Thesis (M.Sc. Agriculture (Agricultural Economics) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Agriculture has long been argued to be the dominant sector of the South African economy. Despite the huge agricultural potential of the country, the agricultural sector is underperforming in Less Developing Countries (LDCs) to some extent because female small-scale farmers, who play a vital role in agriculture, encounter credit constraints because of their gender and this in turn reduce their productivity. Therefore, the gender gap in terms of access to credit indicates that there is a need to reassess the problem of credit access by small-scale farmers on the basis of gender. This study was carried out in the Greater Letaba Municipality (GLM) which is situated in the Mopani District of Limpopo Province, with the aim of analysing factors that influence formal credit access by both female and male small-scale farmers. Structured questionnaires were employed to collect the data for the analyses from 140 sampled small-scale farmers (70 males and 70 females) selected using stratified random sampling technique. The findings of the probit regression model discovered that gender, extension services, land ownership, age, collateral and farm size had a significant positive influence on small-scale farmers` access to formal credit in the GLM. Additionally, the findings further revealed that household size, farming experience, farm-income, marital status had an insignificant negative influence on the small-scale farmers` access to formal credit whereas education level had an insignificant positive influence on the small-scale farmers` access to formal credit. On average, male and female small-scale farmers with access to formal credit were 71 % and 29 %, respectively whereas the male and female small-scale farmers without access to formal credit were 35% and 65%, respectively. The female small-scale farmers` perceptions towards the credit system that were derived from the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) are as follows: (i) male smallscale farmers effortlessly get credit from banks contrasted with their female counterparts, (ii) small-scale farmers with more education and collateral tend to access formal credit than their counterparts and (iii) small-scale farmers who are nearest to iii the banks are more likely to access credit than small-scale farmers who are far away. Based on the study findings, a set of recommendations for achieving equitable formal credit access by male and female small-scale farmers were put forward. / National Research Fund (NRF)

This diploma thesis A Gender Analysis of Selected Novels of Miloš Urban researches two concrete literary texts, novels Sedmikostelí and Lord Mord, which are analysed from gender perspective. By using two methods, feminist "resisting reading" and discursive analysis, there are uncovered various ways of female's characters construction, which are put in the social and cultural context. Theoretically the work is patterned on Judith Fetterley's concept, which was created during second wave of feminism, and it is connected to new poststructuralist and deconstructivist approaches. In this theses literature is perceived as space of impressing and encountering different discourses. Senses, categories and relations, incuding gender relations, are deconstructed in this space. This theses's core is the analysis of different categories and forms of femininity, which are reproduced in Urban's texts. It tries to show the possibility to read literary text "against the hair" and to not succumb to its interpellations. In this way it stresses personality of reading individual and his/her ability to complete/reshape text during every single process of reading and to produce new senses and categories. Keywords: feminism, gender analysis, Lord Mord, Sedmikostelí, Urban Miloš, resisting reading, women characters

This thesis discusses the contrasting publication and reception histories of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre (1847) and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights (1847) and the complex role of Victorian gender norms in shaping those histories. In addition, the thesis examines the interplay between the Brontes’ works and their dialogues with Victorian gender norms and expectations of women on the creation of modern intertextual interpretations such as the Twilight (2005) and Fifty Shades of Grey (2011) novel series. The publication histories of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights can be best understood in relation to the social context provided by the gender norms and pressures that governed (or sought to govern) women’s behavior during the nineteenth century. Emily and Charlotte’s novels both opposed these gendered social norms to varying degrees but received widely different receptions during their lifetimes. Emily’s text was relatively negatively received and Charlotte attained literary success. An analysis and discussion of the interplay between their publication histories, the social norms and pressures that shaped those histories, and contemporary responses to the main female and male characters in their novels, Catherine Earnshaw, Heathcliff, Edgar Linton, Jane Eyre, and Mr. Rochester, can shed light on their opposing receptions. In addition, this thesis explores how a gendered analysis of the effect of Victorian social norms and pressures on these texts and their receptions illuminates how modern appropriations by popular series novels Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey interpret anew the gender tropes the Brontes explored in their narratives. The characters in these novels, this thesis argues, follow a comparably gendered pattern of behavior in comparison to their literary predecessors. This thesis reads the female and male characters created by E.L. James and Stephenie Meyer for the ways they echo both the characterizations in the Bronte novels and the social and gendered pressures to which they conform. The connected characterization highlights female self-consciousness, morality and sexual innocence, and a desire for wealthy dominant male partners with sexual and emotional dysfunction. Finally, it is important to place this discussion within the wider cultural narrative that includes contemporary cultural engagement with these ‘popular’ interpretations of the Brontes’ work as a piece that fits into the larger archive of women’s culture.

This thesis reviews the participation of Tłı̨chǫ women in the environmental assessment (EA) of the NICO project proposed by Fortune Minerals Limited. Undertaken in 2012 in the Northwest Territories, this particular EA saw a precedential engagement between traditional knowledge and western science. Although this EA did not take a gendered approach, Tłı̨chǫ women’s stories and participation in the EA supported the Tłı̨chǫ Government’s interests throughout the review process and in the final mitigation measures. Predominate scholarship does not typically cast Indigenous women as participants in or beneficiaries of EAs and resource extraction projects. Results from this thesis support more recent scholarship that urges for an ethnographic and contextual analysis of each scenario. Ethnographic methods helped me to reveal the culturally specific, diverse and complex ways Tłı̨chǫ women participated and shared their stories in the Fortune Minerals EA. Tłı̨chǫ women’s stories, I found, were important and relevant to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board’s assessment of the potential social and ecological impacts of the NICO project. I conclude that this EA is exemplary of Indigenous women’s agency within a regulatory process and offer suggestions for how to incorporate a gender-based analysis into future EA processes. / Graduate / 0733 / 0326 / janellek@uvic.ca

Despite New Zealand receiving the number one ranking for ease of doing business in a major international comparative survey of compliance requirements, SME owners continue to rate compliance as a significant concern. This research project set out to investigate why this was so. The qualitative research undertaken for this thesis involved case study interviews with six SME owners. A resource-based approach was taken, looking at the resources SME owners needed to address the compliance task, and how they sourced and applied these. The scope of the study extended beyond the confines of the workplace to encompass the impact of compliance on the personal lives of SME owners and their families. Firkin’s model of entrepreneurial capital was applied and extended. Accordingly, the study encompassed an examination of economic, human, social, cultural and personal capital. An original concept, temporal capital, was developed to address the application of ‘potentially productive time’ as a resource. The findings are applied to a discussion of the Quality Regulation Review currently underway in New Zealand. It is recommended that SME issues could be more comprehensively addressed by incorporating screens within the Business Cost Calculator that estimate the relative psychic and opportunity costs associated with proposed regulations. A gender analysis of the compliance task was also undertaken. This revealed that the impact of compliance measures may be disproportionately borne by those whose business and personal lives are intertwined, primarily women. The invisibility of these workers has contributed to their needs being inadequately addressed by traditional processes of consultation and data analysis. The thesis concludes that it is not the regulatory regime alone that determines ease of doing business. It is the match between the requirements of the regime and the compliance-related entrepreneurial capital accessible to those subject to it. Recommendations relate therefore, to improving both the institutional capital of the regulator and the compliance-related entrepreneurial capital accessible to the SME.

In this study, I have focused on the process for an eventual reunification of North and South Korea. In this process, Korean political, economic, cultural and religious issues are necessarily present. My study focuses on cultural and religious factors. I adopt the German reunification as a case study. The German reunification process provides Koreans with lessons about the negative changes in the status of German women since the German reunification caused extreme instances of the loss of status and economic opportunity for women. German reunification shows that the unequal situation and systems in society were not only due to political positions. Strong religious factors deeply influenced the German mentality. A similar religion-factor is at work in North Korean society which is influenced by Confucianism and in South Korean society which is influenced by Confucianism and conservative Christianity. I argue that religion is one of the major factors in the political culture of Korea, and religion can either assist a fair and equal process for both women and men or it can in a biased way maintain a male-oriented form of reunification. Consequently, the cultural and religious factors in this process of reunification must include an equalization of women and men. This can only take place if Korean women are major participants in the entire reunification process. There is a serious need for a reunification theology which incorporate gender into Korean theology, thus providing a 'feminist reunification theology.' A 'feminist reunification theology' presents basic theological principles that will help build an egalitarian community. There are three important ways to include women's concern for true reunification: 1) The creation of an egalitarian community in work, family and society; 2) The restoration of humanity by healing love and forgiveness through the power of Cross; and 3) The need for religion to be reformed in which a women can be a co-leader in family, church and nation.

Abstract This thesis investigates the extent to which gender considerations are being incorporated into the planning and policy making of the public transport system in Queensland, Australia. Using public transport in South East Queensland (SEQ) as a case study, this thesis analyses why and how gender issues are still being overlooked and excluded from mainstream planning. It investigates the application of a gender analysis approach in theory and practice and provides recommendations for integrating a gender perspective in the development of public transport policy. The study is beneficial in terms of making contributions to promote better understanding of how feminist theory could enhance the development of public transport policy. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed. Participants were selected from different demographic groups (politicians, bureaucrats, academics, women’s subgroups and individuals from the broader community) using theoretical/purposive sampling methods. The collection and analysis of data were guided by feminist sociological theory as a framework and gender analysis was utilised in reviewing transport research, policies, programs, plans and legislation. The thesis findings showed that there are gender differentiated behaviours between men and women in relation to their transport needs. In particular, the manner in which men and women behave is linked to an array of underlying factors such as gender relations, the social role of women and their personal circumstances, household structure, transport-disadvantage issues, and their broader socio-economic environment. The research noted that gaps exist in the current public transport delivery in SEQ. Three main categories of issues were identified namely key gender issues, gender-obscured issues and gender-neutral issues. The key gender issues included personal safety and security, time-space pressured travel, lack of adequate facilities, driver’s knowledge, skills and attitudes, mobility-constraint issues and features of public transport that have gender impacts. The gender-obscured issues included language difficulty, cost and infrequency of service. The gender-neutral issues included but not limited to public transport design, unequal distribution of transport services and impacts specific to areas outside the TransLink network. The research highlights how the issues interlock with the social, economic, cultural, structural and political factors of the environment in which women and men live. The thesis concludes that there is a lack of effective engagement with women, and that greater attention to gender consideration in developing public transport policies is required. While Queensland State Government has made a commitment to improving public transport provision for women, it appears that such rhetoric has not yet been translated into practice. The research also noted that the practicality and political implications of transport policy seem to obtain a higher priority in decision-making domains than gender considerations. Failure to examine both ends of the gender continuum in service delivery will make more difficult the development of public transport policy as a gender-sensitive social policy. Furthermore, public transport policy making should not be undertaken in isolation from other planning activities. Other considerations outside the traditional planning approach have to be examined, so planners will have a greater appreciation of, not only the needs of the conventional public transport users, but also of those not belonging to this category including different subgroups of women. Policy planning often overlooks the construction of women as an homogenous category, without considering that they are a heterogeneous group with tremendous differences in age, ethnicity, religion and class, thus requiring different considerations for policy intervention. Policy planning has been constructed as an exercise with a focus on a narrowly defined scope and immediate concerns, paying little attention to long-term impacts on a broader and holistic level. The consideration of gender in transport planning is a case in point – gender considerations are important in transport planning not only because there are significant differential impacts between men and women, but also because in the long run, these impacts in turn will have great economic and social implications. Economically, the lack of consideration of gender issues in public transport often results in increased travel time for women, leading to loss in productivity for the economy. Socially, difficulties and inaccessibility of public transport for women, particularly in relation to performing and balancing their care and work duties could also lead to increased stress and tensions, affecting family relations and wellbeing, would also incur considerable social costs. Policy planning tends to assume the position of policy makers and rarely considers the policy impacts from a user or benefactor perspective. In the case of public transport planning, how best an experiential perspective rigorously incorporate the users and gender point of view, will require not only consultation but also political will and commitment. A true incorporation of gender consideration into public transport planning will also require the support of other social policies including welfare policies. Hence, the thesis argues that new ways of researching, designing and planning for public transport as a gendered set of practices are required. Keywords public transport planning, gender-sensitive policy, gender equity, women and transport, feminism and transport planning, gender analysis, policy development, and feminist sociology. Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications (ANZSRC) 120506 - Transport Planning (40%); 160512 - Social Policy (20%); and 169901 - Gender Specific Studies (40%).

Abstract This thesis investigates the extent to which gender considerations are being incorporated into the planning and policy making of the public transport system in Queensland, Australia. Using public transport in South East Queensland (SEQ) as a case study, this thesis analyses why and how gender issues are still being overlooked and excluded from mainstream planning. It investigates the application of a gender analysis approach in theory and practice and provides recommendations for integrating a gender perspective in the development of public transport policy. The study is beneficial in terms of making contributions to promote better understanding of how feminist theory could enhance the development of public transport policy. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed. Participants were selected from different demographic groups (politicians, bureaucrats, academics, women’s subgroups and individuals from the broader community) using theoretical/purposive sampling methods. The collection and analysis of data were guided by feminist sociological theory as a framework and gender analysis was utilised in reviewing transport research, policies, programs, plans and legislation. The thesis findings showed that there are gender differentiated behaviours between men and women in relation to their transport needs. In particular, the manner in which men and women behave is linked to an array of underlying factors such as gender relations, the social role of women and their personal circumstances, household structure, transport-disadvantage issues, and their broader socio-economic environment. The research noted that gaps exist in the current public transport delivery in SEQ. Three main categories of issues were identified namely key gender issues, gender-obscured issues and gender-neutral issues. The key gender issues included personal safety and security, time-space pressured travel, lack of adequate facilities, driver’s knowledge, skills and attitudes, mobility-constraint issues and features of public transport that have gender impacts. The gender-obscured issues included language difficulty, cost and infrequency of service. The gender-neutral issues included but not limited to public transport design, unequal distribution of transport services and impacts specific to areas outside the TransLink network. The research highlights how the issues interlock with the social, economic, cultural, structural and political factors of the environment in which women and men live. The thesis concludes that there is a lack of effective engagement with women, and that greater attention to gender consideration in developing public transport policies is required. While Queensland State Government has made a commitment to improving public transport provision for women, it appears that such rhetoric has not yet been translated into practice. The research also noted that the practicality and political implications of transport policy seem to obtain a higher priority in decision-making domains than gender considerations. Failure to examine both ends of the gender continuum in service delivery will make more difficult the development of public transport policy as a gender-sensitive social policy. Furthermore, public transport policy making should not be undertaken in isolation from other planning activities. Other considerations outside the traditional planning approach have to be examined, so planners will have a greater appreciation of, not only the needs of the conventional public transport users, but also of those not belonging to this category including different subgroups of women. Policy planning often overlooks the construction of women as an homogenous category, without considering that they are a heterogeneous group with tremendous differences in age, ethnicity, religion and class, thus requiring different considerations for policy intervention. Policy planning has been constructed as an exercise with a focus on a narrowly defined scope and immediate concerns, paying little attention to long-term impacts on a broader and holistic level. The consideration of gender in transport planning is a case in point – gender considerations are important in transport planning not only because there are significant differential impacts between men and women, but also because in the long run, these impacts in turn will have great economic and social implications. Economically, the lack of consideration of gender issues in public transport often results in increased travel time for women, leading to loss in productivity for the economy. Socially, difficulties and inaccessibility of public transport for women, particularly in relation to performing and balancing their care and work duties could also lead to increased stress and tensions, affecting family relations and wellbeing, would also incur considerable social costs. Policy planning tends to assume the position of policy makers and rarely considers the policy impacts from a user or benefactor perspective. In the case of public transport planning, how best an experiential perspective rigorously incorporate the users and gender point of view, will require not only consultation but also political will and commitment. A true incorporation of gender consideration into public transport planning will also require the support of other social policies including welfare policies. Hence, the thesis argues that new ways of researching, designing and planning for public transport as a gendered set of practices are required. Keywords public transport planning, gender-sensitive policy, gender equity, women and transport, feminism and transport planning, gender analysis, policy development, and feminist sociology. Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications (ANZSRC) 120506 - Transport Planning (40%); 160512 - Social Policy (20%); and 169901 - Gender Specific Studies (40%).

Ce travail se concentre sur la place et le statut des femmes dans l’économie informelle. Qu’est ce qui donne à ces femmes l’élan et le courage de travailler dans des conditions précaires et défavorisées ? Quelles sont les caractéristiques distinctives des stratégies dont elles s’inspirent transcender leur position structurellement défavorisée au sein de l’économie ? Quelles sont les barrières auxquelles elles continuent de se heurter dans leurs efforts en vue de lutter contre les injustices de la société ? Afin de répondre à ces interrogations, nous avons réalisé en 2012 une enquête représentative auprès d’un échantillon de 1016 ménages dans la wilaya de Béjaia, parmi 783 femmes actives, un tiers des occupées exerce dans l’informel. L’analyse en coupe instantanée des données de l’enquête met en évidence l’hétérogénéité du secteur informel féminin (diversité des activités, raisons et niveau d’informalité variable, disparités salariales à l’égard des femmes). Celui-ci apparaît ni prépondérant, ni marginal. Nous distinguons deux groupes de femmes informelles, celles ayant des activités de subsistance et celles qui sont juste capables de satisfaire leurs besoins de base. L’analyse multidimensionnelle a permis de cerner différentes typologies de celles-ci (les travailleuses à domicile : couturières, les sous-traitantes de produits alimentaires, les nourrices, les coiffeuses…). L’éducation limitée, le manque de qualification, la richesse du ménage et les normes sociales jouent un rôle important dans l’intégration des femmes au marché du travail informel. Ces facteurs d’ordre économique et socioculturel accréditent l’idée de l’existence d’un secteur informel de survie pour les femmes et mettent en lumière leur rôle de reproduction sociale et non d’accumulation. / This work focuses on the position of women working in the informal economy. What gives these women the momentum and the courage to work in precarious and poor conditions? What are the distinctive features of the strategies that inspired them transcend their structurally disadvantaged position in the economy? What are the barriers they continue to face in their efforts to fight against society's injustices? To answer these questions, we conducted in 2012 a representative survey with a sample of 1016 households in the wilaya of Bejaia; among 783 women employed, one third exert informal activities. The cross-sectional analysis of the survey highlighted the heterogeneity of women in the informal sector. It appears that it is neither leading nor marginal. We distinguish two groups of informal women, those with subsistence activities and those who can barely meet their basic needs. Multivariate analysis identified different categories (homeworkers: dressmakers, sub-contracting food providers, nurses, hairdressers). Poor education, lack of qualifications, household wealth and the social norms play an important role in the integration of women in the informal labor market. These economic and socio cultural factors support the idea of the existence of an informal sector of survival for women and emphasize their role regarding social reproduction, not accumulation.

The subject of this thesis (Images of femininity and masculinity in Ještěd novels by Karolína Světlá) is a gender analysis of selected prose of Karolína Světlá, focused specifically on the works such as Vesnický román, Kříž u potoka, Frantina, Kantůrčice and Nemodlenec. The theoretical part presents basic principles, approaches and methods of the feminist literary theory including concepts focused on analyses of power and domination out of which I mostly use the work by Pierre Bourdieu. The theoretical part also contains positioning the writer's work within the literary-historical context and introducing source texts. The core of the thesis is a gender analysis based on my interpretation of texts and the method of resistant reading that concentrates on specific gender aspects in the entire series of works - the subject of my interest is creating masculinity and femininity (including gender attributes and roles or myths and archetypes), narration of the story from a gender perspective, forms of motherhood and fatherhood, topics of power, violence and sexuality. Attention is also paid to the motives of a victim or romantic love. Not only was this part greatly inspired by the work of foreign authors (Bourdieu, Beauvoir, Pratt), but also by many Czech studies and books applying approaches of the...