Search results

In Africa, women farmers must gain greater access to markets if they are to overcome patriarchy & fulfill their potential as agriculturalists. Based on interviews with 76 women farmers in Zimbabwe, cases are depicted in which women have become participants in markets, due in part to local political action. The women joined organizations, worked together, & expressed their views, making demands & acquiring influence with which they obtained agricultural services & access to markets. Five conditions that enhance the ability of rural women to participate in markets & politics are identified: collective action, participation, skills development, interventions by change agents, & influence by women's movement over states. 38 References. Adapted from the source document.

Examines cases in which women have formed agricultural associations and gained access to markets.

The paper explores conceptions of gender and agency expressed by rural Chinese women during fieldwork in three Shandong villages in 1986 and 1987-88. It situates these conceptions in the context of differing patterns of division of labour and separation of activity in the three villages studied. The villages - one still collective, one decollectivized and developing rural industry, and one concentrating on household-based commodity production - are compared in terms of the opportunities and constraints each context offers for women. (DÜI-Sen)

This essay suggests that common themes in recent feminist ethical thought can dislodge the guiding assumptions of traditional theories of free agency and thereby foster an account of freedom which might be more fruitful for feminist discussion of moral and political agency. The essay proposes constructing that account around a condition ofnormative‐competence. It argues that this view permits insight into why women's labor of reclaiming and augmenting their agency is both difficult and possible in a sexist society.

The author reviews the empirical literature concerning the relationship of women's multiple roles to mental health. A conceptual framework is proposed postulating that negative mental health outcomes may result from high levels of stress and demands across roles and a low level of agency or control over those demands. Suggestions for future research within this model as well as implications for clinical practice are presented.