Empowerment and autonomy in rural women: case study of the municipality of Chivatá, Boyacá, Colombia

Author(s):  
Zulma Andrea Cantor Hernández ◽  
Javier Augusto López Cifuentes ◽  
Fabio Blanco Mesa
Keyword(s):  
Politeia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abiba Yayah

The agency of women in most African countries is often affected by the socio-economic and political policies that are almost always disadvantageous to women, especially women who have little to no knowledge of their rights. Using the shea industry in Ghana as a case study, I chronicle the challenges as recounted by rural women involved in this home-based work in the Northern Region of Ghana and critically analyse these challenges and their implications. Focusing mainly on the results of my recent field work, I present some of the accounts relating to the lack and exclusion of recognition of and respect for the experiences of rural women who are in fact the linchpin of the shea industry in Ghana. Initiatives and strategies of non-governmental organisations and some governmental policies have attempted to address these challenges that have implications for the livelihoods of rural women. Research and policies have only offered “band-aid solutions” to the economic disempowerment of rural women in the shea industry in Ghana as they have not dealt with the causes. This article seeks to refute the claim that equity exists by indicating the lack of equity and justice in the policies in the shea industry. In an attempt to provide an understanding of the economic disempowerment of women in this industry, I consider my field work as a good source as it exposes the experiences and everyday practices as narrated by rural women in the industry. This article seeks to analyse the existing discourses especially those pertaining to the contributions and experiences of rural women in the shea industry.


2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (02) ◽  
pp. 269-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
AIKATERINI LASSITHIOTAKI

This article investigates the entrepreneurial beliefs/attitudes, ambitions, expectations, goals and visions of rural women who choose to cooperate and found Women's Rural cooperatives in the Prefecture of Heraklion on the island of Crete. The results of a qualitative study involving a sample of eight chairwomen of rural women's established Traditional Food Production cooperatives indicated that the traditional domestic roles (housewife, mother), the low level of education, the lack of professional skills, enterprise experience and mostly the unwillingness of rural women to undertake enterprise risk, have turned them toward an enterprise model that lacks modern business methods in the use of quality control production systems, in the production of Protected Geographical Identification Goods and/or Certified Local Traditional Food and/or Organic Products, in the use of new organizing and managing technologies, in advertising and promoting products and in administrative renewal.


Author(s):  
Suganda Ramamoorthi

Economic security is a fundamental cord that would enhance the empowerment levels of women. In the patriarchal family structure, women have little or no access to economic resources, making them vulnerable. Social sanction for femicide, social and cultural discriminatory practices, and violence against women have curtailed women's choices and freedom. The impact of the elimination of girl children and strong son preference has deprived women of their economic entitlements. The case study is of particular interest as it is undertaken in Usilampatti taluk in Tamil Nadu, India, which is notorious for the practice of female foeticide and infanticide leading to low sex ratio. This chapter is an attempt to identify how rural women who have escaped femicide negotiate with gender asymmetry, reorganize the power relations within the family and market structure, manage economic resources, and emerge as independent leaders both in the private and public domains.


2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amina Maharjan ◽  
Siegfried Bauer ◽  
Beatrice Knerr
Keyword(s):  

2019 ◽  
pp. 154134461986654
Author(s):  
Wendy Madsen

The purpose of this article was to evaluate the contribution to the social and emotional well-being of rural women of a 3-day songwriting workshop. Six participants wrote songs and performed these locally and at the Women of the World Festival. Guided by narrative inquiry and transformative learning theory, this case study included data from reflective journals, one-on-one interviews, and written songs. Vignettes of the women’s key life moments were constructed and analyzed thematically. Four themes were identified: the importance and influence of personal experiences on songwriting, learning from process and one another, intrapersonal benefits, and interpersonal benefits. The article argued songwriting workshops provide opportunities for participants to reflect on experiences and to transform their worldviews. That is, songs and the songwriting process can help participants to restory their lives and enhance their sense of social and emotional well-being.


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