The dissertation examines the coping strategies of women curio sellers of the Durban Beachfront. In order to know the coping strategies employed the study looked at the problems that the curio sellers face. The understanding of the women's coping strategies by the service providers while addressing the needs of the curio sellers was also examined. The Fieldwork was conducted at the Durban Beachfront among a total of 35 women drawn through the accidental and snowball sampling techniques. Findings: Women curio sellers experience problems related to recognition of their work, capitaVcredit, shelter, accommodation, crime and laws that impede their business operations. Though these problems are quite crippling, women are not entirely helpless. They cope. The coping strategies of the curio sellers are both individual and collective. The individual coping strategies are used to deal with immediate problems and the collective strategies are used to tackle problems that women would not resolve as individuals. The collective efforts are transfonnative in that they seek to change women's position. The effectiveness of the coping strategies is demonstrated by the number of women that employ them and the gains made by using the strategies. Through collective coping strategies women have been able to get the authorities to act on the problems they face such as crime, shelter and accommodation. Coping strategies have implications for participation in endeavours to resolve the problems faced by the curio sellers. The service providers are aware of the problems faced by the women and some of the coping strategies that the traders employ. The service providers have made efforts to resolve the problems of the women but these efforts have not been fruitful. Women's coping strategies appear not to have been taken into consideration and their participation has not featured much in the planning and implementation of the programmes aimed at assisting them. For development programmes to be effective and sustainable, women's coping strategies need to be taken into account in the planning and implementation of development programmes. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1997.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1997.

"One of the central tenets of critical approaches to social science is that we should not only understand society theory), but use such understanding as a basis for a programme of action (practice) to change society, change...is only possible through an endless cycle of theory and practice. The feminist approach changes and deepens our analysis" (IBG Women's Group 1984:38). A fundamental issue for planners and planning is the question of 'development.' how does it occur, for whom, and with what result? One of the South Africa State's policies which is couched in development terms is that of Industrial Decentralization. This policy is having an impact on both the organization and the location of industry. In this thesis we explore the significance of gender-relations and the geography of gender relations in the reorganization of industry and employment. Our specific orientation is towards drawing the links between gender and industrial decentralization and in order to do this we look at life experiences in Isithebe, an industrial decentralization point in KwaZulu near Stanger. Below we outline the contents of each chapter. The choice of structure and the reasons behind it are discussed in the section on Methodology in Part 1. In brief the process moves from women's personal experience of life (part 2) in Isithebe to the broader social context of this experience (Part 3). / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal,Durban, 1986.

This research, by focusing on the Isithebe industrial estate in KwaZulu Natal, analyses the process of industrial change within one location and the resulting impact on the gender relations within the surrounding communities. Rather than adopting the rather simplistic approach utilised by Women in Development advocates, is suggested that the identification, location and particular experience of power between men and women provides for a more informed position from which gender relations can be understood. Using Social Relations Analysis as a departure point, it is argued that a range of variables and impact on the construction and experience of gender, and thus the relation between men and women. In South Africa, the particular economic and social discourse initiated by apartheid resulted in the formulation of a particular understanding of gender. Various economic and industrial and social shifts over the past decade have served to challenge this conceptualisation and experience, and have resulted in a range of new dynamics between men and women. It is argued that many of the businesses located in Isithebe have been slow to follow the trends and processes of restructuring identified nationally. However, there has been some change in the gendered division of labour on the estate, as men gradually move into sectors previously reliant on female labour. Women are concurrently trapped in low skilled, low paid employment. While the increasing engagement by women in multiple livelihood strategies, within an environment of high male unemployment, is increasing the dependence of households on (he ability of women to earn an income, there is little change in the location of power at a household level. The increased autonomy and decision-making power anticipated by many theorists is not evidenced in the Isithebe community. However, as men seek for alternative sources of security as their traditional role as breadwinner is eroded, women are increasingly aware of the discrepancies and dichotomies within the household, and are beginning to reassess the relations between men and women, and the location of power. Concomitantly both men and women are in a position to reconceptualise the gender component of identity. These processes provide the basis from which unequal relations between men and women can be challenged in the future. / Thesis (M.Sc.U.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.