Governance

Citation:

Golic, Zorica. 2019. "Problem of Financing Women Entrepreneurs: Experience of Women Entrepreneurs in Post-Conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina." In Women Entrepreneurs and Strategic Decision Making in the Global Economy, edited by Florica Tomos, Naresh Kumar, Nick Clifton, and Denis Hyams-Ssekasi, 278-304. Hershy: IGI Global.

Author: Zorica Golic

Abstract:

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the problem of financing women entrepreneurs from the perspective of BiH women entrepreneurs. Using an interpretive research methodology and based on face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews with 12 women entrepreneurs, the authors examined their perceptions and identified the key barriers to accessing financial means as they were experienced and faced by women entrepreneurs from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The results presented in this chapter indicate that in BiH there is a problem of social inadmissibility of women entrepreneurs, as well as open discrimination by banking officers. If these are accompanied by high interest rates on loans, extensive and costly documentation necessary for applying for a loan, and the inability to provide collateral, it leads to financial exclusion and limited access to finance. Making progress on alleviating or tackling the problem of financing women entrepreneurs is a long-term commitment from governments, non-governmental organizations, financial institutions, and investors.

Topics: Economies, Gender, Women, Governance, Livelihoods, NGOs, Post-Conflict Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Year: 2019

Citation:

Veit, Alex. 2019. "Feminism in the Humanitarian Machine. Introduction to the Special Section on ‘The Politics of Intervention Against (Conflict-Related) Sexual and Gender-based Violence.’" Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 13 (4): 401-17.

Author: Alex Veit

Abstract:

The prevention and mitigation of sexual and gender-based violence in (post-) conflict societies has become an important humanitarian activity. This introductory article examines the analytical discourses on these interventions, the institutionalization of SGBV expertise in international politics, and the emancipatory potential of anti-SGBV practices. It argues that the confluence of feminist professional activism and militarized humanitarian interventionism produced specific international activities against SGBV. As part of the institutionalization of gender themes in international politics, feminist emancipatory claims have been taken up by humanitarian organizations. The normal operating state of the humanitarian machine, however, undercuts its potential contribution to social transformation towards larger gender equality in (post-) conflict societies.

Keywords: conflict-related sexual violence, humanitarian intervention, post-conflict, liberalism, feminism, governance

Topics: Conflict, Feminisms, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, Humanitarian Assistance, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarization, Post-Conflict, Sexual Violence

Year: 2019

Citation:

Kunz, Rahel. 2020. "Messy Feminist Knowledge Politics: A Double Reading of Post-Conflict Gender Mainstreaming in Liberia." International Feminist Journal of Politics 22 (1): 63-85.

Author: Rahel Kunz

Abstract:

The debate around the production and circulation of feminist knowledge has been rekindled since the emergence of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. While much attention focuses on the diffusion of WPS norms, less is paid to the sociocultural context within which feminist ideas circulate through WPS gender-mainstreaming (GM) interventions, its broader implications, and what happens beyond. I propose a double reading of GM as a site of feminist knowledge production and circulation: I combine anthropological and feminist governmentality insights to analyze GM as a form of (disciplinary) governing with insights from post/decolonial scholars that call for an engagement with the “exteriority” of interventions, with what lies outside our grid of intelligibility of the narrow political terrain of GM. Through a case study of the post-conflict GM intervention in Liberia, I illustrate how this double reading reveals the ways in which GM works as a gendered form of governing to prescribe dualistic social roles and (re)produce social differentiation mechanisms linked to “civilization.” An engagement with the exteriority of the GM intervention reveals critiques and alternative forms of feminist knowledge production and circulation that emphasize non-dualistic and non-judgmental attitudes and propose invited partnership and dialogue.

Keywords: feminist knowledge circulation, gender mainstreaming, governmentality, post/decolonial feminism, norm diffusion, women, peace and security

Topics: Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Feminisms, Gender Mainstreaming, Governance, Post-Conflict, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2020

Citation:

 Nwapi, Chilenye. 2016. “Land Grab, Property Rights and Gender Equality in Pluralistic Legal Orders: A Nigerian Perspective.” African Journal of Legal Studies 9 (2): 124–46.

Author: Chilenye Nwapi

Abstract:

This article considers the impact of land grab on the promotion of gender inequality within the Nigerian pluralistic legal order. It examines the interface between customary law and statute law in the determination of land ownership and access in Nigeria. It makes two key arguments. (1) While legal pluralism presents opportunities for curtailing the excesses of customary law, it has often resulted in the dominant legal system – statute law – fostering gender inequality in a manner that is beyond the capacity of the so-called barbaric customary laws. (2) The capacity of law to effectively address the problem of gender inequality within the context of land grab is very limited, because the nature of most land grab-related activities that promote gender inequality are appropriately legal and it is their unintended consequences that undermine women’s rights. The article argues for an effective use of the political process to complement legal interventions.

Keywords: land grab, customary law, statute law, legal pluralism, gender inequality, Property Rights

Topics: Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, Justice, Land Grabbing, Rights, Land Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2016

Citation:

Capraro, Chiara, and Jessica Woodroffe. 2018. “Digging Deep: The Impact of Uganda’s Land Rush on Women’s Rights.” London: Womankind Worldwide.

Authors: Chiara Capraro, Jessica Woodroffe

Annotation:

Topics: Feminisms, Gender, Women, Governance, Justice, Land Grabbing, Rights, Land Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2018

Citation:

Baruah, Bipasha. 2015. “Creating Opportunities for Women in the Renewable Energy Sector: Findings from India.” Feminist Economics 21 (2): 53-76.

Author: Bipasha Baruah

Abstract:

This paper identifies opportunities and constraints that low-income women face in accessing livelihoods in the renewable-energy sector in India through qualitative and quantitative research conducted in collaboration with The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) and the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in 2012–13. Whereas previous research has focused on women mostly as end users of solar and biomass technologies, this research attempts also to understand women’s potential as entrepreneurs, facilitators, designers, and innovators. Findings reveal that although access to technology and employment in the energy sector is limited by inadequate purchasing power and low social status, there is tremendous potential to create livelihoods for women at all levels of the energy supply chain. Broader findings indicate that women can gain optimal traction from employment in the energy sector only if there are wider socially progressive policies in place, including state intervention to create a robust social welfare infrastructure and accessible, high-quality, public services.

Keywords: women's labor force participation, employment, poverty, renewable energy, solar energy, biomass

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Gender, Women, Governance, Infrastructure, Energy, Livelihoods Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2015

Citation:

Balakrishnan, Lalita. 1997. “Renewable Energy Sources and Women: A National Women’s Organisation’s Perspective on Domestic Device.” In Proceedings of the Thirty-Second Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, 1767–72. Honolulu, Hawaii: IEEE.

Author: Lalita Balakrishnan

Abstract:

Since its inception in 1927, the premier nongovernmental organisation (NGO) for women, the All India Women's Conference (AIWC), has been working for the upliftment and emancipation of women, and one important activity is centred on meeting the needs of women for energy, particularly for cooking and other household needs, especially where commercial energy cannot be made available to them or the price for the same is beyond their reach. For nearly two decades, AIWC has been implementing various schemes for meeting their daily energy needs both in rural and urban areas, by using renewable sources of energy, including solar power, biogas and improved woodstoves. The results of these programmes conducted consistently all over India through their large network of branches have shown highly beneficial results for rural and urban women, minimising their drudgery and saving them from smoke related diseases. In addition, they also serve to empower women through the income generation component of the programmes along with an improvement in their overall quality of life. AIWC's experience has shown that more emphasis should be given on users' training and awareness and also to strengthen the capacity building of the NGO's implementing these programmes.

Keywords: renewable energy sources, urban areas, law, employee welfare, water heating, solar energy, diseases, educational programs, instruments, legislation

Topics: Gender, Women, Governance, Households, Infrastructure, Energy, NGOs Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 1997

Citation:

Avrin, Anne-Perrine, Hilary Yu, and Daniel M. Kammen. 2018. “Supporting Social and Gender Equity Through Micro-Grid Deployment in the DR Congo.” In 2018 IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica, 646–51. Cape Town: IEEE.

Authors: Anne-Perrine Avrin, Hilary Yu, Daniel M. Kammen

Keywords: economics, sociology, statistics, electric potential, hydroelectric power generation, systematics, lightning

Topics: Conflict, Environment, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Governance, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Africa, Central Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Year: 2018

Citation:

Imburgia, Laura. 2019. “Irrigation and Equality: An Integrative Gender-Analytical Approach to Water Governance with Examples from Ethiopia and Argentina.” Water Alternatives 12 (2): 571-87.

Author: Laura Imburgia

Abstract:

This paper proposes the use of an integrative framework for better conceptualisation and operationalisation of research geared toward understanding irrigation systems, practices and processes, especially as relates to gender equality in water governance. More specifically, it discusses the importance of developing an integrative gender-analytical approach that enables both researchers and practitioners to analyse the complex interactions between technical and social dimensions of water governance, in order to determine how they contribute to, and thus effect, the overall success and sustainability of irrigated agriculture. Consequently, this paper provides a detailed account of the framework’s key components; including how it is informed by feminist, ecological and sociological theories. There is also an account of the framework’s practical application through a focus on specific outcomes in the dynamic field of water governance. To this end, the paper presents some results derived from an application of the integrative gender-analytical framework on data from a comparative study of small-scale irrigation systems in Ethiopia and Argentina. Ultimately, the goal of this paper is to promote a more nuanced and holistic approach to the study of water governance—one that takes both social and technical dimensions into similar account; particularly, if the aim is to promote broader social equality and the sustainability of irrigation systems.

Keywords: small-scale irrigation, gender-analytical framework, water governance, social relations, Ethiopia, Argentina

Topics: Agriculture, Feminisms, Gender, Gender Analysis, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation Regions: Africa, East Africa, Americas, South America Countries: Argentina, Ethiopia

Year: 2019

Citation:

Harris, L., D. Kleiber, J. Goldin, A. Darkwah, and C. Morinville. 2016. "Intersections of Gender and Water: Comparative Approaches to Everyday Gendered Negotiations of Water Access in Underserved Areas of Accra, Ghana and Cape Town, South Africa." Journal of Gender Studies 26 (5): 561-82.

Authors: L. Harris, D. Kleiber, J. Goldin, A. Darkwah, C. Morinville

Abstract:

A large and growing body of literature suggests that women and men often have differentiated relationships to water access, uses, knowledges, governance, and experiences. From a feminist political ecology perspective, these relationships can be mediated by gendered labour practices (within the household, at the community level, or within the workplace), socio-cultural expectations (e.g. related to notions of masculinity and femininity), as well as intersectional differences (e.g. race, income, and so forth). While these relationships are complex, multiple, and vary by context, it is frequently argued that due to responsibility for domestic provision or other pathways, women may be particularly affected if water quality or access is compromised. This paper reports on a statistical evaluation of a 478 household survey conducted in underserved areas of Accra, Ghana and Cape Town, South Africa in early 2012. Interrogating our survey results in the light of the ideas of gender differentiated access, uses, knowledges, governance, and experiences of water, we open up considerations related to the context of each of our study sites, and also invite possible revisions and new directions for these debates. In particular, we are interested in the instances where differences among male and female respondents were less pronounced than expected. Highlighting these unexpected results we find it helpful to draw attention to methods – in particular we argue that a binary male–female approach is not that meaningful for the analysis, and instead, gender analysis requires some attention to intersectional differences (e.g. homeownership, employment, or age). We also make the case for the importance of combining qualitative and quantitative work to understand these relationships, as well as opening up what might be learned by more adequately exploring the resonances and tensions between these approaches.

Keywords: Ghana, South Africa, gender, water, methods, triangulation, intersectionality

Topics: Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Gender Analysis, Governance, Households, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Intersectionality, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa Countries: Ghana, South Africa

Year: 2016