Last Monday, March 13, marked the 38th anniversary of the Grenada Revolution, which, sorry to say, lasted merely four and a half years.
What is interesting about that period is the undeniable fact that despite how the Revolution ended in October 1983, it was still the best times that Grenadians have and maybe ever experienced economically, politically and socially.
The improvements that took place in Grenada between 1979 and 1983 in relation to the creation of human capital, social transformation, political maturity, infrastructural enhancement and the building of institutions such as the National Insurance Scheme to facilitate economic growth and development were simply astounding.
But to this writer, one of the fundamental differences between what was practised and promoted by the Revolution, unlike any other government in the history of Grenada, was the active involvement of women and the youth in nation building.
Why is this important? Nowadays, there are growing calls for women in particular to be recognised as equal partners in the development of our various regional economies and the need for greater balance in relation to things such as advancement in the workplace and salaries paid to female employees in comparisons to their male counterparts.
Clearly, the Grenada Revolution, more than 30 years back, not only accepted the critical role of women in development but also implemented deliberate strategies to ensure that women had equivalent opportunities to contribute to the advancement of the society in as much the same way as the men did. So at all levels of engagements, whether it was the military or the public service, women were active participants.
While the calls for greater involvement of women in the development of our Caribbean islands keep getting louder with each passing day, what is clearly absent from much of the discussions is a framework that would turn these verbal calls into real action.
In short, how precisely can women take their rightful place in the enhancement of our economies and societies? How can we as maturing societies ensure that issues such as the gender pay gap be narrowed significantly or possibly eliminated, once and for all?
To put these questions into proper perspective and create a platform from which we can all launch an approach to improving the contribution of women to our countries’ development, let’s zero in on an article published by Palgrave Communications online entitled Women And Power: A Theoretical Approach Using The Example Of Copreneurial Businesses. That piece is written by Gérard Hirigoyen and Amélie Villeger.
In addressing the role of women in development, the authors put forward these two perspectives: “The first, which gives least credit to the woman, sees her role as . . . “the wife of” someone. Her destiny lies in sacrificing her own success for the success of her husband.
The second is more optimistic – and more egalitarian – in that it emphasises the decisive influence that a woman can have in the couple, and emphasises the primacy of the conjugal partnership in value creation.”
These, logically, are clearly distinctive roles for women in development. As we in the Caribbean continue along our journey to get more and more women involved in the socioeconomic reconfiguration of our countries, I humbly suggest some clarity in our conceptualisation of precisely what that role should be. And let us not forget the approach taken by the Grenadian Revolution in empowering women since therein lays a tremendous opportunity for doing-by-learning.
Email: [email protected]
