Property Rights

Gender, Land, and Water: From Reform to Counter-Reform in Latin America

Citation:

Deere, Carmen Diana, and Magdalena Leon. 1998. “Gender, Land, and Water: From Reform to Counter-Reform in Latin America.” Agriculture and Human Values 15(4): 375–86.

Authors: Carmen Diana Deere, Magdalena Leon

Abstract:

Rural women did not fare very well in the land reforms carried out during the Latin American “reformist period” of the 1960s and 1970s, with women being under-represented among the beneficiaries. It is argued that women have been excluded from access to and control over water for similar reasons that they were excluded from access to land during these reforms. The paper also investigates the extent to which women have gained or lost access to land during the “counter-reforms” of the 1980s and 1990s. Under the neo-liberal agenda, production cooperatives as well as communal access to land have largely been undermined in favor of privatization and the individual parcelization of collectives. Significant land titling efforts are also being carried out throughout the region to promote the development of a vigorous land market. This latter period has also been characterized by the growth of the feminist movement throughout Latin America and a growing commitment by states to gender equity. The paper reviews the extent to which rural women‘s access to land and, thus, water has potentially been enhanced by recent changes in agrarian and legal codes.
 

Keywords: cooperatives, land markets, land reform, gender and land, Latin American rural women, Neo-liberal restructuring

Topics: Development, Economies, Economic Inequality, Feminisms, Gendered Power Relations, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Privatization, Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Americas, Central America, South America

Year: 1998

Empowering Women: Land and Property Rights in Latin America

Citation:

Deere, Carmen Diana, and Magdalena León. 2001. Empowering Women: Land and Property Rights in Latin America. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Authors: Carmen Diana Deere, Magdalena León

Annotation:

Summary: 
The expansion of married women’s property rights was a main achievement of the first wave of feminism in Latin America. As Carmen Diana Deere and Magdalena Leon reveal, however, the disjuncture between rights and actual ownership remains vast. This is particularly true in rural areas, where the distribution of land between men and women is highly unequal. In their pioneering, twelve-country comparative study, the authors argue that property ownership is directly related to women’s bargaining power within the household and community, point out changes resulting from recent gender-progressive legislation, and identify additional areas for future reform, including inheritance rights of wives. (Summary from JSTOR)

Topics: Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Households, Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Americas, Central America, South America

Year: 2001

Gender and Land Tenure in the Context of Disaster in Asia

Citation:

Kusakabe, Kyoko, Rajendra Shrestha, and Veena N., eds. 2015. Gender and Land Tenure in the Context of Disaster in Asia. Vol. 21. SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace. Heidelberg: Springer.
 

Authors: Kyoko Kusakabe, Rajendra Shrestha, Veena N.

Keywords: Asia, disaster, gender, land tenure, Post-disaster Policies, gender roles, land rights, vulnerability

Annotation:

Summary: 
This book explores an interdisciplinary field at the intersection of gender and development studies, disaster and land tenure policy. It is well known that women generally have weaker claims to land. But how does that translate to increased vulnerability during disaster? Using case studies from Asia, this book argues that land tenure is a key factor in mitigating the impact of disasters on women. The scale and frequency of disasters have been increasing in recent decades due to human impact on the landscape and climate. Unsustainable farming and land management systems have increased environmental risks and social vulnerabilities. However, around the world the costs of disasters are disproportionately borne by women, due largely to their reduced mobility and lack of control over assets. In post-disaster settings, women’s vulnerabilities increase due to gendered rescue and rehabilitation practices. As such, a gendered approach to land rights is critical to disaster preparedness and recovery. (Summary from Springer)
 
Table of Contents:
1. Gender and Land Tenure in the Context of Disaster
Veena N. and Kyoto Kusakabe
 
2. Gender Impact of Large-Scale Deforestation and Oil Palm Plantations Among Indigenous Groups in Sarawak, Malaysia. 
Carol Yong and Wee Aik Pang
 
3. Displacing Women, Resettling Families: Impact of Landslides on Women's Land Tenure Rights in Sri Lanka 
Subhangi M.K. Herath
 
4. Impact of Flash Floods on a Matrilineal Society in West Sumatra, Indonesia 
Yonariza and Mahdi
 
5. Urbanization and Disaster: Loss of Women's Property Ownership in Leh, Ladakh
Bhuvaneswari Raman
 
6. A Coir Mill of Their Own: Women's Agency in Post-tsunami Sri Lanka 
Ramanie Jayatilaka
 
7. Gender, Land Tenure, and Disasters in the Mentawai Islands, Indonesia
Carol Yong, Frans R. Siahaan and Andreas Burghofer

 

Topics: Development, Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Indigenous, Land Tenure, Livelihoods, Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights Regions: Asia

Year: 2015

Women's Rights and Development

Citation:

Fernández, Raquel. 2014. “Women’s Rights and Development.” Journal of Economic Growth 19 (1): 37–80.

Author: Raquel Fernández

Abstract:

Why has the expansion of women's economic and political rights coincided with economic development? This paper investigates this question by focusing on a key economic right for women: property rights. The basic hypothesis is that the process of development (i.e., capital accumulation and declining fertility) exacerbated the tension in men's conflicting interests as husbands versus fathers, ultimately resolving them in favor of the latter. As husbands, men stood to gain from their privileged position in a patriarchal world whereas, as fathers, they were hurt by a system that afforded few rights to their daughters. The model predicts that declining fertility would hasten reform of women's property rights whereas legal systems that were initially more favorable to women would delay them. The theoretical relationship between capital and the relative attractiveness of reform is non-monotonic but growth inevitably leads to reform. I explore the empirical validity of the theoretical predictions by using cross-state variation in the US in the timing of married women obtaining property and earning rights between 1850 and 1920.

Keywords: women's rights, development, Property Rights, fertility, patriarchy

Topics: Development, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2014

Patrimonial Violence: A Study of Women's Property Rights in Ecuador

Citation:

Deere, Carmen Diana, Jacqueline Contreras, and Jennifer Twyman. 2o14.  “Patrimonial Violence: A Study of Women’s Property Rights in Ecuador.” Latin American Perspectives 41 (1): 143–65.

Authors: Carmen Diana Deere, Jacqueline Contreras, Jennifer Twyman

Abstract:

Patrimonial violence, defined minimally as the violation of women’s property rights, is increasingly recognized as a form of gender violence, along with physical, psychological, and sexual violence. Research in Ecuador on the extent to which women are aware of their property rights and the situations in which patrimonial violence is most likely to occur shows that, while most women seem to be aware of certain fundamentals, there are many misconceptions, particularly regarding the status of individual property. Women’s lack of legal knowledge often undermines their ability to obtain their rightful share of the division of property upon separation, divorce, or widowhood. Moreover, patrimonial violence is often aggravated by the presence of other forms of violence against women.

Keywords: gender violence, women's property rights, assets, Ecuador

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Rights, Property Rights, Sexual Violence, SV against Women, Violence Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Ecuador

Year: 2014

Gender and Settler Colonialism in Palestinian Agriculture: Structural Transformations

Citation:

Awwad, Nida Abu. 2016. “Gender and Settler Colonialism in Palestinian Agriculture: Structural Transformations.” Arab Studies Quarterly 38 (3): 540–61.

Author: Nida Abu Awwad

Abstract:

The gendered nature of the agricultural sector is significantly influenced by the political and socio-economic and cultural structure of any society. The division of labor between males and females within the family farm is seriously affected as a response to economic pressures along with the impact of other restrictions imposed by predetermined gender roles. In the Palestinian context, economic pressures were created mainly by the structural transformation in Palestinian agriculture following the Zionist settler colonization of Palestine, along with other minor factors related to the Palestinian neo-liberal economic policies dictated by the international financial institution and Zionist interests. This article argues that the gendered nature of the Palestinian agriculture sector has been transformed and has promoted women’s exploitation as follows: First, restructure of the agricultural employment by the decline of both women’s and men’s employment of the total Palestinian labor force within serious exploitive and fluctuating conditions; second, changes in tasks and division of labor, women’s property rights for agricultural land resources and services provided by the Palestinian Authority; and finally increasing women’s burden by increasing their time allocation for agricultural tasks. The data presented in the article are based on a comprehensive analysis of secondary information on Palestinian agriculture, and primary data collected in 2010 with the help of a few households case studies (life history) from two locations in the central region of the West Bank.

Keywords: gender, settler colonialism, structural transformation, West Bank, Gaza Strip, Zionist settlements, Palestinian agriculture, women's contribution, palestine

Topics: Agriculture, Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Gender Roles, International Financial Institutions, Rights, Property Rights Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories

Year: 2016

Woman's Role in Economic Development

Citation:

Boserup, Ester, Nazneen Kanji, Su Fei Tan, and Camilla Toulmin. 2007. Woman's Role in Economic Development. London: Earthscan.

Authors: Ester Boserup, Nazneen Kanji, Su Fei Tan, Camilla Toulmin

Annotation:

Summary:
This classic text by Ester Boserup was the first investigation ever undertaken into what happens to women in the process of economic and social growth throughout the developing world, thereby serving as an international benchmark. In the context of the ongoing struggle for women's rights, massive urbanization and international efforts to reduce poverty, this book continues to be a vital text for economists, sociologists, development workers, activists and all those who take an active interest in women's social and economic circumstances and problems throughout the world. A substantial new Introduction by Nazneen Kanji, Su Fei Tan and Camilla Toulmin reflects on Boserup's legacy as a scholar and activist, and the continuing relevance of her work. This highlights the key issue of how the role of women in economic development has or has not changed over the past four decades in developing countries, and covers crucial current topics including: women and inequality, international and national migration, conflict, HIV and AIDS, markets and employment, urbanization, leadership, property rights, global processes, including the Millennium Development Goals, and barriers to change. (Summary from Taylor and Francis Group)
 

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Part I: In the Village

1. Male and Female Farming Systems

2. The Economics of Polygamy

3. Loss of Status Under European Rule

4. The Casual Worker

Part II: In the Town

5. Women in a Men's World

6. Industry: From the Hut to the Factory

7. The Educated Woman

8. Women in the Urban Hierarchy

Part III: From Village to Town

9. The Lure of the Towns

10. Urban Job Opportunities for Women

11. The Unemployment Scare

12. The Design of Female Education

Topics: Armed Conflict, Development, Displacement & Migration, Migration, Economies, Education, Gender, Health, HIV/AIDS, Rights, Property Rights, Women's Rights

Year: 2007

A Fair Share for Women: Toward More Equitable Land Compensation and Resettlement in Tanzania and Mozambique

Citation:

Salcedo-La Viña, Celine, and Laura Notess. 2018. “A Fair Share for Women: Toward More Equitable Land Compensation and Resettlement in Tanzania and Mozambique.” Working Paper, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.

Authors: Celine Salcedo-La Viña, Laura Notess

Annotation:

Summary: 
"This paper examines how gaps in the legal frameworks governing land compensation and resettlement in Tanzania and Mozambique result in exclusionary outcomes for women. It builds on an earlier World Resources Institute (WRI) working paper, “Making Women’s Voices Count in Community Decision-Making on Land Investments,” which examines the regulatory frameworks governing the land acquisi- tion processes and identifies ways to strengthen women’s participation in the decision-making involved. This paper analyzes the subset of regulations that govern the parallel processes of land compensation and resettlement. Like the earlier paper, it stems from a collaborative project by WRI, the Tanzania Gender Networking Program (TGNP) Mtandao, the Tanzania Women Lawyers Association (TAWLA), and Centro Terra Viva (CTV) (in Mozambique). WRI conducted the legal analysis and literature review, with inputs from the country partners; the partners conducted field research, in some of which WRI partici- pated. The project also included outreach activities in the communities studied and with relevant subnational and national government agencies. The goal of the project is to have women recognized as stakeholders in community land governance and create spaces for their engagement in decision-making processes" (Salcedo-La Viña and Notess 2018, 2). 

Topics: Economies, Gender, Women, Land Grabbing, Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights Regions: Africa Countries: Mozambique, Tanzania

Year: 2018

Diferenças de gênero em relação a bens: a propriedade fundiária na América Latina

Citation:

Deere, Carmem Diana, and Magdalena León de Leal. 2003. “Diferenças de gênero em relação a bens: a propriedade fundiária na América Latina.” Sociologias 5 (10): 100–53.

Authors: Carmem Diana Deere, Magdalena León de Leal

Topics: Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights Regions: Americas, Central America, South America

Year: 2003

Enfoques de género en el papel de la mujer rural en la agricultura cubana

Citation:

Martínez Montenegro, Isnel, and Mónica Baeza Leiva. “Enfoques de género en el papel de la mujer rural en la agricultura cubana.” Revista Prolegómenos Derechos y Valores 20, no. 39 (2017): 29–38.

Author: Isnel Martínez Montenegro, Mónica Baeza Leiva

Abstract:

El presente artículo indaga sobre los enfoques de género en el papel que desempeña la mujer en la industria agraria, y sobre el tratamiento que se le da a este tema en la legislación vigente sobre la herencia de la tierra en Cuba. Se analizan aquí los avances y retos con respecto a las mujeres en la agricultura cubana y se expone la norma cubana y sus aspectos contradictorios, haciendo una comparación con la situación actual en Latinoamérica. La mujer ha logrado desarrollar tareas imprescindibles en la industria agraria cubana, sin embargo, no en todos los casos estos avances se corresponden con las medidas adoptadas ni están dirigidos a la consecución de la igualdad como objetivo fundamental. (Abstract from original source)
 
This article investigates the gender perspective in the role performed by women in the agricultural industry, and the treatment given to this topic in the current legislation on the inheritance of land in Cuba. Progress and challenges regarding women in Cuban agriculture are analyzed here, and it is exposed the Cuban standard and its contradictory aspects, making a comparison with the current situation in Latin America. The woman has managed to develop essential tasks in the Cuban agricultural industry; however, not in all cases these advances correspond to the measures adopted or are aimed at the achievement of equality as a fundamental objective. (English provided by original source)
 
A presente artigo indaga sobre os enfoques de gênero no papel que desempenha a mulher na indústria agrária e sobre o tratamento que é dado a este tema na legislação vigente sobre a herança da terra em Cuba. Aqui foram analisados os avanços e desafios com respeito às mulheres na agricultura cubana e foi exposta a norma cubana e seus aspectos contraditórios, fazendo uma comparação com a situação atual na América Latina. A mulher conseguiu desenvolver tarefas imprescindíveis na indústria agrária cubana, porém, nem em todos os casos estes avanços correspondem a medidas adotadas nem estão dirigidos à consecução da igualdade como objetivo fundamental. (Portuguese provided by original source)

Topics: Agriculture, Gender, Women, Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights Regions: Americas, Caribbean countries Countries: Cuba

Year: 2017

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