in class today we began a discussion on economics. and seeing as about the most detailed description i know of economics is systems of allocation based on production and distribution, i decided to focus on something i know a bit more about: economic inequality. we watched a short video on the grameen bank (microlending) and did a little web surfing of kiva.org. so for those of you who may wonder if i'm at all 'holding back' my thoughts/opinions while teaching in kuwait--apparently not :).
after said fun-filled media extravaganza we discussed some terms associated with economics, specifically one called division of labor (i.e. who does what in society. this normally isn't arbitrary--usually divided along racial, class, gender, age lines...). it's actually quite fascinating in kuwait where division of labor along racial and ethnic lines is so pronounced. for example, all the coffee shop workers are asian; the lawncare men are bangladeshi; the maids are bangladeshi--you can almost look at someone and know their job. so, back to class-- thought i would use an example to illustrate. i asked, for example, who does the cooking in your house (assuming the answer would be my mother)? not so fast meredith. the first response i heard, "well actually it's a man." i was confused--a man? does she mean her father? i inquired further. oh no, she means her family has a male cook (what!?). other students chimed in and discussed the gender of their family chef. and yet another example of me forgetting where exactly i am. it's not the women who cook--it's the hired help. welcome to kuwait.
2 comments:
do you think the d.o.l. observations apply only to the metropolitics of the capital? or does it apply to the more rural areas as well? being as that kuwait is such a small country, I would assume one in the same, but it could be different, so thought i would ask.
if i understand what you're asking...
it definitely applies to the privileged members of kuwait city (think just one big urban sprawl of a city for the places people live). my students know, and can even tell me, specific areas of the city that are impovershed where the beduon's (translates to "without a home") live. some of them think that there are no poor people in kuwait, and i have to remind them that there are, they just aren't kuwaiti.
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