Costa Rica

Gender and Media

Syllabus: 
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Year course was taught: 
2016

Women, Non-Governmental Organizations, and Deforestation: a Cross-National Study

Citation:

Shandra, John M., Carrie L. Shandra, and Bruce London. 2008. “Women, Non-Governmental Organizations, and Deforestation: A Cross-National Study.” Population and Environment 30 (1-2): 48–72.

Authors: John M. Shandra, Carrie L. Shandra, Bruce London

Abstract:

There have been several cross-national studies published in the world polity theoretical tradition that find a strong correlation between nations with high levels of environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and low levels of various forms of environmental degradation. However, these studies neglect the role that women’s NGOs potentially play in this process. We seek to address this gap by conducting a cross-national study of the association between women’s NGOs and deforestation. We examine this relationship because deforestation often translates into increased household labor, loss of income, and impaired health for women and, as a result, women’s non-governmental organizations have become increasingly involved in dealing with these problems often by protecting forests. We use data from a sample of 61 nations for the period of 1990–2005. We find substantial support for world polity theory that both high levels of women’s and environmental NGOs per capita are associated with lower rates of deforestation. We also find that high levels of debt service and structural adjustment are correlated with higher rates of forest loss. We conclude with a discussion of findings, policy implications, and possible future research directions.

Keywords: deforestation, women, non-governmental organizations, cross-national

Topics: Economies, Environment, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, NGOs Regions: Africa, MENA, Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa, Americas, Caribbean countries, Central America, North America, South America, Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, Baltic states, Balkans, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Oceania Countries: Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Hungary, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, Uruguay, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Year: 2008

Mujeres, Derechos a la Tierra y Contrarreformas en América Latina

Citation:

Deere, Carmen Diana and Magdalena León. 1997. "Mujeres, Derechos a la Tierra y Contrarreformas en América Latina." Paper presented at the XX Congreso Latinoamericano de la Asociación de Estudios Latinoamericanos (LASA), Mexico City, April,  129-53.

Authors: Carmen Diana Deere, Magdalena León

Topics: Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Women, Men, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Americas, Central America, South America Countries: Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua

Year: 1997

Feminist Media Coverage of Women in War: 'You Are Our Eyes and Ears to the World'

Citation:

Thompson, Margaret E, María Suárez Toro, and Katerina Anfossi Gómez. 2007. “Feminist Media Coverage of Women in War: ‘You Are Our Eyes and Ears to the World.’” Gender & Development 15 (3): 435–50.

Authors: Margaret E. Thompson, María Suárez Toro, Katerina Anfossi Gómez

Abstract:

Mainstream media coverage of war often distorts or ignores women's perspectives and experiences in armed conflict, and also their efforts to build peace. This article focuses on the work of FIRE (Feminist International Radio Endeavour/Radio Internacional Feminista), a women's international Internet radio initiative produced by Latin American and Caribbean women in Costa Rica, which "uses technologies, voices, and actions" to amplify the voices of women worldwide as they recount their experiences and perspectives of armed conflict. In doing so, FIRE helps promote an alternative vision of human existence that is based on social justice and human rights, and which serves to strengthen women's and other social and political movements that are based on these values.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Femininity/ies, Media, Infrastructure, Information & Communication Technologies, International Organizations, Rights, Human Rights Regions: Americas, Central America Countries: Costa Rica

Year: 2007

Gender, Migration and Urban Development in Costa Rica: The Case of Guanacaste

Citation:

Chant, Sylvia H. 1991. “Gender, Migration and Urban Development in Costa Rica: The Case of Guanacaste.” Geoforum 22 (3): 237-53.

Author: Sylvia H. Chant

Abstract:

This paper explores the reasons for urban growth in a peripheral region of Central America: Guanacaste province, north-west Costa Rica. While one of the major factors responsible for urbanisation in other parts of Latin America has been the expansion of economic activities in urban areas, the continued dominance of rural employment among the poor in Guanacasteco towns and high rates of seasonal out-migration to labour markets elsewhere in the country suggest that other factors may be more important. On the basis of an in-depth survey of 350 low-income households in three towns in the province, Liberia, Canas, and Santa Cruz, this paper finds that rural-urban movement in Guanacaste is much more strongly linked to the reproductive (e.g. housing, welfare) needs of household survival, than productive (e.g. employment, income) imperatives. The spatial divisions of labour which arise between household members in these different aspects of survival closely correspond with gender divisions of labour: men form the bulk of seasonal labour migrants, while women tend to remain behind in the towns to manage domestic work and child-care. This paper is concerned to explore the reasons for these associations, and their implications for women. In highlighting the importance of taking gender into account to explain the increasingly differentiated nature of urban growth in Latin America, this paper also stresses the need to examine in greater depth the factors contributing to current patterns of gender-selective migration in the continent.

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Migration, Economies, Gender, Gender Roles, Households, Livelihoods Regions: Americas, Central America Countries: Costa Rica

Year: 1991

Water as a Source of Equity and Empowerment in Costa Rica

Citation:

Aguilar, Lorena. 2005. “Water as a Source of Equity and Empowerment in Costa Rica.” In Opposing Currents: The Politics of Water and Gender in Latin America, edited by Vivienne Bennett, Sonia Dávila-Poblete, and María Nieves Rico, 123-134. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Author: Lorena Aguilar

Annotation:

This chapter reflects Aguilar’s ethnographic study on community participation water management projects in Heredia Province, Costa Rica. Aguilar details the ways in which her project team addressed entrenched masculinities and gender inequities at every stage of the development process and how they ultimately found that training both men and women in the technical aspects of water infrastructure creation left a profound impact on gender relations in the community. For development projects to be successful, Aguilar argues, they must pursue equitable and participatory gender relations: a complex goal that Aguilar and her team achieved by training men and women together as water resource “facilitators”-- thus training both parties not only in the technical side of water management, but in leadership skills such as decision-making and organization strategies.

Quotes:

“Because of the historical subordination suffered by women, they are often not taken into account and can often feel they have no right to an opinion or to express their needs or desires. This means it is critical to create mechanisms and to offer training that allows women to strengthen their self-esteem, increase their possibilities for participating, and ensure that their contributions and work are valued. This facilitates a process where both women and men make decisions and contribute ideas, while recognizing and appropriating their own reality.” (125)

“The process of training communal facilitators fulfilled its main purpose, as it successfully left people in the community responsible for the “technical” implementation of the project. But the training of both male and female facilitators transcended the technical aspects, changing their relationships with their community and families, as women as well as men began to be respected by other community members. Today, many of them are considered community leaders.” (131)

Topics: Civil Society, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation Regions: Americas, Central America Countries: Costa Rica

Year: 2005

Gender and Attitudes Toward Justice System Bias in Central America

Citation:

Walker, Lee Demetrius. 2008. “Gender and Attitudes Toward Justice System Bias in Central America.” Latin American Research Review 43 (2): 80-106.

Author: Lee Demetrius Walker

Abstract:

What interests of Latin American women create distinctive attitudes toward justice system equality that differ from those of Latin American men? Building on recent work on general justice system bias and using 2003 Latinobarómetro data, I test this question in three Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua) using two sets of attitudes toward justice system performance (equal punishment and equal treatment), women are significantly more likely to believe that the criminal justice system provides unequal treatment before the law than are men, while women and men express the same level of belief that the justice system provides equal punishment. Evidence indicates that women connect unequal treatment to economic factors and follow a conflict model of criminal justice, which posits these attitudinal differences as a function of the group's subordinate position in society.

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Justice Regions: Americas, Central America Countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua

Year: 2008

Still Supermadres? Gender and the Policy Priorities of Latin American Legislators

Citation:

Schwindt-Bayer, Leslie. 2006. “Still Supermadres? Gender and the Policy Priorities of Latin American Legislators.” American Journal of Political Science 50 (3): 570-85.

Author: Leslie Schwindt-Bayer

Abstract:

This article examines the effect of gender on legislators' attitudes and bill initiation behavior in three Latin American countries—Argentina, Colombia, and Costa Rica. I argue that sex role changes in Latin America over the past 35 years have led to changes in how female legislators perceive their political roles, and consequently, changes in their attitudes and behavior. Specifically, female legislators will place higher priority than male legislators on women's issues and children/family concerns, but their attitudes in other areas, such as education, health, the economy, agriculture, and employment, will be similar. However, I expect that gender dynamics in the legislative arena lead to marginalization of women such that gender differences will emerge for bill initiation behavior where they did not appear for attitudes. I test this using a survey of legislators' issue preferences and archival data on the bills that legislators sponsor and find statistical support for the hypotheses.

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Governance, Political Participation Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica

Year: 2006

Pages

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