Astrid Lipinsky The Globalised Maria or Call Girls of the International Market? Results of an intercultural dialogue between trade union women All over the world, parents call their daughters "Maria". Names like this one are international. They are used all over the world, but neverthe­less, nobody would come up with the idea of referring to the individual Maria as being"glob­alised". The name is global, but naturally the christened person is not. Globalisation is a phenomenon that does not want to be subject to any kind of individualisa­tion and claims to be an abstract and general term. However, there are individuals behind this concept. Globalisation affects them directly: by losing their job, by being forced to accept infor­mal, precarious employment, homework, mini salaries and poverty, but at the same time, it opens up new opportunities and new forms of labour. The more global world production becomes, the more difficult it turns for the affected persons to establish an international network: the poor individual, whose job is constantly threatened to be erased, does not have any energy left for networking, be it on a national or an interna­tional level. Whoever profits from globalisation, can be put very easily on the dock by those suf­fering the negative consequences. Nevertheless, it is of utmost importance, espe­cially at this point of time, to strengthen our own position through world-wide solidarity. The companies demonstrated how: 500 German companies are active in South Africa, more than one thousand in Brazil. The contact for Brazilian workers is possibly located in Ger­many. Contacts cannot be restricted to the man­agement of undertakings, they have to include workers, and women above all. Women can be and must be more than heter­onomous"call girls", more that a reserve work force, available on call for low-paid, precarious and unstable work, lacking the protection of a collective agreement. Women can internation­ally defend their common interests by demand­ing employment contracts, minimum wages that provide for a living, periods of notice, child care and social security, as well as the prohibition of pseudo self-employment, i.e. the acceptance of all entrepreneurial risks by the employee. Women differ according to their national origin. In a global context, however, these national pe­culiarities gradually become the background against which joint matters of cross-border con­cern can be defined. Thanks to the globalisation of media, it is easier to take the first step and exchange views about these national peculiari­ties in the background- and in every woman's everyday life. Women can oppose the trend accompanying globalisation, i.e. to discuss matters from a na­tionalist point of view. My home country or the non­globalisation of the homestead In discussing"women and globAlsatian ", one is bound to discover, first of all, that these terms are not really compatible."Women" are no ho­mogenous group, they are individuals with spe­cific concerns according to their origin, educa­tion and age. Nevertheless, it is possible to summarise the interests of one age bracket across borders, i.e. globally. Globalisation, on the con­16