Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Rural culture gender'

This dissertation interprets gender-differentiated vulnerability to drought within a rural community located in the dry zone, la zona seca, of Nicaragua, a region that has been identified by the government and NGO sector as suffering from prolonged and, since the 1970s, more frequent droughts.  A combination of gender, capitals, and vulnerability demonstrates the value in using a multidimensional perspective to look at the socioeconomic and cultural contexts that form the capacity individuals have had to reduce their long-term vulnerability to drought in Nicaragua.  Due to the place-based characteristics of gender as well as vulnerability the analysis is mainly based on people’s stories about the history of their lives.  Based on these stories a local level picture is created of the households’ situation over time, how their work strategies and management of resources have varied, and how they perceived changes in capacity and vulnerability in relation to continuity and change in the climate.  The issue of adaptive capacity, which currently is less covered in research on gender and vulnerability and recognized in the literature as in need of more attention, and how it distinguishes itself from coping capacity in relation to vulnerability, is placed at the center of analysis.  In an additional analysis of how Nicaragua’s hazard management policies look upon the role and importance of interaction among societal levels and actors in reducing hazard vulnerability I show how the discourse has moved from emergency response to risk management with an increased emphasis on capacity building.  However, the recognition to differentiated vulnerability is lacking which risks hampering a successful vulnerability reduction.

At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Accepted. Paper 3: Manuscript.

This study explores the experiences of young rural girls in scouting practices, who reside in the rural areas of Mpumalanga, Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This exploratory study draws special reference to their participation in Scout programmes in what in observed as a predominantly male-dominated organisational alignment. This exploratory study uses a qualitative feminist investigation, through focus groups and semi structured interviews to investigate the impact of these organisational change initiatives on the experiences of girls in scouting. Although the aim of the study was to explore the experiences of rural girls, boys were included in the study to explore gender dynamics and to problematise how gender inequalities can be understood and addressed in scouting.

The main purpose of the study was to assess and explore the knowledge of HIV/AIDS among secondary learners in rural Bergville district of KwaZulu-Natal. A stratified random sample of 100 
learners was selected from two secondary schools in the area. Data was collected using a questionnaire and interviews were scheduled with the teachers from the selected schools. The 
questionnaire was administered to a sample of 54 learners from school A and 46 from school B. The mean age was 16, with age range from 13-20. The participants were enrolled for grade 
8-12 in both schools. Both qualitative and quantitative data on learners‟ knowledge and perception about HIV/AIDS, condom use and sexual issues including their attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS were collected in the questionnaire. Chi-square test was used for statistics purpose to test if the HIV knowledge of learners were associated with gender, culture and 
religion. Qualitative interviews with 9 teachers from both schools were conducted. The main purpose of the interviews was to investigate the management of HIV/AIDS in public schools in rural 
areas. Furthermore, to assess the learner‟s attitude towards HIV/AIDS education provided in schools. The results showed that the learners in Bergville district were more knowledgeable of 
HIV/AIDS through HIV/AIDS education in schools that had limited effect on gender, culture and religion. Quantitative findings presented, indicated no significant differences between those 
learners attending church and cultural activities that offer 
HIV/AIDS awareness programmes and those who do not with regard to the knowledge of HIV/AIDS. However, culture stood out to be associated with one item on the knowledge of whether school children can get HIV/AIDS (p-value = 0.04). On average, the level of knowledge of HIV/AIDS between female and male learners was similar. The major findings on both quantitative and qualitative findings confirmed that learners‟ knowledge levels were very high for modes of transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS. Despite this knowledge, poor 
behavioural change among learners is a major setback thus increasing high risk of contracting HIV. Adequate knowledge about issues of cure, HIV testing and treatment was of concern in the findings in this study. Furthermore, data from qualitative interviews with the teachers highlighted the lack of multisectoral response to HIV/AIDS in Bergville rural communities which thus 
compromise the effectiveness in management of HIV/AIDS in schools. In summary, the study revealed some of the challenges faced by teachers and learners in regard to HIV/AIDS education.

In eastern Kentucky, as in much of central Appalachia, current local storylines narrate the frictions and contradictions involved in the structural transition from a post-WWII Fordist industrial economy and a Keynesian welfare state to a Post-Fordist service economy and Neoliberal hollow state, starving for energy to sustain consumer indulgence (Jessop, 1993; Harvey, 2003; 2005). Neoliberalism is the ideological force redefining the “societal infrastructure of language” that legitimates this transition, in part by redefining the key terms of democracy and citizenship, as well as valorizing the market, the individual, and technocratic innovation (Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999; Harvey, 2005). This project develops a perspective that understands cancer prevention and control in Appalachiaas part of the structural transition that is realigning community social ties in relation to ideological forces deployed as “commonsense” storylines that “lubricate” frictions that complicates the transition.

Material culture is an understudied aspect of social life in Appalachian Studies, the multi- disciplinary investigation of social life in the Appalachian region. Historically, material culture in the region has been largely studied for its semiotic properties, decoded as a tangible symbol of “a region apart,” lagging behind the rest of America in terms of moral, mental, economic, and social development. Critical material studies from archaeology and other disciplines paint a different picture, however, and construct a region as American as any other. This study utilizes discourse analysis of material rhetoric about Appalachia and archaeological and oral historical data from two twentieth-century company- owned coal mining towns in Letcher County, Kentucky. It argues that contrary to persistent stereotypes about Appalachia as a backwards place, residents were firmly embedded in the market economy and enacted modern identities through their engagement with fellow citizens and material objects. This intersectional study uses theories of practice to explore how entanglement with mass-produced goods, notably home furnishing and wellness products, constituted residents’ identities as modern consumers along with the rest of the nation during the golden age of Appalachia’s industrialism. Appalachian women and their families embraced consumer goods, whose influx intensified during the Industrial Age, entangling their constitution as modern householders with these everyday goods through daily practice. Contrary to stereotypes about Appalachian atavism and isolation, Appalachian consumers eagerly engaged with mass-produced goods and new ideals about scientific health and house-holding along with their counterparts across the progressive United States.

En 2010, le bilan sur les objectifs du millénaire pour le développement (OMD) a révélé que l’ensemble des pays ainsi que les différents acteurs impliqués dans ce processus devaient redoubler leurs efforts afin de mettre en place des projets adaptés à la nature des diverses sociétés. À cet effet, la question de la « culture » s’est imposée comme un facteur évident et inhérent à l’accomplissement de ces objectifs. C’est dans ce cadre que se pose notre problématique de recherche à travers une zone géostratégique qui subit de grands bouleversements au niveau politique, économique et social. De cette manière, la culture peut-elle constituer un élément de base dans les programmes de développement entrepris dans les États arabes ? Cette présente thèse s’achemine à travers trois principales étapes. D’abord l’intégration de la culture dans ce processus en tant que secteur à part entière. Ensuite, les moyens et les méthodes utilisés par les différents acteurs engagés et concernés par le domaine de la culture dans les pays arabes. Enfin, les indicateurs spécifiques à la région à travers lesquels apparaissent les limites, mais également le potentiel des États arabes. Pour finir, cette démarche fait office de défrichement, car le développement à travers le secteur culturel reste peu exploité dans le monde arabe. Toutefois, les changements qui s’opèrent depuis quelques années dans la région peuvent conduire à une véritable reconsidération du secteur culturel et de sa relation avec le processus de développement
In 2010, the appraisal of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) indicated that all the countries and the different actors involved in this process should underlay their efforts to implement projects adapted to the nature of the various societies. To this end, the issue of "culture" has emerged as an obvious and inherent factor in achieving these goals.Our research issue raises in this context through a geostrategic area which undergoes great changes in the political, economic and social level. Thus, can the culture constitute a basic element in the development programs undertaken in the Arab States? The present thesis is developed through three main stages. First, the integration of culture in this process as a real sector. Then, the means and methods used by the different actors involved and concerned with the field of culture in the Arab countries. Finally, specific indicators related to the region which could show the limits, but also the potential of Arab States.This approach acts as clearing, insofar as the development through cultural sector remains largely untapped in the Arab world. However, the changes occurring in recent years in the region can lead to a genuine reconsideration of the cultural sector and its relationship with the development process

The following study examines gendered learning experiences of a population of Appalachian migrants surveyed from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. The respondents who participated in the survey used for this study began their lives in Appalachia. These respondents then left Appalachia for various other areas in the country and even around the world only to ultimately return to the mountainous region later in their lives. To begin, theory will be introduced concerning the stratification of gender in the Appalachian economic landscape, as well as a theoretical framework placing Appalachian women in an interlocking web of oppression with other subjugated cultural groups. This outsider kinship found among Appalachian women and other socially ostracized groups, I argue with the support of theory, will foster an atmosphere of tolerance and positive interaction among Appalachian females and the people they meet in their new homes. Literature will also be presented regarding the heavily skewed nature of the role of women versus men in Appalachian society and economy. Using logistic regression, various aspects of migrant experiences away from Appalachia will be examined and analyzed, including the acquisition of job skills, tolerance-based knowledge, and positive interactions with neighbors in their new environment.

This thesis examines the ways in which rural, national, and urban spaces become gendered through the practices and representations of beer drinking in New Zealand. Critical social theory combined with feminist poststructuralist debates on identities provides the theoretical framework for this research. Two focus groups with Pākehā beer drinkers aged between 18 - 30 years old were conducted; one consisting of six males and the other consisting of six females. Critical textual analysis was also undertaken on five beer advertisements representing the most popular beer brands in New Zealand; Tui, Lion Red, Waikato and Speight's. Three points frame the analysis. First, I examine rural and national gendered identities associated with beer drinking. New Zealand's beer drinking cultures are constructed within rural discourses of masculinity. There is not a single masculinity present in New Zealand's beer drinking cultures, rather there are multiple and conflicting masculinities. I suggest that through the need to constantly perform their identity, men create a rural hegemonic masculinity that is both hard, yet vulnerable. I argue that the femininities constructed within these spaces are used to enhance and further enable the hard, yet vulnerable, rural masculinity. Second, within urban spaces of beer drinking - such as the office, nightclub, clubrooms and home - homosexuals, metrosexuals and women are 'othered'. These identities are defined in relation to the hegemonic norm - 'Hard Man' masculinity - in negative ways. Furthermore, some women perform a hyper masculine identity in order to be included in these beer-drinking spaces. Finally, I examine the ways in which hegemonic gendered identities in rural, national and urban spaces may be resisted and subverted. I use contradictions from my focus group participants to unsettle the 'Hard Man' masculinity of New Zealand's beer drinking cultures.

Ghana, one of the challenging contexts settings in sub-Saharan Africa, is a strong democratic nation and one of the area’s emerging economies, yet the country still faces poor maternal health with maternal mortality ratios at 350/100,000 live births. This statistic means that the country’s efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goal-5—the reduction of maternal mortality by 75 per cent by 2015—remains a mere dream. In this dissertation, I explore rural Ghanaian women’s perspectives on the influence of social structures—especially, kinship and gender relations, individual maternal practices, the social meaning of motherhood and cultural beliefs—on their reproductive health decisions and maternal health service utilization. Secondly, I explore rural midwives’ perspectives on providing services to women in Talensi-Nabdam district of the Upper East Region. Using ethnographic methods— participant observation, face-to- face interviews, focus groups, “deep hanging out”—I gathered data in six villages and four health clinics. Participants included 27 women of childbearing age as well as older women who provide traditional maternal health services to rural women and four midwives. My findings suggest that a complexity of socio-cultural structures and concepts, sustained gender-based violence and, an increased disproportionate gendered division of labour, affect women’s reproductive health decisions at the household level. At the level of the health care system and government, poor health care provider attitudes, over medicalization of reproduction, application of unrealistic, unsustainable and culturally inappropriate local and foreign policies, poor infrastructural development and weak social protection policies all impact women’s reproductive health decisions and access to care with profound negative implications for maternal wellbeing. I highlight not only typical issues, often taken-for-granted by many scientists, but also how these issues have extreme negative impacts on women’s wellbeing. This diverse perspective offers a better understanding of maternal health services provision and utilization that will challenge the status quo and prompt improvements in maternal health in Ghana and other Sub-Saharan African nations. I offer recommendations, as well as future research, for health care providers, policymakers, medical and nursing education and government in an effort to promote a better understanding of rural women’s reproductive health and general wellbeing.

This study contends that the spaces where crime occurs in films are not neutral; they are layered with maps of meaning that we construct somewhere between the imagined and the lived. Given that popular cultural representations both shape and reflect our understandings of crime and space, a study examining where crime occurs in films was warranted but previously unrealized in the criminological literature. This study addresses this gap in the literature by considering how geographies of crime are characterized in a sample of ten recent popular crime films. Applying a qualitative content analysis approach, this study foregrounds the onscreen spaces where crimes occur in an attempt to expose and denaturalize the meanings around crime that are embedded in these backgrounds. Particular regard is given here to the twinning of crime and urbanity, the aesthetics of insecurity, and the gendering of geographies of crime.

Prescription opioids are associated with rising rates of overdose deaths and hepatitis C and HIV infection in the US, including in rural Central Appalachia. Yet there is a dearth of published ethnographic research examining rural opioid use. The aim of this dissertation is to document the gendered inequalities that situate women’s encounters with substance abuse treatment as well as additional state interventions targeted at women who use drugs. These results are based on ethnographic fieldwork completed from 2013 to 2016 and centered around one county seat in rural Central Appalachia. Data are ascertained through semi-structured interviews with women who have experiences with at least one of three types of substance abuse treatment offered in the area. Additional interviews were completed with program staff, institutional administrators, and community leaders. These data are supplemented with the collection of program documents, informal and follow-up communications, and participant observation in Eastern Kentucky communities, substance abuse treatment programs, and funding agencies. Social locations based on gender, income, access to quality health care, and place of residence contextualize women’s participation in illicit economies, entrance into and maintenance of drug use, particularly but not limited to opioids, and efforts to limit deleterious use. The state’s responses to drug use are manifested in these women’s lives through child protective services, incarceration, and substance abuse treatment. The sociopolitical and financial limitations on institutions often create instances in which policies exacerbate women’s marginalization. These policies are based on specific cultural understandings of women who use drugs, motherhood, Appalachia, and care. Women develop strategies, often based on care networks, to make it through these programs. Despite their navigations of marginalized and marginalizing programs, clients and institutional staff are materially and discursively constrained in their actions.

This dissertation deals with three different studies of rural women in northern Sweden and Wisconsin, USA. All three of them aim at identify and elucidate pertinent aspects of women's lives in rural areas. In the first study, The Åsele study, women's work and free time activities are in the focus of investigation. The second, The Leading Light study, deals more explicitly with obstacles and problems that women meet with when trying to improve their living conditions and, finally, the Wisconsin study deals with the ways rural women organize their everyday lives. More specifically, while all three studies assume a gender and mode-of-living perspective, cultural issues, the relations between structure- agent and questions concerning the organization of everyday life receive separate treatment. Mostly qualitative methods are used in collecting data, including interviews and essays. Also questionnaires are used in order to gain a comprehensive picture of certain areas, such as activities and aspirations within the field of leisure. In the last study a reanalysis of an archived interview material, built on oral life histories, is used. The results give a complex and nuanced picture of women's lives in these areas. The farm women in the Wisconsin study have a heavy work load and contribute in different ways to the maintenance of the family. Their productive work is, however, made invisible in official statistics. The Åsele study gives a picture of a woman, who is not demanding anything special for herself, but is adapting to the traditional gender structures. Her life is organized around her home, her husband and her children. The young women intend to leave this area, which is one of the problems that the local politicians have to deal with. In the Leading light study, finally, it is above all the male representatives at the local governmental level that impede the women's ideas and ignore their propositions for change. Despite official signals of decentralisation of decision making, the bureaucratic structures seem to strengthen at the local level. Most of the women in this study praise life in the country side. The rural ideology also comprises a positive view of this mode of living. While the rural ideology is a entire male construction, the female conditions have to be problematized. This has been done in this thesis.
digitalisering@umu

This thesis examines ways in which rural mountain women of Andean Peru and southern Appalachia use their lived histories and food knowledge in ways that counter Cartesian epistemologies regarding national and international food systems. Using women’s fiction and cookbooks, this thesis examines how voice and narrative reclaim women’s spaces within food landscapes. Further, this thesis examines women’s non-profits and grassroots organizations to illustrate the ways in which rural mountain women expand upon their lived histories in ways that contribute to tangible solutions to poverty and hunger in rural mountainous communities. The primary objective of this thesis is to recover rural mountain women’s voices in relation to food culture and examine how their food knowledge contributes to improving local food policy and reducing hunger in frontline communities.

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi refletir sobre a dimensão feminina na campesinidade e a importância de sua valorização para a incorporação dos aspectos sócio-culturais na prática agroecológica. A agroecologia pode ser definida como um campo de estudos de caráter multidisciplinar, que tem como objetivo articular o saber-fazer científico ao saber-fazer das comunidades rurais, como forma de potencializar práticas sustentáveis de agricultura. Como movimento de oposição ao processo de modernização da agricultura, busca recuperar as condições socioambientais perturbadas por este e viabilizar a construção de uma realidade sustentável. Contudo, tem-se constatado atualmente que a prática agroecológica brasileira tem sido realizada de maneira restrita, limitando-se principalmente a aspectos técnicos, insuficiente à realização da transformação pretendida teoricamente. Neste trabalho analisou-se, portanto, as possibilidades da campesinidade, e particularmente a valorização da sua dimensão feminina, contribuir para efetivar o projeto agroecológico de construção da sustentabilidade. Para tanto, realizou-se: (1) um estudo sobre as diferentes concepções teóricas da agroecologia e suas possibilidades de articulação para construção de uma proposta de agroecologia plena; (2) uma análise teórica sobre o campesinato e as características da campesinidade, de uma perspectiva de gênero, como fundamentação para a pesquisa de campo; (3) análises empíricas sobre campesinidade, relações de gênero na unidade familiar de produção e prática agroecológica, em duas realidades distintas: a região do Vale do Ribeira/SP e o município de Joanópolis/SP; e finalmente, (4) uma reflexão sobre as potencialidades de contribuição da dimensão feminina e da campesinidade para a construção da agroecologia plena. A pesquisa de campo foi realizada através de observação participante e realização de entrevistas abertas, buscando diversas formas de reduzir a distância existente entre pesquisadores e pesquisados. Como conclusão, constatou-se que (1) o processo de modernização da agricultura causou efeitos perturbadores à campesinidade e às relações de gênero, mas que, ainda assim, (2) é possível encontrar elementos de campesinidade nas realidades transformadas por esse processo. No entanto, (3) as iniciativas agroecológicas estudadas não alcançaram as condições necessárias para transcender os efeitos desta modernização sobre a organização sócio-cultural camponesa, especialmente no que se refere à masculinização dos processos familiares de produção. Finalmente, sugeriu-se que, quanto ao procedimento metodológico, a antropologia tem muito a contribuir com a construção de uma agroecologia plena.
The aim of this research was to reflect about the feminine dimension inside rural communities and the importance of feminine valorization looking to incorporate socio cultural aspects in agroecological practice. Agroecology can be defined as a multidisciplinary field of study that aims to articulate the scientific know-how with the rural communities know-how, as a way to strengthen sustainable practices in agriculture. As an opposition movement against the agricultural modernization process, it seeks to recover socio environmental conditions disturbed by it and facilitate the construction of a sustainable reality. However, it has been confirmed that agroecolgy has been practiced in a restricted way, limiting it to technical aspects that are not enough to reach the aimed theoretical transformation. Therefore, the contribution of rural communities, especially regarding feminine valorization was analyzed looking to see its contributions to the execution of an agroecological project for the construction of sustainability. Looking to achieve the objectives of this research, the following analysis were made: (1) a study about the different theoretical conceptions about agroecolgy and its articulation possibilities to construct a full agroecological proposal; (2) a theoretical analysis about rural communities and its characteristics from a gender perspective, as the basis for the field study; (3) empirical analysis about rural communities, gender relations inside the family production unit and agroecological practice in two different realities: Vale do Ribeira region SP, Brazil and Joanópolis municipality SP, Brazil; finally, (4) a reflection about the potentialities of feminine dimension contribution and of rural communities for the construction of a full agroecolgy. Field research was carried out by means of participant observation and open interviews, looking to reduce the distance between the researcher and the researched in several ways. To conclude it can be stated that (1) the agriculture modernization process caused disturbing effects to rural communities and to gender relations, but, even so (2) it is possible to find rural elements in the realities modified by this process. However, (3) the analyzed agroecological initiatives did not achieve the necessary conditions to transcend the effects of this modernization inside the rural socio cultural organization, especially regarding the masculinization of family production processes. Finally, it is suggested that anthropology can make a great contribution to the construction of a full agroecolgy, regarding the methodological procedure.

This research examines first the consequences of a learned, individualistic construction of masculinity as it exists within an aging population of farm men, and second the influence of this form of masculinity on possibilities for change in human relationships and industry practices. It is suggested that in a context of diminishing economic power and political influence, the prevailing model of masculinity has disabled the capacity of many farm men to manage change proactively. It is argued that evidence of a necessary change from instrumental, to-values and feelings-based engagement with human and natural systems has been slow to appear. A range of beliefs and attitudes are identified from the research data.Alternatives to traditional models of masculinity are examined. The research has been conducted using a Social Ecology approach, in which the personal autonomy arising from a coherent integration of values and beliefs informs our approach to all human and natural systems. Some possible consequences of such a change in personal orientation are explored, in relation to agricultural practices, community viability, and the fostering of social capital, and reference is made to alternative forms of community organisation.
Master of Science (Hons)

This qualitative study was conducted at Minenhle High School (pseudonym) in Mgugu, a deep rural area in Umbumbulu, KwaZulu-Natal. It explored the way in which six pregnant young women between ages of 16 and 17 talked about their pregnancies. All the young women emerged from a working class background. The purpose of this study was to investigate why these young women fell pregnant; and the gendered dimensions of pregnancy. Gender-power theory was used to show how male dominance reproduces female submissiveness and influences sexual negotiations and thus increasing vulnerability to unintended pregnancies among young African women. Focus groups and individual interviews were used to produce relevant data for this study. However, the same study finds that some young women see the need to challenge accepted gender norms which often promote and encourage female submissiveness and oppression. Socio-cultural influence emerges whereby these young women have failed to access and use contraceptives due to socially constructed myths regarding the effects of contraceptives and fear of going to the clinic to access contraceptive services since this will reveal to the parents that they (young women) are sexually active; hence viewing sex as secret and clinic as public. The findings of this study also show intergenerational silence on issues of sexuality between these pregnant young women and their parents or caregivers which encourages them to rely on their peers for support, information and advice. This study also found a decline in the value of ukuhlolwa kwezintombi (virginity testing) as a strategy for preserving young women’s virginity, discouraging unintended pregnancies and reducing the rate of HIV infections; due to socio-economic and religious reasons. Findings of this study were used to develop strategies that challenge cultural, gender power imbalances as well as breaking intergenerational silence thus encouraging a healthier and more positive sexuality among young people in Umbumbulu.
M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.

Tese de Doutoramento em Sociologia
Este estudo pretende analisar o problema do abandono e exclusão escolar nas localidades rurais da República Democrática Popular do Laos e compreender as razões pelas quais algumas crianças em idade escolar, em particular as raparigas, abandonam a escola antes da conclusão do primeiro ciclo. Recorremos a métodos de investigação qualitativa, em particular a observação participante e entrevistas com as autoridades locais, diretores de escola e professores, membros da comunidade local e pais de quatro famílias. Considerando quatro dimensões centrais – situação financeira das famílias, crenças e valores culturais tradicionais, papéis de género e condições do sistema de educação, os resultados do estudo revelaram que as culturais e as desigualdades de género na comunidade constituem as principais causas para o abandono escolar. Com esta tese pretende-se também apresentar ao Governo do Laos propostas de intervenção política para o desenvolvimento futuro e planos estratégicos para melhorar a qualidade da educação nas zonas rurais do país com o objetivo de procurar soluções para este problema crucial.
This study puts forward an effort to understand the problem of school dropout in rural area of Laos. It aims at understanding the reason why some school-age children, especially girls, dropout of school before finishing primary level. Qualitative research techniques were applied; participant observation and interview with village authorities, school principal and teachers, community people as well as the parents of four families were conducted. Under four main assumptions such as family financial situation, cultural and traditional beliefs, gender roles, and the current situation of education, the results of the study revealed that cultural beliefs and gender inequality within the community seem to be the major causes for school dropout. Some policy intervention for the future development and strategic plans to improve the quality of education in rural areas of Laos are also addressed to the government of Laos in order to obviate this crucial problem.
Erasmus Mundus, One More Step Project

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of African Languages at the University of Zululand, 2005.
The commoditization of Zulu culture has become commonplace in the tourism industry in South Africa. Zulu culture and cultural products like music; dance, crafts, landscapes and others are often packaged and consumed in the tourism attractions in Zululand and elsewhere. This thesis examines culture and gender issues related to the commoditization process of Zulu culture and cultural products. Focusing on specific case studies in selected tourist attractions in Zululand, the thesis concludes that rural Zulu women play minor roles as dancers, crafters, cooks, and waiters in the tourist attractions in Zululand. Their junior roles make them to play no role in decision making, neither do they own any assets in their work places, and may not, therefore, influence the commoditization and product authentication process of their own culture.

abstract: Interrogating Rusticism utilizes concepts from postcolonial theory and studies in cosmopolitanism to examine the relationship between the country and the city in nineteenth-century Britain. The project considers the way in which rural people, places, and cultures were depicted in popular literature and introduces two new terms that help inform one’s understanding of rural and urban interaction. “Rusticism” refers to a discourse reminiscent of Orientalism that creates an “us and them” dichotomy through characterizations that essentialize rural experience and cast it as distinct from urban living. “Extrapolitanism” evokes a cultural practice similar to rooted cosmopolitanism that entails traveling back and forth between the country and the city, engaging in both urban and rural cultural practices, and not committing oneself solely to the social and political causes of either the country or the city. Because rusticist stereotypes regarding rural life, such as the notion that rural labourers possess an energy and love for their work but are also uneducated and backward, have persisted into the twenty-first century, studying the more nuanced, less-rusticist aspects of rural life in nineteenth-century Britain is an often overlooked, but still very important, endeavor. Interrogating Rusticism closely examines literature by authors known for imbuing their works with rusticist portrayals of country life, and seeks to illuminate how, in addition to perpetuating rusticist discourse, those authors also cultivate an extrapolitan type of mindset when they do depict more nuanced aspects of rural life. Each chapter follows a similar methodological approach that involves looking at a specific rusticist notion, the binary distinctions that help construct it, the historical background that contributed to its rise, a critically overlooked work that informed the writing process of a commonly studied piece, and how the commonly studied piece challenges the rusticist notion by revealing that the binary distinctions actually inform one another. Chapter 1 focuses on the rusticist idea that rural communities are pastoral, pre-modern sites untouched by the effects of modernity, the repeal of the Corn Laws, which eventually led to rampant poverty in the countryside, George Eliot’s travel memoir “Recollections of Ilfracombe” (1856) that chronicles her visit to a rural, sea-side community, and her first novel, Adam Bede (1859). Chapter 2 turns to the comparison that was often made between rural workers and nonhuman animals, the negative connotations it carried, which became even more pronounced following the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in 1859, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins’s dramatized account of their 1857 walking tour of rural England, The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices, and Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend (1864-65). The final chapter examines the expectation for male rural workers to be hearty, highly masculine figures, which was emphasized by both the use of the derogatory term Hodge to refer to rural workers and the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1884, Richard Jefferies’s post-apocalyptic novel After London (1885), and Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure (1895). Interrogating Rusticism helps elucidate often overlooked aspects of rural life in nineteenth-century Britain that can and should inform rural and urban interaction today as long-held stereotypes regarding rural life still persist and the world becomes increasingly more urban.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation English 2016

This dissertation provides an assessment of the effects of tourism development on rural women in Zanzibar through participant observation and interviews in the coastal village of Jambiani. The development of tourism is documented within the context of the ecology, history, and culture of the region. A survey of work available to women in this coastal village suggests that tourism is an undependable resource in comparison to other economic opportunities available. Further, through a look at both economic and religious systems, the difficulties women face in escaping poverty are illustrated through an integrated look at Swahili culture. Some tourism-created resources, such as changes in available transportation, do reach women in this rural community. However, the overall conclusions of this study suggest that standards of living are dropping for women in this community, in support of the hypothesis that globalization is contributing to the impoveritization of women in Africa
acase@tulane.edu

The study set out to explore the complexities of the socio-cultural constructions of gender roles and psychological wellbeing in farm-families of Ogun state Nigeria. The intention of the study was to gain insight and understanding of the farmers' life experiences since farm-families are gendered institutions with peculiar needs, problems and aspirations. The study was motivated by a dearth of research on the constructions and determinants of psychological wellbeing and gender roles in farm-families. This thesis is therefore an attempt to fill the identified gap in knowledge, by generating empirical data on the socio-cultural constructions of psychological wellbeing and gender roles in farm-families. The thesis is essentially interdisciplinary in nature, drawing from and contributing to the bodies of knowledge in gender-based research, social psychology, family studies, developmental research, and agricultural extension. The inclusion of men's and women's views and perceptions, as opposed to a polarized view of men exclusively as the oppressors and perpetrators of female subordination is a poststructural feminist approach toward de-emphasizing gender dichotomies. In addition, the incorporation of children's perspectivesis due to recognition of family factors as determinants of children's gender identity construction, life outcomes, and the psychological wellbeing of the entire family. Research participants included forty adults (17 men and 23 women) and thirty-one children (17 boys and 14 girls), drawn from five farming communities in Ogun state Nigeria. These include: Kango, Ogijan, Boodo-Sanyaolu, Obafemi, and Ilewo-Orile. Adopting a qualitative research methodology, multiple methods of data collection were employed. These include life history methodology, in-depth interviews, focus group interviews, and interactive observation techniques. Although 'psychological wellbeing' is a difficult construct to define because of its complexity and high subjectivity, adopting the social representations' framework, the constructions,· meanings and determinants of psychological wellbeing and gender roles were allowed to emerge from the participants, within their peculiar socio-historical and cultural contexts. Findings reveal that the constructions of gender identity and gender roles in farm-families are the foundations of the internalization of gender ideals, socio-cultural constructions, psychological wellbeing and coping strategies. Children then grow up to become part of the society and continue the trans-generational perpetuation of gender ideals and reinforcement of gender stereotypes, and these have several implications for the psychological wellbeing of entire farm-family members. The problems of women-subordination vis-a-vis male-domination, therefore, have their roots in the socio-cultural constructions of gender, gender roles, and their ideological representations. Research outcomes thus provide basis for the development of sustainable culture-specific feminist strategies, which address the origins and foundations of gender stereotypes, as well as gender-sensitive and gender-specific interventions for the enhancement of farm-families' psychological wellbeing. The adoption of Yoruba terminology in the constructions of psychological wellbeing and related concepts in the thesis is the beginning of an innovative research process for inventing contextually meaningful and relevant Yoruba terminology for previously Western-based concepts. In this thesis for example, psychological wellbeing is construed as - ilera-okan, alafiaokan, ibale-okan, ilera pipe t 'okan-t 'ara; while stress and emotional disturbance are construed as - aibale-okan, iporuuru ati pakaleke okan. This is a unique contribution to knowledge.
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

This study examined the schooling experiences of eleven graduates from the rural south of Egypt with primary community schools in Assiut. The study used individual interviews and focus groups to examine how community school graduates understood their experiences. The community schools were found to have removed previous obstacles of distance and cost. The quality of education that the students received allowed them to flourish in education rather than falter, and that was largely influenced by the quality of their relationship with their teachers. The students learned academic skills, as well as attitudes and dispositions that serve as cultural capital. They have more opportunities than before, yet also face significant challenges as they transition to the public system. The model of community schooling is also facing significant challenges as differences with the public schooling systems are exerting tension on the community school model to converge.

Abstracts in English, Afrikaans and Zulu
This thesis investigates gender relations in agricultural value chains by examining gender differentials in terms of gender roles in agricultural production and marketing, gender division of labour within the household, gendered daily and seasonal activities in the household, decision-making power within the household, and access to productive resources and agricultural support services. The study also assessed historical, socio-cultural, and institutional factors constraining gender equality and women’s empowerment in agricultural value chains. Employing critical theory, the study used a qualitative research approach, specifically basic classical ethnographic methods - participant observation, field notes, in-depth interviews, semi-structured interviews, key informant interviews, focus group discussions and secondary documents. The study also used a time-use survey and seasonal calendar as its primary source of data. The study revealed that women are generally underrepresented in most profitable nodes of the value chains. However, agricultural value chain interventions have different outcomes for women in female-headed households (FHHs) and women in male-headed households (MHHs). The commercialization of agriculture, particularly in MHHs, has led women to lose control over the commodities they traditionally used to control, as these commodities have fallen into the hands of men. Therefore women in this category are either disempowered or at least not empowered by the value chain interventions. Nevertheless, for women of FHHs, gender mainstreaming in agricultural value chains has contributed to improving gender equality, employment, and women’s empowerment by boosting their economic, social, and personal empowerment levels, though they still lag behind the men in many aspects. The participation of women in managing and controlling high-value crops is constrained by unequal power relations within the household and society. This could be explained in terms of limited resources, low level of literacy, shortage of labour and time, limited access to productive inputs, technologies, market information and agricultural extension services, restriction of mobility, and other socio-cultural and institutional barriers.
Hierdie studie handel oor genderverhoudings in landbouwaardekettings deur genderkenmerke te ondersoek ten opsigte van genderrolle in landbouproduksie en -bemarking, die verdeling van take by die huis op grond van gender, daaglikse en seisoenale werksaamhede tuis volgens gender, besluitnemingsbevoegdheid in die huishouding, en toegang tot produktiewe hulpbronne en landbouhulpdienste. Die studie verreken ook die historiese, sosiaal-kulturele en institusionele faktore wat gendergelykheid en die bemagtiging van vroue in landbouwaardekettings belemmer. Genderverhoudings word deur die lens van die kritiese teorie bekyk. ʼn Kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering is gevolg en klassieke etnografiese metodes is toegepas, waaronder deelnemerwaarneming, veldaantekeninge, deurtastende en halfgestruktureerde onderhoude, onderhoude met sleutelinformante, fokusgroepbesprekings en sekondêre dokumente. ʼn Tydbenuttingsopname en seisoenale kalender was die primêre databronne. Uit die studie het geblyk dat vroue by die mees winsgewende skakels van die waardeketting grotendeels onderverteenwoordig is. Die uitkomste van landbouwaardekettingintervensies vir vrouehuishoudings (VH) (huishoudings waarin ʼn vrou die broodwinner is) verskil van dié vir mannehuishoudings (MH) (huishoudings waarin ʼn man die broodwinner is). Weens die kommersialisering van die landboubedryf, in veral MH’s, het beheer oor die kommoditeite van vroue se hande in dié van mans oorgegaan. Gevolglik word vroue in hierdie kategorie ontmagtig of ten minste nie deur die waarde van kettingintervensies bemagtig nie. Ofskoon ʼn groter genderbewustheid in die landbouwaardeketting gelyke indiensneming en die ekonomiese, maatskaplike en persoonlike bemagtiging van vroue bevorder het, het vroue steeds ʼn groot agterstand. Ongelyke magsverhoudings tuis en in die samelewing beperk vroue se bestuur van en beheer oor lonende gewasse. Die redes hiervoor is onder meer beperkte hulpbronne, ongeletterdheid, ʼn tekort aan arbeid en tyd, beperkte toegang tot produktiewe insette, tegnologieë, markinligting en landbouverlengingsdienste, beperkte mobiliteit en talle ander sosiaal-kulturele en institusionele struikelblokke.
Lolu cwaningo luphenya ubudlelwano kwezobulili kwezemisebenzi yokukhiqiza ngasemkhakheni wezolimo , lokhu kwenziwa ngokuthi kuhlolwe izimpawu ezahlukile kwezobulili, mayelana nezindima ezidlalwa ubulili emkhakheni wezemikhiqizo yezolimo kanye nokuthengiswa kwemikhiqizo, ukwehlukaniswa kwabasebenzi ngokobulili ngaphakathi kwekhaya kanye nokutholakala kwemithombo yokukhiqiza kanye nemisebenzi yokuxhasa ezolimo. Isifundo futhi sihlola izinto ezithinta umlando, inhlalakahle yabantu kwezolimo kanye nezimo/nezinto ezikumaziko ezidala ukungalingani kobulili kanye nokuhlonyiswa ngamandla kwabesimame emisebenzini yezokukhiqiza kwezolimo. Ukusebenzisa umqondo ogxekayo (critical theory), kusetshenziswe indlela yokucwaninga eyencike kwingxoxo, ikakhulukazi izindlela zokuqala ze-ethinogilafi, phecelezi (basic classical ethnographic methods) – ukubhekisisa izenzo zabadlalindima, ukuthatha amanothi wokwenzeka ezinkundleni zokusebenza ezingaphandle, ukwenza izinhlolo vo ezijulile, ukwenza izinhlolo vo ezimbaxambili, ukwenza izinhlolovo zomuntu onolwazi olunzulu, izingxoxo zeqembu eliqondiwe kanye nemibhalo yesigaba sesibili. Isaveyi yesikhathi ebizwa nge (time-use survey) kanye nekhalenda yenkathi (seasonal calendar ) zisetshenziswe njengemithombo yokuqala yedatha. Ucwaningo luveze ukuthi abesimame ngokwenjwayelo bamele inani elincane labesimame emikhakheni eminingi yezokukhiqiza, okuyimikhakha engenisa inzuzo eningi. Yize kunjalo, imizamo yokuxhasa imisebenzi yokukhiqiza kwezolimo inemiphumela eyehlukahlukene kwabesimame kumakhaya aphethwe abesimame (FHHs) futhi le mizamo inemiphumela eyehlukahlukene kwabesimame kumakhaya aphethwe ngabesilisa (MHHs). Ukufakwa kwemboni yezolimo kwibhizinisi, ikakhulukazi kwimizi ephathwe ngabesilisa (MHHs), sekuholele ekutheni abesimame balahlekelwe yilawulo kwimithombo yezomnotho ebebejwayele ukuyiphatha, njengoba le mithombo yezomnotho seyiwele ngaphansi kwezandla zabesilisa. Ngakho-ke abesimame kulo mkhakha mhlawumbe bephucwe amandla noma mhlawumbe abahlonyisiwe ngokwanele ngamandla ngamakhono okuxhasa imisebenzi yezokukhiqiza. Yize-kunjalo, ngasohlangothini lwabesimame abaphethe imizi FHHs, ukulinganisa amanani ngokobulili kwimisebenzi yezolimo sekube negalelo ekuthuthukiseni ukulingana ngokobulili, kwezemisebenzi kanye nokuhlomisa ngamandla kwabesimame ngokuxhasa amazinga abo ezomnotho, ukuhlonyiswa kwamazinga abantu kanye nomuntu ngamunye, yize abesimame basahamba emuva kwabesilisa emikhakheni eminingi. Ukubandakanyeka kwabesimame ekuphatheni kanye nasekulawuleni kwezitshalo zecophelo eliphezulu kukhinyabezwa ukungalingani ngamandla ngaphakathi kwekhaya kanye nomphakathi. Lokhu kungachazwa ngokwemithombo yomnotho emincane, ngokwamazinga aphansi emfundo, ngokusweleka kwabasebenzi kanye nesikhathi, ngokwamathuba amancane okufinyelela izinsiza zokukhiqiza, ngokwezixhobo zobuchwepheshengokuswela ulwazi lwezimakethe kanye nokwandiswa kwemisebenzi yezolimo, ngokwemigomo evimbezela ukuhamba kanye nezinye izihibe ezivimbela inhlalakahle yabantu kwezolimo kanye nezihibe zamaziko.
Development Studies
D. Phil. (Development Studies)