Who's Counting? Marilyn Waring On Sex, Lies And Global Economics (1995)

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In this feature-length documentary, Marilyn Waring demystifies the language of economics by defining it as a value system in which all goods and activities are related only to their monetary value. As a result, unpaid work (usually performed by women) is unrecognized while activities that may be environmentally and socially detrimental are deemed productive. Waring maps out an alternative vision based on the idea of time as the new currency.

Despite being a New Zealand citizen and MP, it was the National Film Board of Canada that made this documentary on her work, based on a book that was published in 1988 "If Women Counted" (Later released as Counting for Nothing).

Wikipedia:

If Women Counted (1988) by Marilyn Waring, former New Zealand Member of Parliament, is an influential[1] book in academic feminism, political economy and feminist economics. The book is a groundbreaking and systematic critique of the system of national accounts, the international standard of measuring economic growth, and the ways in which women's unpaid work as well as the value of Nature have been excluded from what counts as productive in the economy.

The book "persuaded the United Nations to redefine gross domestic product, inspired new accounting methods in dozens of countries and became the founding document of the discipline of feminist economics."[2] A widely cited book, it made the analysis of this topic known to a large audience.

Contemporary footage shot with Marilyn Waring in 1995, is interspersed with historical footage and home video and contributes to an interesting look into both economics and politics and the role they play in feminism.

 

www.nfb.ca
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