to the concepts of globalization of the economy and the arguments for and against free trade, regulation of trade and its impact on women and other vulnerable groups. There are no prerequisites, although a background knowledge of feminist theory or Women’s Studies is helpful. The seminar meets the graduation writing requirement for 3L students at the NIU College of Law.
This course grew out of research conducted by the instructor at the U.S.-Mexico border which examined the impact of NAFTA and immigration policy on the working women and their families employed by U.S. multinational corporations in factories ("maquiladoras"). Students engage in critical discourse about the role of the law and public policy on free trade in creating and perpetuating conditions of poverty and disenfranchisement for the people in countries of the global South whose natural and human resources tend to be exploited by individual and corporate consumers in the global North.
NOTE: Preparations are underway to take a small delegation of law students from NIU in mid- October 2011 to the Mexican border to meet maquiladora workers. Seminar enrollees are welcome to apply.