GENDER IN DISCOURSE AND PRACTICE
-
A case study of gender productive systems in Ostúa-Güija watershed,
southeast Guatemala
Photo: Carina Emanuelsson
Master´s thesis, 30 ECTS
Human Ecology Division, CPS Program
Author: Carina Emanuelsson
Supervisor: Susan Paulson
Term (of defense): Spring -11
Department:
Address:
Phone:
Human Ecology
Geocentrum 1, Sölvegatan 10
046-2220417
Supervisor:
Susan Paulson
Title and Subtitle:
Gender in discourse and practice –A case study of gender
productive systems in Ostúa-Güija watershed, Guatemala
Carina Emanuelsson
Author:
Term of defense:
Spring 2011
Abstract: By challenging conventional categories in research that frequently make
invisible important actors and actions in the society, this case study about rural territorial
dynamics highlights ways in which people’s different roles are crucial for the societies’
various functions, productive or reproductive, and for their sustainability. This is done
through the consideration of gender as a system that influences the outcome of every social
interaction –in a limiting or facilitating manner. In this case study of the territory OstúaGüija watershed in southeast Guatemala, I analyzed how local and global gender systems
interact in shaping society both socially and physically through differential access and use
of capitals within agriculture, commerce, migration and the domestic sphere.
Findings of the investigation using gender-sensitive tools and analysis of both discourse
and practice brings to light gender specific aspects of historical dynamics in the territory.
This thesis provides evidence that preconceived ideas and assumptions about gender
structures within conventional research are making invisible many actors and their roles in
society. Additionally the findings show key ways in which the gender system is influenced
by and influencing in the roles and lives of women and men and their natural environment.
Keywords: Gender, Development, Territory, Discourse, Practice, Agriculture, Guatemala
Acknowledgements: Research for this document was supported by the Rural Territorial
Dynamics Program, implemented by Rimisp in several Latin American countries in
collaboration with numerous partners. The program has been supported by the
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International Development Research Center (IDRC, Canada) and The New Zealand Aid
Programme (NZ-AID). I direct great gratitude to Rimisp and DTR for giving me the
opportunity to participate in their work during my internship that was an incredible
learning experience.
I would also like to send my gratitude to my colleagues and great friends at IDIES in
Guatemala City and Jutiapa with special gratitude to Ana Victoria Peláez Ponce for her
support and guidance in the field and writing. I also thank my dear host family in El
Progreso that turned my fieldwork into a great experience.
Additionally I am grateful to my supervisor Susan Paulson and classmates Teresa, Maritza,
Bruno and Rafael in the Lund “gender group” for their presence from start to finish with
support, brilliant insights and good company. I direct a special “thank you” and a huge hug
to my classmate and dear friend Maritza Florian for endless support and friendship within
and outside the academic world.
List of acronyms:
COCODE
DTR
ENCOVI
IDIES
Rimisp
SEPREM
URL
Consejos comunitarions de
desarrollo/The community council for
development
Dinámicas territoriales rurales/Rural
territorial dynamics
Encuesta condiciones de vida/Survey on
life conditions
Instituto de investigación económico y
Social/Institute for economic and social
investigation
Centro latinoamericano para el desarrollo
rural/Latin american center for rural
development
Secretaria presidencial de la mujer/The
woman’s presidential department
Universidad Rafael Landívar/The
university of Rafael Landívar
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Table of contents
ABSTRACT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
LIST OF ACRONYMS
1
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 5
2
CONTEXT OF CASE STUDY ....................................................................................... 7
3
2.1
TERRITORY .................................................................................................................. 8
2.2
THE TERRITORY OF STUDY - OSTÚA-GÜIJA WATERSHED -SOUTHEAST GUATEMALA .................. 9
METHOD.............................................................................................................. 10
3.1
3.1.1
Surveys............................................................................................................ 12
3.1.2
Semi structured interviews ............................................................................. 14
3.1.3
Participatory observation ............................................................................... 14
3.2
4
TOOLS –PRIMARY SOURCES .......................................................................................... 11
SECONDARY SOURCES ................................................................................................. 15
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF STUDY ................................................................. 15
4.1
IDEAS OF “DEVELOPMENT” FROM THE 1950S ................................................................. 16
4.2
CRITICISM AND CONSEQUENCES .................................................................................... 18
4.2.1
“Developers and developed” .......................................................................... 19
4.2.2
Commodification –ecological modernization and social metabolism ............ 20
4.3
GENDER CATEGORIES IN DEVELOPMENT ......................................................................... 21
4.3.1
Production and reproduction ......................................................................... 23
4.3.2
Gender theory in rural territorial dynamics.................................................... 25
5 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION -GENDER IN DISCOURSE AND PRACTICE -CASE STUDY –
OSTÚA-GÜIJA WATERSHED, SOUTHEAST GUATEMALA............................................ 27
5.1
LABOR ...................................................................................................................... 27
5.1.1
Agriculture ...................................................................................................... 28
5.1.2
Commerce ...................................................................................................... 30
5.1.3
Migration........................................................................................................ 34
5.1.4
Domestic sphere ............................................................................................. 35
5.2
KNOWLEDGE ............................................................................................................. 37
5.2.1
Agriculture and schooling............................................................................... 37
5.2.2
Participation in public spaces ......................................................................... 39
5.3
VALUE ...................................................................................................................... 40
5.3.1
Consumption .................................................................................................. 40
4
5.3.2
5.4
Occupational titles.......................................................................................... 41
PRODUCTIVE RESOURCES ............................................................................................. 42
5.4.1
Land ................................................................................................................ 42
5.4.2
Credits............................................................................................................. 43
6
CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 45
7
LIST OF REFERENCES............................................................................................. 52
8
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................ 56
8.1
INTERVIEWS WITH THREE WORKSHOP OWNERS, AUGUST 17, 2010.................................... 56
8.2
SYNTHESIS FROM FOOTWEAR FOCUS GROUP, AUGUST 12, 2010. ...................................... 61
8.3 INTERVIEWS WITH PARTICIPANTS IN WOMEN’S PLATFORM, JUNE, 2010. -INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
AND SYNTHESIS OF ANSWERS. ....................................................................................... 63
Tables and figures
TABLE 1: COMPARISON OF DATA ON ECONOMICAL PARTICIPATION OBTAINED THROUGH AND ESTIMATION
OF THE FORMAL EMPLOYMENT VS. A STUDY CONSIDERING GENDER IN THE FOOTWEAR ACTIVITY IN
SANTA CATARINA MITA. ........................................................................................................................ 32
TABLE 2: LABOR CONDITION OF THE PARTNER TO THE WORKSHOP OWNER ................................................ 33
FIGURE 1: DIVISION OF DOMESTIC LABOR BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN. .................................................... 36
TABLE 3: LEVEL OF SCHOOLING BY GENDER ................................................................................................... 38
TABLE 4: AMOUNT OF LAND CULTIVATED, BY GENDER .................................................................................. 43
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1
Introduction
Dominant development discourses focusing on economic production are influencing the
intrinsic and extrinsic value of people, their role in society and their possibility to change
perceptions and practices. Discourses embed and communicate preconceived ideas and
categories that are echoed in theory, research and social relations. In this study I analyze
how research influenced by dominant discourses produces findings with a systematic
invisibility of certain actors and actions. One common approach to development studies, as
well as to national census and demographic research, is to focus on formal economic
activities and the actors participating in them. However, this focus on formal (monetized
and market-based) productive work tends to leave out important reproductive work, and
family provisioning, and hence fails to recognize its importance in the society. Caroline
Moser points out that “by virtue of its exchange value, only productive work is recognized
as work” whilst “reproductive and community managing work, because they are both seen
as ‘natural’ and nonproductive, are not valued” (Moser 1989, 1801).
Apart from making invisible important socio-ecological functions that condition
production and make it possible to sustain it, this approach also excludes the actors outside
of productive activities, making them externalities in the economic model. Another
externality is the environment that, unaccounted by economic indicators and not expressed
in GDP, tends to be degraded through increasing exploitation. When failing to take this
into account we can spread an image of and a model for positive development without
considering its degree of sustainability for all people and the natural environment.
Gender as a research category is frequently predefined through cultural and theoretical
preconceptions as a natural order in society -this even though gender dynamics are
expressed very differently in different spaces. In order to create more comprehensive and
inclusive research and analysis, the consideration of gender as a category influencing the
forming of society is an essential tool, especially if implemented in ways that recognize
and capture arrangements, logics, practices and discourses of unique gender systems in
contexts studied.
In this thesis I conceptualize gender as a socio-cultural system, influencing in the
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construction of all social relations, and argue that the analysis of gender dynamics, i.e. the
expression of the gender system, is crucial for the understanding of territorial organization
and historical development. Gender systems are produced and reproduced through social
action and interaction, and this study emphasizes four activities that mobilize many actors
in the territory studied: agriculture, commerce, migration and the domestic sphere. I study
how gender dynamics are expressed within these four activities and what this means for the
social and physical reality in the territory. This through enhancing how the access to and
use of capital in labor, knowledge, value and productive resources conditions and is
conditioned by gender systems in both practice and discourse.
The thesis uses a political ecological approach, grounded in but not limited to the local
society. This is a result of the belief that cultural and administrative borders aren’t alone
defining the social interaction forming a territory. I therefore analyze ways in which
development discourses and practices on different levels together are affecting gender.
Both global and local discourses and practices are important for the understanding of the
meaning of gender and how it correlates with territorial dynamics.
In the theoretical framework of the study, I critically discuss common development
models/discourses and how they are put into practice, arguing that their focus on growth of
the formal economic sector fails to incorporate vital societal functions in programs aiming
to “improve people’s quality of life”. I assess research tools and categories that are making
invisible or depreciating the role of many actors in society and obscuring the power
structures contributing to this. I argue that the analysis of gender systems on multiple
levels helps to understand issues of equity and sustainability, as well as formal economic
production, in territorial dynamics.
The conceptualization of gender as an institutional system, affecting individuals and
groups in ways that interact with nationality, race, religion, ethnicity etc. is well theorized
but less frequently put into practice, partly due to the complexity of the concept. Through
the use of certain tools permitting to visualize gendered practices and discourses, I strive to
contribute to science by proving research with more accurate and adequate categories that
facilitate more powerful and just findings. With this aim I pose the following research
questions:
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
How are gender systems, in discourse and practice, working to limit or facilitate
men’s and women’s influence in agriculture, commerce, migration and the
domestic sphere in terms of:
o Labor insertion, waged and non-waged?
o Access to knowledge (such as technology, schooling and local “know
how”)
o
Access to intangible assets (such as the social capital involved in
occupational titles, the participation in social networks and spaces of
decision making, both formal and informal ones).
o
Access to productive resources/assets (natural -as in land, economical
-as in salaries, credits).
 How are gender systems forming and formed by prevailing discourses and
practices of development and what do they mean for the territory in terms of
social and environmental structure?
The immediate aim with this case study is raising visibility of the role that gender systems
play in the formation of specific social and physical spaces. The larger purpose is to add to
the goal of the comparative Latin American project of which it is part -to contribute to
development of a more comprehensive research that will facilitate more equitable and
sustainable development processes.
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Context of case study
This thesis is based on research executed in Guatemala through the collaborative effort of a
Chilean research institution (Rimisp), the University Rafael Landivar (URL), Guatemala,
and Lund University to apply a systematic perspective of gender within rural territorial
development studies (DTR). I participated in research in the territory during four months
from June to October 2010. The coordinating institution of the DTR program, the Latin
American Center for Rural Development (Rimisp) intends to produce and disseminate
research and scholarship that will encourage regional changes that better balance
economic, ecological and social development, understanding development as strengthening
the capacity of different rural social groups and the expansion of freedom of all the people
in the region. The purpose is to provide information and analysis that will support
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processes such as institutional change, productive inventions and the strengthening of other
social actors that are promoting a more just and equal society (Rimisp 2010).
The objective of the research and capacity development program Rural Territorial
Dynamics (DTR) is to work collectively to “contribute to the design and implementation of
more comprehensive, cross-cutting and effective public policies that will stimulate and
support rural territorial dynamics which lead to economic growth, poverty reduction,
greater equality and sound environmental governance” (Rural Territorial Dynamics, 2007).
This situation, identified as win-win-win, consists in rural economic growth, an increasing
social inclusion and environmentally responsible governing in rural areas. The DTR
program aims to produce and spread investigation and understanding that motivates rural
development, this being understood as the strengthening of the capacity of different rural
groups’ and the expansion of freedom for all the members in the region (Rimisp, 2010). In
accordance with this view DTR aims to integrate transversally gender and environmental
dimensions. These two dimensions are considered essential for a balanced development in
a healthy environment (Paulson et al. 2010a). The Guatemalan Institute for Social and
Economic Investigation (IDIES) at the URL participated in this pilot study to analyze and
create understanding about the gender dynamics in the territory ” Ostúa-Güija Watershed”
in the southeast of Guatemala.
The unit of study, territory, was carefully defined in the DTR program and I will below
explain the characteristics of this area and why it plays an important analytical role.
2.1
Territory
The use of territory as a unit or level of analysis comes from the “growing evidence that
the overall national-level dynamics of economic growth and social inclusion do not
account fully for the dynamics of development at the scale of specific territories” (Rural
Territorial Dynamics, 2007). The scale of territories can vary but are conceptualized as an
intermediate socio-geographical unit. They have to be big enough to sustain a “critical
mass” of economic activities and small enough to identify some kind of community
identity (Ibid.). Nardi conceptualizes territory both as a physical and relational space that is
defined by different power relations with different ways of understanding and using
resources. The notion of territoriality is linked to the organization of society through these
relations in the physical space they are found (Nardi 2011, 2).
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In the framework for the project Rural Territorial Dynamics the different teams are
encouraged to focus on society and territory as interacting systems that are produced and
reproduced through dynamics of local powers interacting with global powers and vice
versa. Hence when trying to map human interaction it is important not to limit the study to
a certain level in society, may it be local, regional, national or global since social relations
do not tend to be limited by geographical boundaries and cannot be studied individually.
Within political ecology this multi-scale approach is regarded indispensable rather than
alternative. Even though that what Appadurai (in Paulson and Gezon 2005, 9) calls
“financescapes” and “mediascapes” are supposed to have a “homogenizing effect” on
place, localities doesn’t become “passive recipients” under global powers. This
understanding might make the term “level” seem redundant but should in this case be seen
as a way of systemizing and thus facilitating this kind of holistic study. To focus on global
and national, as well as local dynamics, also avoids the study to fall in to the trap where
poor communities and individuals are blamed and becomes responsible for unhealthy
processes of change that might have roots in socio-economical power structures on another
level (Paulson et al, 2010b).
This way of approaching a study on rural development stands out from conventional
methods that tend to focus on economical progress on global and national scale or other
areas geographically given rather than other indicators of development such as social
inclusion and healthy environmental practices in a dynamic socio-physical space. I will
here describe the characteristics of the territory Ostúa-Güija watershed for the DTR
program in Guatemala and consequently the area of this case study.
2.2
The territory of study - Ostúa-Güija watershed -southeast Guatemala
The region selected for this study is a result of a socio-economical investigation in
Guatemala where the most prominent regions where chosen for the second round of
research. The criteria for success fore-grounded three factors: increase in income, a
positive trend in social inclusion (measured through the Gini-coefficient) and an increase
in consumption. In Guatemala positive indicators of these factors were found in the two
departments Jalapa and Jutiapa, located in the southeast. Four municipalities compose the
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selected region: El progreso, Santa Catarina Mita and Asunción Mita in Jutiapa and
Monjas in Jalapa. Due to its location between two rivers the territory was given the name
“Ostúa Güija watershed” (Romero 2009, 8).
The two departments Jutiapa and Jalapa has an area of 5,300 km2 whilst the territory
studied, constituted by the four municipalities, only occupies an area of 476 km2. The
location close to the capital and with good terrestrial connection to markets, both national
and international, is beneficial for the economic activity in the area.
A great part of the land in the territory is used for agriculture, the principle economic
activity. The agricultural structure varies between the four municipalities, but tomato and
maize are the main products followed by beans, melon and onion. Additionally,
manufacturing, electricity, gas and construction are economical activities that are gaining
importance, especially in the department of Jutiapa. The remittance sent to the territory,
mainly from USA, also contributes to the economic reality as well as to the social and
cultural changes. Even though there are less households depending on remittance than the
ones depending on incomes from agriculture, the medium income per month from
remittance is almost double the income in an agricultural household (Romero 2009, 23).
The population in Ostúa-Güija Watershed consists of more women than men. Out of
40,391 inhabitants, 52% are women and 48% are men. 60% lives in rural areas, which is a
value under the mean in the departments of Jalapa (68%) and Jutiapa (73%) (Romero
2009, 15).
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Method
The complexity of a political ecological approach means a challenging process in all steps
of research due to its holistic vision that requires many perspectives both in investigation
and analysis. However, my internship in Guatemala made a good base for a master thesis
in Human Ecology when it comes to levels of investigation and analysis. According to
Clifford and Valentine (2003, 10-11) an approach where a special case is studied
profoundly with the maximum number of details is called “an intensive research design” as
opposed to, or often as a complement to, an “extensive research design” where a pattern is
searched for through a large number of observations in order to obtain “regularity”. These
two approaches are often connected respectively to qualitative and quantitative research,
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but are not necessarily best characterized through this division. In this case study, both
intensive and extensive tools are used due to the advantages drawn from using multimethods and linking multiple scales of analysis. McKendrick describes the primary
benefits as the complementarities offered when using various sources and methods, the
broader insights obtained and the increased confidence amongst the readers and the
audience (McKendrick 1999, 41-42).
Cultural expressions (habits, norms etc.), economic interests and hierarchically defined
discourses all influence in the construction of research methods and it is common that
research tools are skewed out of a gender perspective. This leads to biased scientific data,
that rather than representing practical and material aspects of reality, ends up presenting
cultural and ideological perceptions of what the research team considered norms in society.
Even though an investigator never can be considered an objective entity, there are
measures to take in order to decrease the influence in research results.
Research trying to explain or visualize social relations and societal structure will have to
make generalizations in order to produce results that can be analyzed and compared across
contexts. Methods used in this thesis research are limited to the categories of men and
women. In order to be closer to unique empirical realities, one would have to go deeper,
observing and engaging local categories in which there may be other ways of categorizing
gender, and interactions with age, religion, occupation etc. This is not to say that
disaggregating data into these two categories will not contribute to the understanding of
how they affect and are affected by gender systems. To the contrary, in the context in
which this case study is executed, these binaries dominate institutional, material and
discursive practice, and therefore very strongly influencing the social order –as shown in
the section of findings.
Below I will address the challenges confronted in the construction of investigation tools for
the gender sensitive data gathered in the DTR program that is based on the recognition of
the individual and the fact that the society presents different opportunities and limits for
everyone.
3.1
Tools –primary sources
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Together with IDIES Guatemala I participated in the design and implementation of tools
that permitted a deeper insight in the activities and perspectives from a broader group of
actors. These tools are: surveys, participatory observation and interviews.
3.1.1
Surveys
Rural life conditions –ENCOVI (July 2010)
This survey was applied to 13 686 households during July 2010 that were chosen randomly
after mapping all houses in chosen rural and urban areas in the territory. I participated both
in the creation of the survey and the implementation of it in the field. When studying with
a gender approach it is important to critically review the units of investigation, the
categories of analysis and to question the supposed “neutral science” in order to minimize
the risk of being culturally biased. Aware of this, together with IDIES, I integrated four
methodological advances into the survey destined to study the conditions of life of a
sample of the people in the territory. This being one of the most important tools in the
investigation, its accuracy and contribution to the understanding of the territorial dynamics
is highly relevant.
1. Change the category “Head of Household” to “Representative of the Household”
Even though it might seem just a matter of word preference, changing “head of household”
to “representative of household” actually implies a big modification of the meaning. When
applying the category head of household to investigations and analysis one is actually
implying a hierarchical organization of the household members without actually
considering the various forms that this can take. Naming one person “head” in each
household generally provides us with a hierarchical structure that is more applied in
statistics than in reality. This since the economic activity, the knowledge and opinion, the
participation in politics and the community involvement is not limited to one “head”. The
continuous use of this term by officials, surveyors and others that impose with their
cultural capital, affects the discourse and the local vision. Today, as in the case of
Guatemala, the category head of household is established both culturally and on a technical
level in investigation. The lack of empirical contents and the ideological significance in the
category head of household has been widely criticized amongst demographers, to the
degree that it is eliminated in the majority of the international organisms and the national
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census (Informe del Taller de Estadística con Enfoque de Género 1995, 7).
2. Identification of multiple activities
This survey challenges another tendency in census and surveys that is asking the polled to
identify only one economic activity. In order to make visible the complex reality in the
territory and the various strategies through which the actors integrates with it, this survey
was designed to cover all the different economic activities that the respondent executes.
3. Chart Time Use
As added value in the survey in terms of gender, one section called “time use” was
designed. In this section the surveyor explicitly asked about the planning and the carrying
out of the chores known as reproductive, something that usually not is included in
conventional development studies.
4. Community Participation
The survey was also provided with a section about participation in communal spaces, for
all family members. Thanks to this, the survey will contribute to a deeper understanding of
territorial dynamics that depends upon both formal and informal spheres.
Footwear census (July 2010)
Together with IDIES Guatemala, I participated in a value chain analysis of the footwear
industry. This was initiated with a census covering all inhabitants in one municipality
(Santa Catarina Mita), and mapping all actors that participated in the production or selling.
The key here was to ask the right questions, aiming to avoid socio-culturally biased
answers that often make invisible the contribution and role of an “assistant”, commonly the
wife or children. The second step in the value chain of footwear was a survey, using
categories that permitted the registration of “informal” labor and structures defined by a
gender system. The results will be presented in the “commerce” section below.
Survey with participants in the women’s platform (June 2010)
I implemented a survey with ten participants in the women’s platform (described below) in
order to understand the character of their participation and their expectations on the
outcomes of this space of dialogue.
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3.1.2
Semi structured interviews
Interviews with footwear workers (17 of august 2010)
I did three interviews with workers in footwear workshops. Two were men and one
woman; the previous having their own workshop while the woman was working as an
employee from her own house. The questions were aimed to enhance the understanding of
the different activities realized in the production and selling and the actors involved in it.
3.1.3
Participatory observation
Local actors’ platform (7 meetings during 2009-2011)
IDIES initiated a space for discussion with local actors with the objective to facilitate and
motivate a broader dialogue between different social networks in the territory. This was
achieved through meetings, creating a table of dialogue in order to stimulate and strengthen
common development goals. The participants are regarded as “leaders” in the territory due
to the characteristics of their occupation or engagement with the territory. This made that
the majority of the participants were farmers and people employed in the municipality. I
participated through participatory observation in two out of a series of seven meetings.
Women’s platform (6 meetings during 2010-2011)
Due to the low participation of women in the local actors’ platform, counted both in
number and in influence in decision-making, IDIES started a women’s group. They invited
women with a leadership role in the territory with the aim to give emphasis to “their
potential and to facilitate the access to communication spaces with producers and politic
actors, with the intention to open up for a horizontal dialogue” (IDIES 2010). This space
made five women participate in the local actors’ platform. I attended one meeting out of a
series of six.
Meeting on infrastructure, August 29, 2010
One additional gathering outside of the Local Actors’ platform was made, however to
some extent with the same participants, where the role of the vial infrastructure and its
15
history was discussed. Present were ten men, all with connection to agriculture, and no
women. My presence was mainly observatory, however, asking them to specify gender
related information in some questions.
Footwear focus group (12 of August 2010)
The footwear focus group was realized as a step in the creation of a value chain of this
activity with a gender approach. Participating were five workers, three men and two
women. They were asked to identify the different activities related to the various steps in
the production of footwear in a workshop, writing them down on paper slips and
collocating them under categories respectively while identifying actors in each step. I was
assisting in the activities and taking notes.
3.2
Secondary sources
I will refer to some of the previously mentioned meetings and results from surveys as
secondary sources such as notes and reports of this research prepared by colleagues.
Another important source are official statistics from the national public entity SEPREM
(The woman’s presidential department).
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Theoretical framework of study
This thesis intends to, through a case study, analyze and describe the gender systems in
territory Ostúa-Güija watershed in Guatemala, and study how the dynamics of these
systems affect- and are affected by -the social and physical environment. Additionally, it
intends to enhance the understanding of which ways development discourses and practices
on different levels together are interacting with the gender dynamics in the local territory.
This is a result of an increasing need to challenge dominating development discourses
perceived as natural processes. I will therefore, in this framework of study, emphasize on
critical development theory with focus on development in conventional discourse and
research, environmental issues, modernity discourse, consumption and the role of gender
within a classical development scene. This is followed by a section about gender theory as
conceptualized and used in this study.
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4.1
Ideas of “development” from the 1950s
“The strength of ‘development’ discourse comes from its power to seduce, in every sense
of the term: to charm, to please, to fascinate, to set dreaming, but also to abuse, to turn
away from the truth, to deceive.” (Rist 2006, 1)
Development as a concept has been understood differently through time and contexts,
however generally connected to the idea or preoccupation of improvements in the quality
of life (Mphande 2005, 3). Nevertheless, these variations have never just been a case of
semantics affecting our “imagined worlds” but a discourse affecting real people in society
and their environment. With associations such as poverty reduction, empowerment and
freedom it becomes evident that it’s more than a matter of a word-game (Cornwall 2007,
472).
The modernization wave started after the WWII where the reconstruction of European
society spread promises of peace and growth through technology, invention and
international relations. The vision that people had seen the end of the imperialism era was
spread, and the exploitation for foreign profit was supposedly changed to an idea about the
mutual benefits that constant improvements in production and use of modern science and
technology would bring. The word “underdevelopment” started to appear as a synonym for
“economically backward areas” in official texts (Rist 2006, 72). During the 60s the
modernization idea received some resistance. The assumption that the benefits of
economical growth would “trickle down” to the poorest households in the society was
criticized. Even though many developing countries were experiencing economic growth
rates around 5% there was dissatisfaction with growth-dominated definitions as a result of
increased poverty, less employment and inequality (Kabeer 1994, 3). Discourses inspired
by Marxist or neo-Marxist social science where the emphasis was (and still is) “class,
power, inequality, and social differentiation in agrarian settings driven by the large-scale
forces and tendencies of development under capitalism”, induced state intervention in
some contexts (Ellis and Biggs 2001, 438,440). This resistance led to reformations during
the 70s in the UN Development Strategy with the goal to pay greater attention to these
negative side effects of economic growth (Kabeer 1994, 3).
During the 1980s and 1990s grass root approaches replaced some aspects of the before
more common top-down or “blueprint” strategies. Even though grass root advocates might
not want to believe it, this partly was a result of World Bank policy that through the
17
liberalization of markets reduced the governmental influence. The “World Bank has
subsequently adopted, at least in principle if not always in practice, many of the ideas
associated with bottom-up rural development approaches” (Ellis and Biggs 2001, 443-44).
The idea that “structural adjustment” was needed in order to “develop” was spread and this
market liberalization often meant drastic cuts in public service such as health and
education. To mitigate negative effects in living standards the World Bank and NGOs were
united around the concept of “basic needs” which gave adjustment strategies a harmless
“human face” (Rist 2006, 173).
Another approach during the 90s, created to mitigate the increase in poverty,
marginalization and social inequality, was the idea that migration and the subsequent
increase of remittances flows to “developing countries” could be channeled “into
productive investments that can propel development” (Delgado and Marquez 2009, 131).
This new development mantra, due to the accelerated growth in migration from the South
to the North was put forward through international promoters of neoliberal structural
adjustment as a development tool. “Or to put it less positively, the idea is that some of the
most exploited workers in the world can make up for the failure of mainstream
development policies” (Ibid.). This hard critique comes from the knowledge of exploitation
of labor from foreign countries and how these relations are conditioning the capitalistic
expansion and growth.
Discourse about development has been polemic, filled with ideological, economical and
cultural matters. The only thing that conventional fields can agree upon is that
development is needed and that a world without this driving force is not an option. People,
institutions and nations should all want to strive forward in something that has come to
look like a competition. Tucker describes this urge as a belief in an illusion, a myth that is
raised to the status of an “objective reality or evolutionary necessity” (Tucker 1999, 1). He
continues by referring to development as a “practical and intellectual project [that] has
been steeped in optimism” (Ibid.).
“Liberal neo-classical economics has always played a central role in the evolution of
development studies and in the formulation of development policy. It can be credited with
the persisting emphasis given to economic growth as the primary goal and meaning of
development, despite equally persistent attempts at ‘dethronement’” (Kabeer 1994, 13).
18
Development certainly is a social and historical construction but has the status or
appearance of a “natural phenomenon” with its own laws orienting society. The growth
imperative has won acceptance and we find it hard, for not to say impossible, to imagine a
future without it (Rist 2006, 215). Even though abundance does not appear “naturally” or
spontaneously nor does economical growth apply within biology, the World Bank
promotes globalization processes where economical integration and growth are drivers to
reduce poverty and increase wellbeing. “It is the vision of the World Bank Group to
contribute to an inclusive and sustainable globalization - to overcome poverty, enhance
growth with care for the environment, and create individual opportunity and hope” (World
Bank 2011). Hence, economic growth and entrepreneurship are considered two important
ingredients for development through programs of “empowerment, security and
opportunity” and given the more or less global recognition of the World Bank, its
conceptual and structural influence is very big (Munck 2004, 26).
Considering that the paradigm of economical growth (supposedly) has raised the standard
of living in the west during two centuries, why is it so harshly criticized?
4.2
Criticism and consequences
“Development consist of a setting of practices, sometimes appearing to conflict with one
another which require – for the reproduction of society – the general transformation and
destruction of the natural environment and of social relations. Its aim is to increase the
production of commodities (goods and services) geared, by the way of exchange, to
effective demand” (Rist 2006, 13)
This definition of development provided by Gilbert Rist can be perceived as a parody, but
is actually conceptualizing development through common critics. It encompasses the main
critical points in the growth oriented development approach where reproduction of society
means maintaining of power relations, creating dualistic categories by the “developers”
while the “developed” are forced to adapt in favor to elitist narratives. The destruction of
the natural environment and social relationships in order to favor production, economical
growth and consumption, is altering both the social and natural environment (if we now
have any reason to separate the two) while spreading the idea of the modern individual
through development.
19
4.2.1
“Developers and developed”
The Eurocentric or Western vision of what human progress during time should look like
regardless of space, historical processes and culture is disseminated and reproduced not
just by development organizations on different levels, but also by individuals for whom
“development” or “underdevelopment” is embodied and made a part of everyday life. This
is not least evident in socio-economical studies where the measuring of development is
common practice in order to classify the status of a nation and it’s people. Models and
measures aim to generalize societal structures in order to make the complexity of society
tangible and understandable for the human mind. However, these generalizations are
frequently perceived as norms (both on individual and institutional level) and constitute the
base for how we look at the world and its inhabitants. Harvey reflects upon this current
rush “to provide cognitive maps of everything going in art, politics, the humanities,
literary, and social theory, etc.” and questions the way it has become a major criterion of
evaluation and judgment” (Harvey 1996, 4). He also adds that a big problem with mapping
is that it “requires a map and that maps are typically totalizing, usually two-dimensional,
Cartesian, and very undialectical devices with which it is possible to propound any mixture
of extraordinary insights and monstrous lies” (Harvey 1996, 4-5).
The developer brings about his vision on how happiness will be obtained for others whilst
the developed is put in a situation where his relationships to others and nature is altered
forcedly in order to enter the promised world. As much as the development agenda is
primarily based on socio-economic bearings, analyses shows that it is used by elites as a
hegemonic resource to enforce their positions (Mphande 2005, 1).
This chronological chain of prescribed historical development presents little room for
cultural discrepancies and hence the reproduction of meaning and knowledge unfamiliar to
the western world mean stepping off the chain taking you further in development. This
unipolar paradigm is spread with an idealized Western society as a model where cultural
meaning gives into “rationality” and reproduction of traditional knowledge to production
of economical capital.
20
4.2.2
Commodification –ecological modernization and social metabolism
Ecological damages provoked by growth-based development discourses and practices are
not new phenomena, even though recognition of them is more common in current
discourses than in previous. Rather it is a change of attitude towards the unquestionable
fact that one no longer can regard ecological exploitation simply as a regrettable but
necessary cost, what has drawn the attention to environmental issues. “The faith in
‘development’ can no longer escape criticism, not only because it justifies huge increases
in social inequality but because it has become dangerous, by compromising everybody’s
future” (Rist 2006, x). However, ecological awareness is constantly hidden behind “market
induced ‘globalization’ ” (Rist 2006, 186).
Development as economical growth, technology and consumerism is not least reflected in
social and economical research where everything from planning stage to analysis is tainted
by currents in society. This has led to a distortion in research since indicators of “good
development” are most likely to be found where both environment and social relations are
being exploited for the benefit of capital creation. The exclusion of externalities in
investigation and policymaking facilitates their continuous exploitation, resulting in both
social and ecological losses, an important component for the creation of economic
accumulation and hence the interest of many. In fact, greater prosperity through massive
global production and consumption is spread as solutions to environmental problems by,
for example, The World Trade Organisation (Thilo Bode, Greenpeace in Martinez-Alier
2003, 16). There are attempts to internalize these externalities but rather than providing
real solutions they are spreading the illusion that they are to be found through the
economic system and without major limitations to the current lifestyle. Martinez-Alier
points out that “studies of social metabolism show that the economy is not
dematerializing” and that discourses containing “sustainable development”, “ecological
modernization” and “eco-efficiency” are not addressing the core of the environmental
problem (Martinez-Alier 2003, 54). Production may become less intensive in terms of
energy and materials, but the environmental load of the economy is determined by
consumption (Ibid, 17).
In order to “close the circle” of development through production and economical growth,
consumption is essential and it has also come to be a “natural” element in our everyday
21
life. What, where and how we consume defines who we are and our relations to others.
However, consumption as a status marker is certainly not a new invention. Bauer writes
about the importance of goods as “civilizing” not just during the colonial period in Latin
America but also during the time of republics when European merchandize was highly
valued in order to assert a more “civilized identity. This went hand in hand with the
enthusiasm and hope for modernity, which eventually was transmitted from being only a
phenomenon within the elite to encompass a larger social scale (Bauer 2001, 164).
However, consumption has taken new dimensions during the last century. The belief (or
fact?) that an individual in a consumer culture has an expanded possibility to “develop”
and change its own appearance, creating a loop hole to a higher strata in the society
through consumption is necessary for the functionality of a consumer culture (Featherstone
1982, 30). A further expansion of the market does not just encourage individualism but it
also discredits traditional norms and unhinge “long held meanings grounded in social
relationships and cultural objects” (Ibid. 20).
4.3
Gender categories in development
Just as the conceptualization of development has changed through time so has the
understanding of gender and its relation to development processes. Due to changes in
macro level economic- and social -policy the definition of gender as used in organizations
and organs promoting development has formed- and been formed by –the local society,
actors and actions. Gender as a category has gone from focusing on women and welfare to
equity and anti-poverty and to “efficiency and empowerment” (Moser 1989, 1799). These
approaches have been general trends in development policies for the “Third World” that
during recent times have been inclined towards modernization and growth to
“compensatory measures” (Ibid.). In this part I will explain some of the principal
perceptions of gender in development discourse and how this is reflected in research and
the society.
The consideration of gender in development approaches dates back to the seventies when it
was first expressed as a concern about “women in development” (WID). This was born
through “a questioning mood” that did not just pervade development discourses but was
manifested as a critique to it, leading to the examination of basic assumptions (Kabeer
1994, 2). The “women in development approach” started to recognize women and their
22
role in the household as an important factor for societal progress to later be inclined
towards striving for an “understanding of the complexities of women’s employment”
(Moser 1989, 1799). However, according to Naila Kabeer (1994, xi-xii) this frequently
only resulted in textbooks including a chapter about women, development projects with
checklists to “ensure women concerns” and “government departments set[ting] up a
‘women’s desk’ ”. She continues by comparing this approach to “piegeonholing” referring
to the lack of strength and resilience within women’s issues. Additionally, even though the
efficiency approach to women’s participation was effective as a political strategy, the
emphasis was put on what women could do for “development”, leaving the demands on
gender equity on a second place after the creation of positive growth synergies (Miller
1995, i).
“It seems to me that we should be interested in the history of both women and men, that
we should not be working only on the subjected sex any more than an historian of class
can focus entirely on peasants”(Davis 1976, 90).
The turn from WID to the later “gender and development” (GAD) was induced by some
feminist scholars after considering the former approach as reducing the problems of
women to their biological differences with men “…rather than in terms of their gender, i.e.,
in terms of the social relationship between men and women, a relationship in which
women have been systematically subordinated” (Moser 1989, 1800). They wanted to
emphasize the power relations between men and women since the isolation of these
categories was thought to render the invisible men’s role in the institutionalized
subordination of women in development questions (Kabeer 1994, 54). What was
considered “maleness” and “femaleness” was understood as the outcome of cultural
ideologies and the value of a symbolic analysis of gender was found when going deeper
into the social construction of men and women and the social activities that both is
reinforced by- and reinforcing -these categories (Moore 1988, 15-16). This led to gender
research focusing on differentiated access to resources which later, through structural
adjustment programs, encouraged the “efficiency approach” where the purpose is to ensure
effective development through women’s economic contribution (Miller 1995, 18). The
subsequent cut in public social services is made possible through the biased perception of
women’s ability to take on increased responsibilities such as health issues and caring for
young, inducing the dualism of production and reproduction categories in the society.
23
The tendencies related to economic politics identified as neo-liberal are visibly influencing
both men and women through changes in public policy and services, labor market
opportunity and security (or lack thereof), and the division of labor. Munck (2004, 82)
describes capitalism as a “gendered mode of production” (however not saying this as a
contrast to earlier labor markets, thus it is always been segmented in terms of gender and
ethnicity) and that the hierarchies created are a “crucial component in capitalism’s current
expansive phase”. He refers to this phase in globalization as a manifestation “bound up
with ‘masculine’ notions of penetration (by MNCs, for example, in developing countries)
and a forthright macho culture of survival of the fittest in the unregulated market economy
it is founded upon on” (Munck 2004, 82). However, even though capitalism and
globalization are typically seen as masculine productive processes1, its mode of production
creates labor opportunities for women outside of the domestic sphere, or as in conventional
discourse: gender equality through economics2. This division of labor is however very
ambiguous since the women’s traditional reproductive role is actually also strengthened
through capitalistic expansion. As mentioned previously, the crisis of the welfare state,
induced by neo-liberalism’s privatization wave has reinforced traditional gender rules of
women as the caretaker in the society, when public alternatives are reduced.
4.3.1
Production and reproduction
Ideas and values related to a division between what are considered “reproductive roles” here defined using the Moser Gender Planning Framework3 as “childbearing and rearing,
domestic tasks that guarantee the maintenance and reproduction of the current and future
work force (e.g., cooking, cleaning, etc.) and “productive roles” - work done for
remuneration, in cash or kind. (e.g. wage labor, farming, crafts, etc.) have been spread and
institutionalized in many parts of the world in the last century, influenced by dominating
1
See for example Carla Freeman -Is Local: Global as Feminine : Masculine? Rethinking the Gender
of Globalization 2001.
2
See for example World Bank Action Plan for Gender Equality.
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTGENDER/0,,contentMDK:22386117~pageP
K:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:336868,00.html (Assessed on 18/3 2011).
3
The Moser Gender Planning Framework
http://www.devtechsys.com/gender_integration_workshop/resources/review_of_gender_analysis_fra
meworks.pdf
24
economical models. As a consequence the reproduction of labor, such as nourishment,
health, rest and maintenance of environmental functions -all central elements for the
sustainability and the conditions of production, is externalized in many economic calculus.
Apart from these elements, the generational reproduction through birth, care taking and
education for future generations is also externalized. This division, institutionalized as a
part of the expansion of the capitalistic system, coincides with what is considered public
and private functions and is deeply formed by gender perceptions. In discursive
representations in Guatemala, as in many Latin American contexts, the participation in the
formal economy is mainly considered masculine whilst reproductive labor, frequently not
remunerated, are considered feminine, even though this does not necessarily reflect the
reality. These categories and their intrinsic values are, as discussed below in Bourdieu’s
capitals, influencing the decisions of every individual and defining the recognition and
status that an individual can obtain in the social arena.
“Reductionist theories within the social sciences have given rise to reductionist practices,
and are in turn a reflection of reductionist methods.” (Kabeer 1994, ix)
The vision of what development is and the successful paths that will take you there is
forming people and their environment as well as being influenced by them. Research
categories and tools are deeply affected by predominant discourses which creates skewed
results that excludes actors and activities that are important for a functional society. Moser
identifies three generalizing assumptions that, despite another empirical reality, are
reproduced through research and planning. The first is the demographically inaccurate
assumption that the household is built up with the “nuclear family” idea with a husband,
wife and two to three children. Second, the false understanding that the household as a
socio-economic unit distributes the decision-making and power equally between the adult
members. And third, that there is a clear gendered division of labor where the man is the
“breadwinner” and the woman the “housewife” (Moser 1993, 15). These categories are in
terms of empirical data, inadequate for understanding research questions and rather than
respecting all actors in society and their various roles, they manifest stereotypic categories
that minimize the importance of some actors. The gender approach in this case study
intends to go beyond these perceived categories in order to get a deeper and more inclusive
understanding of the territorial dynamics.
25
4.3.2
Gender theory in rural territorial dynamics
As mentioned previously, gender has often been reduced to a study about women or even
to a single entity “the woman”. In contrast, the framework of this study regards gender as
an important factor in the construction of all relations in the society and is therefore
integrated systematically throughout the research, opening up for a deeper understanding
of the rural territorial dynamics and its integrants. As conceptualized in this study the
conceptual framework for gender DTR defines gender as “a socio-cultural system that
regulates, structure and gives meaning to men and women’s roles and relations in the
territory. It influences the construction of actors and social coalitions, the function and
composition of institutions, and the development, distribution and use of tangible and
intangible assets in the territory” (Paulson et al, 2010b). This approach promotes holistic
research that aims to study the reciprocal influence amongst all parts in a system: how the
society creates and strengthens (or undermines and weakens) gender norms and how
gender systems affect territorial dynamics.
Relations between people are not results of purely spontaneous interactions, but rather of
structured ones, guided and influenced by rules established through social processes. Every
individual has capacities with certain characteristics that facilitate or limit their interaction
with other players in the game. Bourdieu describes the formation of this capital as
arrangements created through social perceptions that cause the actor to move and
interrelate in the social space (Bourdieu 1985, 724). Bourdieu theorizes about social,
economic, cultural and symbolic capital. The social capital basically consists in relation
networks that, amongst other contributions, can function as a source of information and
support, as a help when looking for a job or in other situations where one can experience
benefits that others can not due to certain contacts. As expressed by Bourdieu & Wacquant
(1992, 119), “social capital is the sum of the resources, actual or virtual, that accrue to an
individual or group by virtue of possessing a durable network of more or less
institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition”. The economical
capital is what a person possesses in form of income and property or the assets that one has
access to. A person’s cultural resources define his/hers cultural capital. These resources
can be of three types: incorporated as in knowledge, habits and language, objective as
books, arts and other objects considered cultural or institutionalized as in the case of
diplomas and school certificates (Bourdieu 1986, 50). Symbolic capital is whatever type of
26
capital that is perceived through social classifications. It is expressed when certain
qualities, related to the accumulation of various forms of capital, are recognized by others
and attributed the actor, such as authority, prestige, reputation, credits, respect, honor, good
taste, etc (Ibid., 56).
In the arena of this “social game” the actors are distributed and related amongst them,
depending of the volume and constitution of the capital they possess. The position received
is not static and varies depending of the integrants in the game and the relative weight of
ones capital in a determined situation. Consequently the actors are not stable and
homogenous but rather defined in every moment of social interaction (Bourdieu 1985,
725).
Apart from these four different capitals as theorized by Bourdieu, this thesis gives
emphasis to the importance of another dimension –the natural capital. Berkes and Folke
(1993, 2) argue that the natural capital has three major components: non-renewable
resources, renewable resources and environmental services. The function of these services
is interrelated and cannot be substituted by each other. Natural capital is the foundation for
life and living and therefore constitutes the base for the creation of other capitals (Ibid.).
The access or the facility to obtain capital is not distributed equally in the society. The
capital distribution and the power relations between unequal capital crosses dimensions of
age, ethnicity, color, sexuality, occupation and, definitely, gender. The subordination and
hierarchies generated by these inequalities are some of the factors that limit or facilitate the
capital that an individual or group can accumulate, and hence the power to influence
territorial dynamics. These theories of how social institutions and powers are constructed
are highly relevant when it comes to an actor’s capacity to ascend in social contexts. For
example, there are traditions, tendencies and politics that relate and promote economic
capital as something masculine, which is expressed, amongst other situations, in the
unequal pay for the same type of work carried out by women and men and in inheritance
practices that tend to be more beneficial for men than women. Another barrier could be
socially constructed rules that limits the access or the right to certain positions due to them
being considered typically feminine or masculine. One consequence is unequal possession
and control over cultural, social, natural and economical capital. When conceptualizing
gender as a system it becomes a crucial element for the understanding of the territorial
27
dynamics.
5
Findings and discussion
-Gender in discourse and practice
-Case study –Ostúa-Güija watershed, southeast Guatemala
The economic activities together with the reproduction of them are indisputably important
when it comes to forming the territory’s characteristics. The economic growth in the
territory is strongly connected to the primary economical activities that are agriculture
(69% of the EAP) and commerce (22% of the EAP) (Bureau of the Census, 2002).
Additional to these two, migration and following remittance are together with the
reproduction of these activities through the domestic system strongly forming the territory,
both physically and socio-culturally at the same time as it’s being formed by exogenous
and endogenous discourses and practices.
In this study gender is considered as one important factor determining the structure and
organization in these activities and hence impacting the influence each actor have in the
territorial dynamics. I will therefore, in this part, describe the actors in the territory and
how they organize and are organized by territorial activities and the social relations within
them, emphasizing the access to labor, knowledge, value and productive resources and
how it is connected to the territorial gender system and macro development discourse.
5.1
Labor
The access to economic capital is conditioned both through productive and reproductive
labor. However, this access is not divided equally between women and men, a fact that is
forming the activities, the actors and the natural environment. Interesting is that the
supposed division between productive and reproductive labor as respectively male and
female is here shown to be much more clearly manifested in discourse and perceptions (of
researchers and researched people) than in the actual empirical findings of material
realities and practices. Actually, when analyzing further the gender division of
reproductive and productive labor, more than defining the actor it is defining the conditions
under which s/he interacts. I will here describe the conditioning and forming of labor
through reciprocal relations between gender systems in agriculture, commerce, migration
28
and the domestic sphere.
5.1.1
Agriculture
The principal economic activity in the territory is agriculture, engaging as much as 69% of
the labor force documented in the EAP (Economically active population). Amongst the
workers formally employed within the agriculture sector, in Jutiapa and Jalapa, the women
makes up to 10% of the working force (SEPREM4 2009a,b, 16,14). This makes the
remaining 90% of the formal participation in agriculture registered in national surveys
male labor. However, this data does not represent the actual gendered division of labor
within the agricultural activity in the territory. Many men and women, including children,
adults and elderly, are taking part in significant agricultural work, they invest many hours
of labor and make important impacts in the territorial dynamics through their agricultural
participation, without appearing in official data.
There are various methodological tendencies that contribute to making this type of labor
invisible, and as a consequence minimizing the real contribution made by women and other
groups. One tendency is to register data about formal employment hence ruling out nonformal economical activities, individual labor, production for family consumption and
activities called reproductive. This is connected to, as discussed previously through Rist
and Munck, the naturalization of development as economic growth and technology
innovation rather than care taking of the social and biophysical space. Another tendency is
to only ask for one occupation per respondent which unable the registration of diversified
strategies of maintenance, important for the sustainability in many homes and communities
and a common practice in many territories. This approach works against the idea that in
rural areas, the diversity of knowledge, activities and human capital is important for the
biodiversity and the strengthening of community building (Paulson et al, 2010b). Another
limiting tendency is the categorization in national census data of people, grouping
individuals identified as retired, housewives, handicapped and others as “economically
inactive population” in contexts where many of them are carrying out a significant
economic activity.
The methodological tendencies described above are all results of what Harvey calls “the
4
The Woman’s Presidential Department
29
rush to provide cognitive maps” of society. Totalitarian categories are reproduced through
research and researchers, creating statistical “truths” (Harvey 1996, 4). These maps have
become important for evaluation and judgment and are consequently affecting people’s
lives, however inadequate they might be.
Tomato production
One example from the territory that shows that the division of labor is not a clear-cut
between male and female participation and that an analysis exclusively of national census
could be misleading is research made for a value chain about the tomato, an important crop
in the area. When going deeper into the analysis of a certain activity, combining
quantitative and qualitative methods and discourse and practice, the reality is shown to be
more complicated than perceived through standardized ways of measuring.
In the meeting in infrastructure (August 29, 2010) one tomato farmer explained how the
internal organization of the labor is a gendered practice. Whilst women and children are
more related to activities like planting and recollection, men are usually more engaged with
tasks such as irrigation and application of fertilizers and pesticides. This farmer, supported
by others, is categorizing the labor associated to men as “more skilled work” (Meeting on
Infrastructure, August 29, 2010). During and after harvest it is common that more women
than men are employed. According to Maria Farausto (Researcher at IDIES, Guatemala)
women’s presence in tomato farming, an occupation previously associated with male labor,
has increased during the last five years and is today, with seasonal variations, making up to
60% of the labor force (Maria Farausto, e-mail message to author, April 25, 2011).
Participants in the meeting on infrastructure expressed that this is due to the perception that
women are faster and more careful than men executing the same tasks. Apart from these
labor specific qualities, they reflect on the idea that women are perceived more flexible and
docile than men, something that is also influencing this division of labor. Another benefit
when employing female work force is that usually they are assigned lower wages, often
justified by the segregation of tasks seen as unqualified, and the availability for seasonal
and temporal employment (Participant in the meeting on infrastructure, August 29, 2010).
However, according to conversations with tomato producers, Maria Farausto argues that
the salary variations are defined by the type of labor executed, rather than based on the
workers’ sex (Maria Farausto, e-mail message to author, April 25, 2011).
30
Even though women’s participation has increased it is limited to certain chores, something
reflected in the fact that all employers are men except from one woman (Maria Farausto, email message to author, April 25, 2011). This is strengthened by a comment made by a
participant in the “women’s platform (May 6, 2010) when saying: “we’re realizing that we
are a lot of women participating in different labors, but we’re always under the supervision
of a man”. The increase in female labor has surely increased the access to economical
capital but the conditions under which women are participating, are still hierarchically
defined by men. This indicates that the power of capital is not the only factor determining
an actors’ position in society. In fact, as Munck pointed out (2004, 82), capitalism is a
“gendered mode of production” and the degree of agricultural expansion and growth in the
territory is actually conditioned by the existence of gendered hierarchies in the territory.
The massive production of tomato in the region and the labor demand generated has
motivated men and women with own farming land to stop cultivating on their own and
instead incorporate as labor force in the agro-industrial mode of production. As expressed
by a participant in the local actors’ platform (April 1, 2010) “a lot of people abandon their
land for a long period of time and leave to go and work elsewhere. The small producers
can’t move forward and therefore they look for jobs somewhere else.” They express
worries about the concentration of wealth and that the productive transformation has not
been done correctly since it is not guaranteeing food security (local actor’s platform,
October 22, 2009). Monocultures have come to expand under capitalistic influence and the
power within this sector has ended up in the hands of fewer farmers that are employing
labor. This has enabled hierarchies within the production that conveniently is benefitted by
prevailing power structures in the gender system.
5.1.2
Commerce
Another activity forming an important part in the territorial dynamics is commerce,
involving as much as 22% of the economically active population. In this sector the
majority of women working outside of the home will be found. In Jutiapa and Jalapa
women constitute approximately 70% of the total workforce within the commerce
(SEPREM 2009a,b, 14,12).
31
One product whose commercialization and production stands out significantly in one of the
municipalities is the footwear in Santa Catarina Mita. This is a good example to describe
the repercussions that structural changes in an economic activity can have when it comes to
transformations in gender roles and its consequences in terms of capital distribution. In
addition, this example shows how studying with gender system focus permits you to see
and analyze a wider spectrum of activities and actors, all taking part in the territorial
dynamics but often left imperceptible. Additionally it shows that it is not until research
takes into account both discourse and practice that one can understand the implications of
gender dynamics. I will below present results that show that the recognition (or the lack of
it) of actors within the footwear production is defined by gender discourse and practice,
both on micro and macro scale.
Case study -footwear in Santa Catarina Mita
During a long period of time the production of footwear was the principal economical
activity in Santa Catarina Mita and even though it’s importance today has decreased it is
still emblematic in the region. The last 20 years the sector has seen a lot of modifications
that have motivated new dynamics in the territory, within and outside of the footwear value
chain, including transformations in the market, mode of production, demand and actors.
Despite the changing culture and structure around this activity, it continues to be
represented in discourse as masculine work. As frequently the case in manufacturing
industries, the “invisible” actors within the footwear activity are many. This is partly due to
cultural and economical traditions that are limiting the participation and/or recognition of
some.
Footwear workshops are small-scale companies that vary between a one-person business to
having a couple of employees. There are however a pair of examples of workshops where
the employed are almost up to 20 people. Both the interviews and the observations made in
the territory are supporting the vision that the employment in the sector is principally for
men. However, a more detailed study permits us to get another picture where a lot of
women and even children are involved in different parts of this activity as shown in table
1.
32
Table 1: Comparison of data on economical participation obtained through
and estimation of the formal employment vs. a study considering gender in the
footwear activity in Santa Catarina Mita.
Shoe wear Workers in
A study considering formal
A more detailed study
Santa Catarina Mita
employment exclusively
considering gender
dynamics
Men
359 (95%)
409 (86%)
Women
20 (5%)
67 (14%)
Total
379 (100%)
476 (100%)
Source: Own elaboration by author based on the Footwear census 2010.
Using results from the footwear census and observatory estimations, Table 1 shows, the
difference between results of a study only considering formal employment and a study
using more subtle tools that captures different ways of economical participation. In a study
not taking into account people that are not formally employed, only 80% of the real labor
force would be captured, indicating that 95% are men and only 5% women. This leaves
more than half of the women and 12% of the men (mainly children and trainees) working
in this activity without recognition of their participation. This type of omission is common
when economic indicators such as the EAP (economically active population) are used
without complementing tools. Statistical data has an important function in society and is
often perceived as “objective truth” and in addition, institutions executing and presenting
research have an elevated position in society. As a result, data that continuously fails to
visualize certain actors, in this case women and children, affects their value as reproductive
and productive individuals.
The escalating trend amongst the footwear workers to bring their work from the workshop
to the own home is related to the increasing incorporation of children and women in this
activity in the last years (Footwear Census August, 2010, Participatory Observation in the
Territory). Together with the husband, often employed in a workshop, the woman also
participates in the chores of shoe-making, complementing the work in the household. In
some cases even the children participate. This collaboration is usually regarded as informal
as an assistant and as a consequence their real importance is not recompensed or valued in
local or global discourse. Table 2 is demonstrating data from surveys made in 35
workshops and shows a pattern of how a gender system is defining the actors and their role
33
in the industry. The male owners of workshops tend to receive assistance by their partner
in form of unpaid labor whilst in the workshops owned by women, there are no cases of
unpaid assistance.
Table 2: Labor condition of the partner to the workshop owner
Owner
Total
No
Shareholder
“assistant”
according
to sex
“Assistant”
“Assistant”
(non-
(waged)
NR
waged)
Total
35
19
1
12
0
2
Female
8
8
0
0
0
0
Male
26
11
1
12
0
2
NR
1
0
0
0
0
1
Source: Adapted by author from Ana Victoria Pelaez Ponce, IDIES -Guatemala. With data from Footwear
survey. Ostúa-Gûija watershed, July-August 2010.
These numbers are interesting in many ways. First because once more it becomes evident
that categories where only “formal” labor is registered, many actors are left out. Second,
men are to a higher extent owners of workshops and using the partner as free labor whilst
women in the same category work alone. The character of the “assistants” incorporation
can take many forms but even though they can play a crucial role in the activity, they are
not seen as labor force. According to results from interviews and the footwear focus
group5, women and children are helping out in various chores from the actual production
of the shoe to marketing, finance, selling and packing –activities highly important for the
maintaining of the industry.
Just as structural adjustment programs suggests an “efficiency approach” where “effective
development” is promoted through female productive labor (Miller 1995, 18), the idea of
women’s incorporation in productive activities as a solution to economic problems is
adapted in the territory. As expressed by a participant in the local actor’s platform (October
22, 2009), “Another aspect that makes the villages stagnate is that in the families the
woman is not producing. When only one person is working the money is not sufficient.
Previously, due to cultural values, the husband did not permit the wife to work: but now
5
See appendix 8.1 and 8.2 for interview and focus group results
34
they do and the wife’s contribution has reduced poverty”6. However, the women’s lack of
gain in social and economic capital as shown in the agriculture and the footwear industry
in the territory, is challenging the assumption made in global “development programs” that
incorporation in economically productive labor will increase economic gains and promote
social equality.
According to Bourdieu (1985, 725), the lack of recognition of, in this case, women’s
capital as of compared to men’s, is due to that actors are not stable and homogenous but
defined in every moment of interaction. Consequently their position in the “social game” is
decided in relation to the other actors. Considering that men are conditioning the character
of women’s participation in the agriculture and the footwear industry in this territory, their
relative capital will difficultly ascend meanwhile these dynamics remain unaltered. It
therefore becomes relevant to question who is benefitting from the idea of poverty
reduction, promoted by such an important organization as the world bank (amongst others).
As demonstrated, the supposed increase in social, symbolic and economic capital is more
limited to theory than realized in practice. Munck points out that there is something
backwards with a vision that sees poverty as a prime cause of social exclusion thus
research shows that increase in economic gains tend to be concentrated to certain actors
and consequently enhance inequalities (Munck 2004, 23). Additionally, these ideas about
how to push forward development often result in “blaming the poor for poverty” (Ibid, 24),
or, as in this case –blaming the women for inequality.
5.1.3
Migration
Migration is a phenomenon with great importance for the territory due to its influence in
the economic, socio-cultural and environmental dynamics. Data as presented from the
International Migration Organization, 56,279 people from Jutiapa were reported sending
remittances in 2004. Out of this number, 69% are men and 31% women. There are 37,397
households in Jutiapa that receive remittance from out of the country which means as much
as 47% of the total of homes in the department. Out of these, 32,604 are receiving on a
6
Own translation from Spanish: “Otro aspecto que estanca a los pueblos es que en las familias la
mujer no produce. Cuando sólo trabaja una persona no les alcanza. Antes, culturalmente el esposo no
permitía que la mujer trabajara; pero ahora ya se da y el aporte de la mujer que trabaja ha contribuido a
disminuir la pobreza” (Participant in local actor’s platform, October 22, 2009).
35
monthly basis. Out of the total, 10,496 are located in urban areas and 26,901 in rural areas.
The money received is principally invested in family consumption and only 256 homes are
reporting investments in land and agricultural business (Romero, 2009).
The external migration in the territory is related to changes in the internal migration
patterns. In a meeting with the local actor platform they expressed that because of the large
external migration of the territory’s labor force, the supply can no longer cover the demand
within the agriculture sector wherefore workers from outside the territory is employed to
face the demand (local actors’ platform, May 7, 2010). According to research about the
tomato farming, investigator Maria Farausto perceives a correlation with the increase in
external migration, out of which two thirds is executed by men, and the increase of women
labor in the tomato fields (Maria Farausto, e-mail message to author, April 25, 2011).
Both the international and domestic migrations are related to economic and occupational
changes that influences the gender dynamics in the territory. However, migration should
not be seen as the only explanatory factor to these changes. Even though certain
modifications in the gender dynamics are induced by migration, changes in the gender
system permits that migration occurs to a higher extent than before. One example is the
wife of a shoemaker who, without previous experience, went in to the industry when her
husband migrated to the United States (Footwear Focus Group, August 12, 2010).
5.1.4
Domestic sphere
In the women’s platform meetings, comments were made about the double workload that
women experience when incorporating or incorporated in the formal labor market. This
double work load is a result of the expectations the women have, both internal and
external, to take care of all the reproductive work in the home apart from the labor outside
of the domestic sphere. One element that contributes to this systematic overload of work
for women is the lack of acknowledgement of domestic labor as work. One participant in
the women’s platform explained that “in the majority of cases, the domestic labor is not
identified as work so it actually turns out that the work day for a women starts three hours
earlier than the man’s and finishes four hours later. The change has to come from the
increased consciousness amongst men and their participation in the household chores”
(women’s platform June 3, 2010).
36
Domestic labor is not alone excluded from economic analysis thus all aspects of human
reproduction and the natural environment that is not recognized in the market-oriented
rationality, is left undocumented. This logic leaves out the preservation of natural
resources, the labor of the majority of inhabitants and the unpaid reproduction of human
life itself –“not to mention its maintenance and care” (Kabeer 1994, 78). In the survey on
people’s life conditions in the territory, apart from permitting the analysis of multiple
economic activities, we also asked about the gender division of domestic labor and through
this transmitting recognition of the importance of both productive and reproductive work.
Figure 1 shows how common household chores are divided between men and women.
Figure 1: Division of domestic labor between men and women.
Source: Adapted by author from Ana Victoria Peláez Ponce, IDIES, Guatemala. With data from the survey
on life conditions, Ostúa-Gûija watershed, July-August 2010.
As figure 1 tells, there is a marked division of household labor between men and women.
While women are in charge of many chores close to the house, and also away from home,
such as food shopping, men are involved more in the gathering of firewood and farming.
The connection point is the children where the gender division between men and women is
less pronounced.
37
Even though some sources emphasize men’s unwillingness to participate in domestic
chores, it is also important to highlight that there are access barriers to reproductive work
as well. As discussed amongst the participants in the women’s platform (March 25, 2010) a
lot of women are not willing to let their husband help them with household chores. They
also comment that they are teaching their children unwanted patterns of intra familiar
power structures. “Already when the children are small we teach them that the man is the
one who’s in power7” (woman in women’s platform, March 25, 2010).
5.2
Knowledge
Knowledge conditions the access one can obtain to certain functions in society. However,
the access to certain knowledge is strongly influenced by gender systems. What is
considered important knowledge is defined in each context and depending on the actors
and the activities realized but also on hegemonic ideas of what knowledge is, affecting the
local through “development” discourses and research.
5.2.1
Agriculture and schooling
Due to agriculture being a very important economic activity in the territory its natural
characteristics are to a large extent defined through the way this practice is performed. This
physical transformation hence correlates with the large amount of people related to this
activity that through time has become a source of not just labor but also knowledge and
institutions, what represents the social capital related to agriculture. With many people
involved in this activity and the processes around it, they have come to participate in
various ways and with differentiated levels of influence in decision-making. The
participants in the meeting on infrastructure identified as endogenous agents of
“development” the merchants and the farmers that dispose both economic and social
capital (Meeting on infrastructure, August 29, 2010). This facilitates their access to
networks of valuable contacts and the assets necessary to reach a favorable position in the
agriculture sector. These actors have, to a large extent, induced changes in the territory,
forming the physical, social and economical space until today.
7
Own translation from Spanish: “Nosotras, desde que los niños están pequeños les enseñamos que el hombre
es el que manda” (woman in women’s platform, March 25, 2010).
38
The study presented by SEPREM shows that a 76,4% of the employers in the two
departments are men (SEPREM 2009a,b, 15,13). This division indicates a hierarchical
order, favorable to men in the territory that have access to land, technology, highly valued
knowledge and decision making. However, when studying the levels of schooling with
gender-disaggregated data no major difference is shown, which mainly indicates two
things. Primarily, the social, cultural and symbolic capital possibly obtained through
studies does not alter the barriers put up by the gender system and second, maybe even
more importantly, the gender system within education strengthens the prevailing structure.
Once again this shows the importance of disaggregating discourse and practice. Both on
global and territorial level the education is regarded as very important for the development
of individuals and society at large, but in practice its value is conditioned by other factors
such as gender dynamics. Table 3 shows the level of schooling in the territory according
gender.
Table 3: Level of schooling by gender
Level of
TOTAL
Women
Men
Schooling
N
N
N
TOTAL
3860 100% 1942 100% 1804 100% 114 100%
No
575
15%
321
17%
246
14%
8
7%
307
8%
147
8%
157
9%
3
3%
%
%
No Result
%
N
%
Schooling
Preschool
education
Primary
1905 49%
920
47%
908
50%
77
68%
Junior High
487
13%
236
12%
240
13%
11
10%
High School 447
12%
239
12%
198
11%
10
9%
Collage
106
3%
54
3%
48
3%
4
4%
Post
25
1%
20
1%
4
0%
1
1%
8
0%
5
0%
3
0%
0
0%
School
Graduate
Education
Technical
School
39
Source: Adapted by author from Ana Victoria Peláez Ponce, IDIES, Guatemala. With data from the survey
on life conditions, Ostúa-Güija watershed, July-August, 2010.
5.2.2
Participation in public spaces
The access to spaces of decision-making in the territory is, as previously mentioned, often
channeled through capital concerning agriculture and are hence typically male. These
patterns are evident when studying the gendered division of public post within the local
municipal authorities8. In one municipality there are two female counsels, in two others
there are one female counsel and in the forth none (Peláez 2011, 8). However, this is not to
say that equity is necessarily obtained through equal representatives from every sex but
considering that the base of the participants consists of male actors within agriculture it is
likely that decisions concerning the territory will be centered on this activity.
Another space where the intention is to integrate the voice of the local people through a
democratic grass root space of communication is the local action group “The Community’s
Council for Development9” (COCODE). However, these spaces have not managed to
incorporate both women and men thus data from Jutiapa and Jalapa shows that only 23%
of the participants are women (SEPREM 2009a,b, 20,18). When comparing education
amongst female and male participants in the COCODE it is notable that their level of
schooling does most likely not condition their presence thus no greater differences are
registered between men and women (Peláez 2011, 9). Once again this shows that rather
than the knowledge in itself it is the type of knowledge that will position you in this
territory. The obtaining of valued knowledge is in its turn strongly influenced by gender
dynamics. Here a deeper analyze of the participants would be interesting, using categories
that goes further than just identifying male and female presence. As expressed in a meeting
with the women’s platform (October 6, 2010) the few women involved in action groups
and organizations are generally “independent or single”. The reason to this division is
identified as the limits of participation in public spaces commonly put up by husbands
(Ibid).
8
9
Los consejos Municipales
Consejos Comunitarios de Desarrollo (COCODE)
40
5.3
Value
According Bourdieu the composition of an individuals capitals and how s/he is valued by
his or her social surrounding, defines a person’s relative position and power in society.
How to access these capitals and the valuation of them is partly a gendered practice. For
example, what equals high symbolic capital for a woman is not necessarily highly valued
for a man, nor is it accessed to in the same way. In this section I will reflect upon the
symbolic capital obtained through occupational titles and the consumption of valued goods
in the territory.
5.3.1
Consumption
One way of enhancing ones social and symbolical capital is through the consumption of
desired and valued goods. An increase in economical capital is often followed by an
increase in consumption. This has implications on other actors’ relative capital and also on
the environment, which is one of the externalities in this escalating capital hunt.
The migration flow to the United States has created new patterns of consumption in this
territory in Guatemala due to new economic input through remittance and intensification of
socio-cultural exchange. In the local actor’s platform (May 7, 2010) it was discussed that
the price for migration dollars is high and the disintegration of the families is worrying
people in the territory, but due to the lack of economic sources in Guatemala, migration is
necessary for children’s education and the construction of housing. The majority of the
remittance is converted into family consumption, sometimes resulting in new houses and
cars that tend to stand out from the rest of the neighborhood. This does not just create new
consumer patterns in the territory for the ones with increased economic capital, but also
means a new frame of reference for the neighbors and hence their possibility to ascend in
the social arena. Migration as a tool for development through “trickle down effects” of
economical capital is common in the approach to confront poverty. The focus on poverty
alleviation is however criticized for simply being another way of boosting economic
growth through increased consumption. As expressed by Munck (2004, 27) this discourse
parallels the one on “reduction of gender inequality” through the “unleashing [of] the
economic potential of women”.
It is worth investigating further the new consumption patterns induced by migration, the
41
changing social constellations due to family member being dispersed and the
environmental consequences of a new consumer behavior.
5.3.2
Occupational titles
“I’m a farmer” or “I’m a nurse” -the title tells others of who you are and the capitals you
possibly possesses. The socially imbued value of this epithet makes the implications of a
job loss or modification bigger than just a loss of income. Nevertheless, not all titles will
provide you with the same status or recognition and here the division of reproductive and
productive labor becomes very clear. To say “I’m a housewife” does not imply the same
capital as saying “I’m a shoemaker”. Here local value systems get mixed with global ones
and in the territory the power of current development discourses is notable. The access to
economical capital has an increasing importance for the individual, thus it will define the
social capital one can accumulate. Development programs are constantly “empowering” or
“capacitating” actors (especially women) in order to enhance their chances in the formal
and productive labor market and at the same time promoting equality between men and
women. This has encouraged the idea that in order to receive recognition one must have an
economical value, or as one women expressed it: “it feels good to be able to contribute
with something to the home10” when participating in a capacitating course with the aim to
create entrepreneurs within sewing, as if she was not already working for the family’s
well-being.
In interviews with ten of the women participating in the women’s platform meetings it was
striking the amount of people answering that they participated in order to “create new
ideas”, to get “capacitated and to learn more” and due to the “necessity of change”. On the
question what they wish to achieve through these gatherings the answers circulated around
the incorporation of more women in “productive projects” and institutions together with
“personal development”, not just for the individual but also for the community in general
(Interviews with participants in women’s platform11, June 2010). This shows how
productive activities and economical capital not just changes an actor’s position in the
society but also the way s/he appreciates him or herself.
Own translation from Spanish: “Sienta bien portar algo a la casa”. (Woman participating in a
sewing course for female entrepreneurs).
11
See appendix 8.3 for interview questions and synthesis of answers.
10
42
Even if I do not conflate symbolic and social capital I can nevertheless state a certain
relatedness between both: disposing of symbolic capital in form of occupational titles gives
access social capital in terms of networks. This disposing of symbolic capital and access to
social capital is however not the same for men and women. As mentioned earlier, women
and children assisting their husband in the footwear workshop are not receiving pay or
recognition. Here I find an interesting ambiguity. To the contrary to the previously
mentioned “assistants” and their lack of recognition, it was expressed in interviews with
women that are working formally in the footwear sector, that is, employed or owners of
workshops, that being a women working with shoe production does not just mean an
increase in economic capital but also socio-cultural capital. This is due to the admiration
created when women are taking part independently in this productive activity that’s
culturally associated to men (Footwear focus group, August 12, 2010). It is interesting to
see how men are not receiving the same recognition, but to the contrary, it is considered a
“natural” state. This indicates that the value of an occupational title is dependent upon who
sets the conditions for the actor’s participation.
5.4
Productive resources
In a territory where agriculture is the primary economy and income, the most important
resources are land and capital that makes the access to them crucial for individuals’
position in society (Whitehead and Bloom 1992, 46). Gender plays an important role in
defining who can call themselves landowners and who will be granted a loan.
5.4.1
Land
Favorable conditions for agriculture, apart from local knowledge, include the climate,
geography, fertile land and good water disposability. The distribution of these resources
and hence the actors involved in the transformation of them, are to a high degree defined
by the gender system. The differentiated access to land is decided through traditional
practices of heritage and the possibility to accumulate enough economical capital to buy or
rent a plot of land. 40% of the households included in the survey on life conditions
reported that they had access to farmland. Without applying the term “head of household”
in the survey we can still see that the majority of homes with access to farmland tend to
have a male figure as responsible (48% compared to 19% of female responsible for the
43
home). However, when studying how men and women access farmland (bought, rented,
loaned) it does not vary much between sexes.
Variation is however found in the extension of land cultivated that shows that women tend
to work smaller plots than men. This is strengthened with the fact that, as discussed earlier,
there are very few women employees and that big farmers tend to be men.
Table 4: Amount of land cultivated, by gender
Amount in
“manzanas”12
Total
½ Mz. or less
Between ½ - 1
Mz.
Between 1-2
Mzs.
Between 2-3
Mzs.
Between 3-4
Mzs.
Between 4-6
Mzs.
Between 6-10
Mzs.
Between 1120 Mzs.
436
99
143
Total
100%
23%
33%
PERSON FARMING
Men
Women
370
85%
61
14%
78
21%
21
34%
118
32%
23
38%
5
0
2
No Result
1%
0%
40%
96
22%
87
24%
8
13%
1
20%
43
10%
36
10%
5
8%
2
40%
16
4%
16
4%
0
0%
0
0%
20
4%
17
4%
3
5%
0
0%
10
2%
10
3%
0
0%
0
0%
4
1%
4
1%
0
0%
0
0%
Source: Adapted by author from Ana Victoria Peláez Ponce IDIES, Guatemala. With data from the survey on
life conditions, Ostúa-Güija watershed, July-August, 2010.
5.4.2
Credits
The access to credits conditions the possible investment in business or/and the home. I will
therefore analyze how this is distributed between men and women and how gender
conditions the destiny of the credits.
According to data by SEPREM, mapping the distribution of loans between male and
female “head of households” in Jalapa and Jutiapa only 7,6% goes to women (SEPREM
2009a,b, 16,14). This is not to say that banks are rejecting loans to women to a higher
extent than men thus it is likely to believe that men are applying for credits more frequent
12
1 “manzana” equals about 0.7 hectars.
44
than women. However, other barriers due to local and global gender dynamics can define
the access to credits. The culturally constructed idea, induced by development discourse
and institutional categories and practices, that the “head of the household” -the one who
controls the economic assets in the family, is the adult male family member. This, even in
the cases where the male figure is physically absent due to migration or when, for various
reasons, then the woman is the primary source of income, the owner of the house or the
responsible for important decisions. It is however important to note that these numbers are
presenting official statistics that is not taking into consideration informal agreements and
institutions. For example, in the case of loans, it is common practice for women to use
credits in the negotiations for groceries and food inside and outside of the market for the
necessary daily inputs.
In addition to the access to credits, the use of them varies between men and women. Men
invest as much as 75% of the loans in activities related to agriculture whilst the same
inversion for women is only made in 15% of the cases. Women’s credits is to a larger
extent used within “activities non related to agriculture” (44%) and “non specified
activities” (24%) (SEPREM 2009a, 16). This shows how gender dynamics shape physical
changes in the territory. Apart from men being the main credit receivers, they are also the
ones investing the most in agriculture, an industry that implies large changes in the
physical space and, in this territory, impacting the environmental sustainability.
The tendencies of investments within the commercial sector vary between men and
women. Considering the gendered structure of loans and the forms in which they are used
is important for the relation between economical growth, social inclusion or exclusion and
reduction or increase of inequality, especially in a capitalistic society. According to
information from SEPREM concerning the destination of the credits within the commerce,
men tend to invest in activities related to agriculture (SEPREM 2009a,b, 18,16). As a
contrast, women usually direct their investment in the commerce towards non agriculture
activities and what prevails is the business with clothes, shoe wear and groceries. This
differentiated commercial structure is generating an income for a considerable number of
the population. As conversed about in the local actor platform (April 1, 2010) this diversity
is what makes the southeast an entrepreneurial territory. However, the distribution of the
economical investment is evidently also affecting the physical characteristics in the
territory thus a gendered analysis of this aspect is highly relevant for the environmental
45
sustainability and should be further investigated.
6
Conclusion
Identifying a lack of attention to the role of gender and its importance in forming both
social and physical spaces, I analyzed gender systems in the territory Ostúa-Güija
watershed in the southeast of Guatemala, and asked how they interact with dominant
development discourses. The study examined differential access and use of labor,
knowledge, value and productive resources in agriculture, commerce, migration and the
domestic sphere. The result shows that access to capitals within the four studied activities
are strongly influenced by gender systems both in the local territory and in global
discourses reproduced through research and policies.
Agriculture, as the primary economic activity, is important for the territory in economic,
social and environmental terms. Access to land and agriculture-specific knowledge also
mean a favorable social position in the territory with facilitated participation in spaces of
decision-making. This access is a gendered practice, favoring men who, according to the
result, are majority in various spaces of power and also the actors with more hectares to
farm. The loans invested in agriculture are mainly made by men, who have
disproportionate decision-making power over environmental exploitation. Influenced by
discourses of development, the agriculture sector was modified in order to adapt to a more
large-scale mode of production. This shift has induced changes in the territorial gender
dynamics. For example, tomato production in the territory, traditionally related to male
labor, is today employing women up to 60% of the total labor force. However, this
participation is still controlled by men and limited to certain chores perceived as lowskilled labor. This is reflected in the agricultural practice where there is only one female
employer. The capitalist mode of production within agriculture has created hierarchies
between not just men and women, but also between landowners, who now are fewer and
controlling larger amounts of land. These hierarchies within the gender system are actually
conditioning the expansion of economical growth in this activity.
Similar patterns of how gender systems interact to condition men’s and women’s
participation is found in commerce that was studied through a case study on the footwear
industry in one municipality in the territory. It turns out that this activity, traditionally
associated with men, is today to a large extent dependent on female labor, but without this
46
being recognized in discourse. Many male workers are receiving considerable inputs from
unpaid assistants while the few formally employed female workers are working by
themselves. The lack of recognition of this labor does not just result in a loss in economic
capital, but also social capital, because occupational titles affect an actors’ relative value in
the social arena, for not to say the personal perception of oneself. Interesting is however to
see how the women who are participating individually in the footwear industry are
receiving admiration both from women and men, whilst male workers are not thus, their
labor is regarded as natural.
There are various factors influencing in making invisible this labor categorized as
“informal”. Affected by the naturalization of economic growth as an unquestionable
paradigm within development discourses, research categories are often focusing on actors
formally employed in economic productive activities, leaving an enormous amount of
people, frequently women, and their actions outside of statistical representations.
Additionally, conventional development discourses are failing to recognize the labor that
actually provides and reproduces the conditions for productive market driven activities.
Reproductive work provides nourishment, healthcare, rest and maintenance of
environmental functions -all central elements for the sustainability and the conditions of
production are externalized. The biased perceptions that women will mitigate the
consequences of a weak welfare system are proportioning them with a lot of stress and
overload of work.
In the territory there is a strong belief in development through efficiency approaches on
economic growth and poverty reduction. Equality between men and women is promoted,
both on local and global level, through empowerment of women and an increased
incorporation in economic productive activities. This is also seen as a solution to poverty.
However, this study shows that in this territory the supposed increase in economic, social
and symbolic capital is more discursive than it is put in practice. As long as men condition
the women’s participation in society, the recognition of their presence will still be limited
to perceptions on gendered distribution of capital represented in skewed statistics.
Institutionalized ideas about what development is and how it should be obtained have led
to a distortion in research and society, making indicators of good development often
prominent where environment and social relations are being exploited in unsustainable
ways. The aim with this case study is to visualize the role of gender systems in the
47
formation of social and physical spaces and to contribute to the development of more
comprehensive research that will facilitate more equitable and sustainable development
discourses and practices.
7
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8
8.1
Appendices
Interviews with three workshop owners, August 17, 2010
Entrevista 17/8 2010-Nery Danilo Garcia, dueño de taller.
Diseño
Copiar modelos que ven (él y la esposa) en el mercado, revistas etc. Él crea moldes.
Produc
Dueño (1)
ción
Actore
s
Tareas Hace de todo.
Producción, venta,
administración
Datos
Adicio
nales
Danilo tiene 5
empleados pero
tres de ellos
trabajan en su
propia casa.
También trabaja
con zapatos
ortopédico.
Alistador (2)
Hace el corte según el
molde y lo cose.
Dos hombres. Hay pocos
alistadores y es lo que más
cuesta aprender. Diseña
las partes más visibles del
zapato.
Ensuelador (3)
Pega el cuero, la tela o la
cuerina a la horma
utilizando una pegadora.
Calientan la horma y la
suela en la activadora y
se pega en una pieza.
3 hombres. Un trabajo
que requiere menos
formación que el
alistador.
Esposa
Cuida a la casa y a los
hijos.
Ayudan con el empaque.
Cuando su esposo
estuvo en los Estados
Unidos ella llevaba la
empresa y producía los
zapatos.
No tienen interés de seguir dentro de
la actividad zapatera. Estudian otra
cosa.
Producción -Insumos
56
Hijas (2)
Compra los insumos en la Cooperativa por un precio especial para los socios. Algunas maquinas solo tiene la cooperativa pero están disponibles para el uso
de los zapateros por un precio por hora. Compra: Maquinas, hormas, forros, hilo, sintéticos, elásticos, plataformas, esponjas, cuero, horquillas, remaches,
manta, cartón, pegamento, tela
Venta -Actores
Tareas
Dueño
Datos adicionales
Esposa
Sale a vender en Guatemala y
vende en la tienda. Mantiene
contacto con los compradores.
Van a Jutiapa, Chicimula, Jalapa,
Cobán, San Cristobal.
“Ayuda” con la venta fuera y dentro
de la casa y tareas administrativas
como llamadas a clientes.
Hijas (2)
Ayudan con la venta en la casa
Consumo
Clientes
Que es lo que más
venden?
Tiene unos clientes fieles que vuelven a comprar. Confian en la calidad de sus productos y lo prefieren ante los fabricados aunque
sean más baratos.
Depende de la temporada pero sobre todo zapato formal. La temporada con más venta es entre agosto - diciembre. En septiembre
hay desfile (caminata) y muchos padres compran zapatos para los niños.
Reciclaje
Hace llaveros para venta menor. Como pasa tiempo hace carteras de las sobras pero no para venta.
Información Adicional
Han logrado hacer 350 pares/semana - aprox. 1200 pares/mes. Pero lo normal son 100 pares/semana.
La temporada más critica es abril - julio por ser invierno. Durante esta época trabajan para hacer almacén. La temporada que más venden es de agosto diciembre. Eso por la celebración el 15 de septiembre de la independencia y los desfiles escolares. En diciembre por navidad y también por la cosecha de
café. La gente pide su producto porque se confia de la calidad y sus conocimientos. Pero cada vez se hace más difícil vender calidad porque la gente esta
57
pidiendo cantidad.
De químicos usa: thinner, pegamento, 5002 (para limpiar suelas).
Entrevista 17/8 2010 - Danilo Hernandez Morales
Diseño
Saca ideas de revistas y en la calle. Lleva las ideas a la cooperativa para que el diseñador ahí le saque el modelo.
Prod
ucció
n
Actor
es
Tarea
s
Datos
adici
onale
s
Dueño (1)
Alistador (2)
Hace de todo.
Producción, venta,
administración
Hace el corte según el
molde y lo cose.
Danilo tiene 3
empleados que
trabajan en su propia
casa.
Dos hombres. Prefieren
trabajar en su casa. Danilo
les lleva el material.
Ensuelador (1)
Pega el cuero, la tela o la
cuerina a la horma. Falta
información de las
maquinas disponibles.
1 hombre. A veces Danilo
le ayuda con esta tarea.
Aprendices
Esposa
Ayudantes. Echar pegamento, el
empaque.
Cuida la casa y ayuda con
el empaque de vez en
cuando.
Un niño joven.
La esposa se encarga de la
casa y los hijos.
Producción -Insumos
Compra los insumos en la Cooperativa por un precio especial para los socios. Compra: Maquinas, hormas, forros, hilo, sintéticos,
elásticos, plataformas, esponjas, cuero, horquillas, remaches, manta, cartón, pegamento, tela
58
Venta -Actores
Dueño
Atiende
a
clientes
en
la
tienda.
Tareas
Datos adicionales Solo vende en la tienda. También vende zapato chino como favor de una amiga que tiene tienda.
Consumo
Clientes
Qué es lo que más
venden?
Sobre todo gente de aldeas.
Todos los modelos, dependiendo de la temporada.
Reciclaje
Arregla zapatos usados cuando tiene tiempo.
Información Adicional
Es socio de la cooperativa por “la unidad”. Utiliza la maquinaria que tiene la cooperativa. Es difícil encontrar mano de obra ahora “porque hay muchos jóvenes
vagos que andan en la calle mientras sus padres les mantienen desde los estados unidos”.
Entrevista 17/8 2010 -Presidente de la Cooperativa Nery Danilo Garcia
La Cooperativa
La Cooperativa tiene 14 años. Nació en 1996 que es el mismo año que entró el alcalde a su puesto y los ha estado apoyando desde entonces. El alcalde
formó el instituto nocturno para que hubiera la posibilidad como trabajador de sacar básico. Muchos zapateros se formaron. Hoy la municipalidad les está
ayudando con unos insumos para la construcción de un edificio con locales que van a alquilar. Adicionalmente quieren arrancar un taller que producirá bajo un
nombre común de la cooperativa. Quieren contratar a mujeres alistadoras porque tienen buena mano con la costura. Hoy hay más mujeres que se animan
59
trabajar como alistadoras porque hay maquinas que hacen el corte que hace que este trabajo sea menos duro.
Hoy la cooperativa tiene 21 socios/as en 10 talleres.
La cooperativa vende material prima a un coste más bajo a los socios. A los demás zapateros también venden pero por otro precio. Los zapateros que no son
socios también pueden utilizar la maquinaria por el mismo coste por hora.
Hace 25-30 años era mejor visto ser zapatero. El salario semanal y no mensual llamaba la atención a la gente. Hoy la gente prefiere conducir tuc tuc. Sacan
más o menos el mismo dinero pero trabajan sin presión y pueden estar en la calle en vez de estar en un taller. Hoy no hay aprendices.
60
8.2
Synthesis from Footwear focus group, August 12, 2010.
(Se pidió a los participantes que llenaran fichas de colores que correspondían a
una actividad diferente; compras, fabricar, financiamiento, venta y otra actividad.
Ahí fueron colocando las tareas que hacen dentro de cada actividad
FICHAS
- actividades que hacen los actores en la producción de calzado.
ACTiVIDADE
S DE
COMPRAS
FABRICAR
Pedir por
teléfono
Trabajar con
zapato
ortopédico
Comprar:
Maquinaria
Herramientas
Hormas
Sintético
Piel
Suela
Adornos
Viajar a las
tiendas de
materiales y
herramientas.
Viajar a fabricas
para ver nuevos
materiales.
Diseño,
Sacar moldes,
Cortar piezas,
Elaborar el
corte, Formarlo,
Coserlo
(a la capital y El
Salvador)
FINANCIAMI
ENTO -ir al
banco,
llamar por
tele
Préstamos,
créditos en
bancos.
VENTA
OTRA
ACTIVIDAD
CUALQUIER
A
Conocer y
demostrar
productos a
clientes y
tiendas
potenciales.
Convencer los
clientes de la
buena calidad
de producto.
Diferenciar
estilos.
Viajar buscando
compradores en
Guatemala.
Alistador: hace
la parte superior
(corte).
Ensuelador:
hace la parte
inferior
(ensuelador).
Día laboral de 7
a 5.
Distribución de
productos a
clientes.
Venta directa
desde la casa.
Cadena de Valor de Calzado en Santa Catarina Mita -Borrador
Diseño
Producción
Distribución/V Consumo
enta
Reciclaje
Mirar los pies de
la gente.
Alistador: hace
la parte superior
Conocer y
demostrar
Llaveros
61
Pequeñas
modificaciones
Copiando estilos
de otra gente.
No hay quien se
dedique a sacar
nuevo sino más
que nada sacar
fotos y copiar.
Preguntar a la
esposa. Como
le gustaría un
estilo de
zapatos. Dibujos
-diseños
propios.
De botas no hay
mucha
variación. El
diseño no varia
mucho. Sacar
diseño de
revistas.
A veces diseño
por pedido.
(corte).
Ensuelador:
hace la parte
inferior
(ensuelador).
Sacar moldes,
Cortar piezas,
Montarlo en la
horma,
Elaborar el
corte, Formarlo,
Coserlo
Día laboral de 7
a 5.
productos a
clientes y
tiendas
potenciales en
Guatemala.
Viajar para
convencer los
clientes de la
buena calidad
de producto.
Trabajar con
zapato
ortopédico
Venta directa
desde la casa.
Distribución de
productos a
clientes.
Diferenciar
estilos.
62
No hay muchas
sobras
8.3
Interviews with participants in women’s platform, June, 2010.
-Interview questions and synthesis of answers.
Pregunta
¿Qué la motivó a usted incorporarse en el grupo
de mujeres?
¿Qué la motivó a usted incorporarse en el grupo de
mujeres?
¿Desde cuándo participa en el grupo de
mujeres? (Indicar si desde la primera, la
segunda o la tercera reunión)
¿Qué ha aprendido en el grupo de mujeres?
¿Qué ha hecho con lo que ha aprendido en el grupo
de mujeres?
¿Le ha cambiado algo –en su vida- lo que se ha
platicado en el grupo de mujeres?
¿Para qué puede servir un grupo de mujeres,
como éste en el que está participando?
¿Hay algo que usted quisiera hacer para el
desarrollo de este territorio? ¿Qué es?
¿Qué necesita usted para hacer que se dé ese
cambio?
¿Tiene interés de seguir participando? ¿Por qué?
¿Qué temas le gustaría que se tratara en las
próximas reuniones?
Resumen Respuestas
La necesidad y el interés propio por el tema.
Para generar nuevas ideas y aprender más.
Aportar algo para la comunidad.
La motivación de las participantes. Seguir
aprendiendo. La necesidad de cambio.
5 Primera, 5 Segunda
Como identificar causas y problemas. Valorarse
más como mujer.
Transmitir ideas en el trabajo (sobre todo a otras
mujeres).
Ha fortalecido a muchas, iniciativas propias.
Valorarse. Más motivación para cambio.
Para muchas cosas. Generar un proyecto en la
comunidad. Para motivar a más mujeres a
participación. Crear grupos de mujeres líderes.
Más participación de las mujeres en la sociedad.
Charlas y proyectos en la comunidad. Proyectos
productivos.
Participación y apoyo de instituciones y
motivación de mujeres.
SI! Para el desarrollo personal y la sociedad. Es
importante seguir creando ideas e iniciativas
positivas.
Saber de los derechos que tienen las mujeres, el
sistema legal y donde uno acude para recibir
apoyo.
Palabras claves: Participación, Motivación, Valorarse, Los derechos de las
mujeres, Aprender, Capacitar, Iniciativas, Necesidad de cambio, Proyectos
productivos, Identificar ideas y problemas, Hacer visible las mujeres.
63