No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The patterned interactions in a support group for adolescent mothers are analyzed in the context of the specific construction(s) of adolescent pregnancy and motherhood that legitimate the program's existence. Particular attention is paid to the way in which staff and clients are positioned vis a vis one another through the typification of the program's mission and goals. Data analyzed include field notes recorded during ten months of participant observation with the group, program documents describing the history, mission, and goals of the program, and an in-depth interview with the Program Director. Changes in funding patterns led to an increased emphasis on the prevention of child abuse as a goal of the program. The resulting expectations of program staff and assumptions about adolescent mothers cast these two groups of women into social identities containing inherent contradictions. Differences of social class further complicate the relationship between the groups. Varying strategies of self-presentation are employed by clients and staff as they struggle with these contradictions. The young mothers present themselves in ways that maintain distance between themselves and staff. While the staff are never completely successful and breaking down the barriers between themselves and the young mothers, one style of self-presentation has the potential to bridge the gap. The findings have practical implications for the design and implementation of human service programs, particularly those which address stigmatized categories of women. The findings also have theoretical implications relevant to ongoing discussions of feminist epistemology, and the intersection of gender and social class. / Ph. D.

This thesis explores what to have distorted scientific knowledge claims due to socially constructed conceptions of gender. Using the paradigm example of the explanation of human fertilization misrepresenting knowledge as it maps on stereotypes about the passive female and the active male onto the scientific participation of the egg and the sperm. Exploring arguments presented by feminist epistemologists, I argue that in order to produce knowledge free of distortions due to problematic social conceptions we must engage in a specific epistemological framework with three main components: 1) critically and systematically examine the subject of knowledge in relation to the object of knowledge, 2) make efforts to diversify inquirers as the perspectives of marginalized identities are important to informing where dominant narratives are failing to be objective and 3) actively acknowledge the role that values play in inquiry and promote feminist values. The framework presented is specifically applicable to knowledge distortions present in scientific inquiry but, importantly, can also inform individual epistemic relationship.

This thesis examines the local waterscapes of two smallholder irrigation farming systems in the dry lands of East African in a context of socio-ecological changes. It focuses on three aspects: institutional arrangements, gender relations and landscape investments.  This thesis is based on a reflexive analysis of cross-cultural, cross-language research, particularly focusing on the role of field assistants and interpreters, and on member checking as a method to ensure validity. Flexible irrigation infrastructure in Sibou, Kenya, and Engaruka, Tanzania, allow farmers to shift the course of water and to extend or reduce the area cultivated depending on seasonal rainfall patterns. Water conflicts are avoided through a decentralized common property management system. Water rights are continuously renegotiated depending on water supply. Water is seen as a common good the management of which is guided by mutual understanding to prevent conflicts through participation and shared information about water rights. However, participation in water management is a privilege that is endowed mostly to men. Strict patriarchal norms regulate control over water and practically exclude women from irrigation management. The control over water usage for productive means is a manifestation of masculinity. The same gender bias has emerged in recent decades as men have increased their engagement in agriculture by cultivating crops for sale. Women, because of their subordinated position, cannot take advantage of the recent livelihood diversification. Rather, the cultivation of horticultural products for sale has increased the workload for women who already farm most food crops for family consumption. In addition, they now have to weed and harvest the commercial crops that their husbands sell for profit. This agricultural gender divide is mirrored in men´s and women´s response to increased climate variability. Women intercrop as a risk adverting strategy, while men sow more rounds of crops for sale when the rain allows for it. Additionally, while discursively underestimated by men, women´s assistance is materially fundamental to maintaining of the irrigation infrastructure and to ensuring the soil fertility that makes the cultivation of crops for sale possible. In sum, this thesis highlights the adaptation potentials of contemporary smallholder irrigation systems through local common property regimes that, while not inclusive towards women, avoid conflicts generated by shifting water supply and increased climate variability. To be able to assess the success and viability of irrigation systems, research must be carried out at a local level. By studying how local water management works, how conflicts are adverted through common property regimes and how these systems adapt to socio-ecological changes, this thesis provides insights that are important both for the planning of current irrigation schemes and the rehabilitation or the extension of older systems. By investigating the factors behind the consistent marginalization of women from water management and their subordinated role in agricultural production, this study also cautions against the reproduction of these discriminatory norms in the planning of irrigation projects. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript.</p><p> </p>

This thesis examines how preparatory, policy and review documents of the Participatory Rangeland Management (PRM) in East Africa, problematize and represent the ‘problems’ which resulted in the design of the development program. The focus is on how these problematizations can hinder or facilitate participation, influence and empowerment of women and marginalized groups in decision-making processes. The findings are based on a gender-based policy analysis undertaken of five documents written by the NGOs involved in the planning and implementation of PRM in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. A conceptual framework measuring the level of participation, empowerment and influence was constructed to assess the policies and their possible outcomes. The document analysis showed that the implicit ‘problem’ themes identified appeared to be that communities were unmodern, undeveloped, and had under-representation of women and pastoralists in rangeland management. These problematizations seem to originate from a development discourse characterized by solutions focussing on ‘modernization’ and ‘technical fixes’. These pre-conceived ideas of the ’problems’ call for more communication and inclusion of community groups in problem formulation and program design. The analysis further revealed that expert-assisted and gender-mainstreaming initiatives such as the PRM could have a positive impact on the level of participation, influence, and empowerment of women. When training was carried out for both women and men by the PRM to raise awareness of women’s rights, it resulted in an increased number of women participating in activities. However, gender-mainstreaming should not stop with participation, it should be further developed towards influence and empowerment. The PRM could consider promoting a change of power relations by combining efforts to demonstrate the benefits of meaningful consultations to decision-makers and efforts to enhance the knowledge and skills of marginalized groups so that they can better engage with these decision-makers. Furthermore, there is a need to expand the discussion on how to design gender-mainstreaming policies and practices, without labelling women as one.

Set within discussions of gender, migration and social practices, this thesis explores the ways in which Thai women migrants to Sweden build connections between rural areas through their daily activities. Arriving in Sweden primarily through marriage ties, Thai women migrants are more likely to live in Swedish rural areas than in urban areas. Rural areas are typically not seen as a site of globalization or as receivers of international migrants. In contrast to these perceptions, the case of Thai women migrants in the Swedish countryside reveals a complex and vigorous set of social practices that connect rural Sweden across spatial and temporal scales. The aim of this study is to explore the ways in which Thai migrant women construct and implement social practices spatially and temporally. Drawing on the life stories of 16 Thai women living in Sweden, along with other sources of empirical data analysed within feminist epistemologies, this thesis discusses: In what ways does gender shape migrant social practices? How are social practices constructed within individual migrant micro-geographies? By what means are migrant social practices contextualized by spaces and places? Thai women migrants are gendered agents of these social practices and are utilizing specific resources, objects and networks to bridge the distances found in their daily lives. The empirical material examined in this thesis points to the importance of women’s everyday social practices in connecting and linking rural areas globally at different spatial and temporal scales. The results highlight the importance of a translocalism perspective to understanding gendered social practices. This study adds to the translocal discussion by demonstrating that social practices are embedded in multiple geographic sites and scales. Thai women migrants, in this study, emerge as significant actors in global countrysides and do the functional work of bringing spaces and places together daily and through their life course. This thesis consists of an introductory chapter and five papers. The introductory chapter outlines the context and theoretical approaches to understanding Thai migration flows to Sweden. The papers share an emphasis on local sites: homes, workplaces and community. They examine different ways that women construct and build social practices – for example, through food, community projects and in developing their businesses. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Submitted. Paper 5: Submitted.</p>