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The social relations of gold: How a gendered asset serves social reproduction and finance in Pakistan

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  • Ghazal Mir Zulfiqar

Abstract

Women's gold jewelry, particularly in the context of the Indian subcontinent, has been referred to as a barbaric relic, an uncivilized obsession, and a leakage from the economy. Yet women in the region continue to save almost exclusively in gold. In dismissing these savings as a leakage and a waste, we miss a critical opportunity to understand the social relations of gold, where both gold and land are gendered assets. Using the lens of transnational feminism, I draw upon two empirical studies from Pakistan to show that gold is for the most part the only investment women own and control. In the era of liberalization and fiscal discipline, as economic vulnerabilities deepen and Southern states are forced to cut back on welfare, impoverished women's meager gold stocks play a critical role in supporting social reproduction. Attracted by the nonfiat nature of gold, commercial and microfinance banks exploit these sociocultural and economic realities in the pawn market for women's gold. This has critical implications for women's agency, which is relational and fluid in the present context, resulting in its subversion by the gendered regimes of finance capitalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Ghazal Mir Zulfiqar, 2022. "The social relations of gold: How a gendered asset serves social reproduction and finance in Pakistan," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 739-757, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:3:p:739-757
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12818
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Seema Jayachandran, 2020. "Microentrepreneurship in Developing Countries," NBER Working Papers 26661, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Ghazal Mir Zulfiqar, 2022. "Inequality Regimes, Patriarchal Connectivity, and the Elusive Right to Own Land for Women in Pakistan," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(4), pages 799-811, May.
    3. Adrienne Roberts & Ghazal Mir Zulfiqar, 2019. "The political economy of women’s entrepreneurship initiatives in Pakistan: reflections on gender, class, and “development”," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 410-435, May.
    4. Naila Kabeer & Ricardo Santos, 2017. "Intersecting inequalities and the Sustainable Development Goals: Insights from Brazil," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-167, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Shahidur R. Khandker, 2005. "Microfinance and Poverty: Evidence Using Panel Data from Bangladesh," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 19(2), pages 263-286.
    6. Adrienne Roberts, 2013. "Financing Social Reproduction: The Gendered Relations of Debt and Mortgage Finance in Twenty-first-century America," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 21-42, February.
    7. Naila Kabeer & Ricardo Santos, 2017. "Intersecting inequalities and the Sustainable Development Goals: Insights from Brazil," WIDER Working Paper Series 167, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Nigel Dodd, 2014. "The Social Life of Money," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10319.
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