Suchergebnisse

Explores the nature of urban female-owned microenterprises in Africa, drawing on a case study of urban tradeswomen in the field of beauty in Mauritania. Classical studies of women's participation in such informal sectors of the economy are criticized for using anachronistic categories & rendering invisible the real power women gain in these enterprises. Proposed is a multidimensional framework based on F. Barth's (1972) model of entrepreneurs to overcome the limitations of the traditional productivity model. It is argued that women's productive capacities in Mauritania are an efficient means of establishing equilibrium in gender relations. Sale of veils, henna, & pearls, rather than a mere manifestation of consumption, is shown to affirm positive identities & struggle against Islamic fundamentalism. The phenomenon of profit is used to illustrate economic division among these women, explained by factors of education & on-the-job training, start-up capital, & social network extension. Mauritanian women engaging in these economic activities describe themselves as social actors who play against power & renegotiate its balance in their relations with other social actors in society. D. M. Smith