Este trabalho buscou identificar e analisar porque a presença e a participação de agricultores familiares são inferiores às de agricultoras familiares nos processos de Educação Ambiental, no meio rural e a partir disto discutir as implicações desta disparidade na eficácia dos mesmos. Para tal, foi realizada pesquisa de campo em dois municípios do estado do RS que tinham trabalhos de Educação Ambiental com agricultores e agricultoras familiares. O método principal utilizado para realizar a pesquisa de campo foi a entrevista semiestruturada, seguida da análise e síntese dos conteúdos obtidos a partir de quadros, tabelas e resumos das entrevistas, associando-os aos aportes teóricos baseados em estudo de Gênero, Educação Ambiental, Desenvolvimento Rural, Agricultura Familiar e Sustentabilidade e ao contexto de vida dos sujeitos entrevistados. As constatações da pesquisa apontaram que a presença de agricultores do sexo masculino é reduzida em atividades de Educação Ambiental, porque na percepção destes a Educação Ambiental não trata de questões técnicas, produtivas e econômicas, indispensáveis para a sobrevivência das famílias. O interesse masculino volta-se para questões técnico/produtivas e os estudos sobre diferenças de gênero no meio rural mostraram que a técnica e a tecnologia reforçam valores masculinos, enquanto que o cuidado ambiental, assim como a educação dos filhos, são vistos como atividades "leves", não envolvendo técnica, produtividade ou lucro e por isto são consideradas atividades femininas. Outras razões para a disparidade encontram-se nas formas como o conhecimento sobre Educação Ambiental tem chegado até os agricultores familiares, na influência dos graus de escolaridade sobre as disponibilidades de participar ou não nestas e na descontinuidade das mesmas. Em relação às implicações das disparidades de presença e participação sobre a eficácia da Educação Ambiental verificou-se que os participantes de atividades de Educação Ambiental (homens ou mulheres) apresentam concepções e ações mais reflexivas, críticas e complexas em suas interações com o ambiente, confirmando que a eficácia das atividades de Educação Ambiental seria maior com maior participação dos homens, pois isto os levaria a sair de uma posição de tentativa de domínio sobre a natureza para uma posição de equilíbrio, reflexão e ação crítica sobre suas próprias práticas. A dissertação se encerra destacando aspectos da pesquisa que podem levar a maiores aprofundamentos e não foram suficientemente desenvolvidos devido às limitações de espaço e de tempo da dissertação. / This research looked to identify and to analyze why the presence and the family farmers' participation are inferior to the ones of farming family in the processes of Environmental Education in the rural space, and starting from this to discuss the implications of this disparity in the effectiveness of the same ones. For such, field research was accomplished in two municipal districts of the state of RS that had works of Environmental Education with farmers and farming family. The main method used to accomplish the field research was the semistructured interview, following by analysis and synthesis of the contents obtained from pictures, tables and summaries of the interviews, associating them to the theoretical contributions based on Gender study, Environmental Education, Rural Development, Family Agriculture and Sustainability and to the context of life from the subjects interviewed. The verifications of the research pointed that the presence of male farmers is reduced in activities of Environmental Education because in their perception the Environmental Education doesn't treat of technical, productive and economical subjects, indispensable for the families' survival. The masculine interest is focus on technical/productive subjects and the studies on gender differences in the rural space showed that technique and technology reinforce masculine values, while the environmental care as well the children's education are seen as "light" activities, not involving technique, productivity or profit and for this they are considered feminine activities. Other reasons for the disparity are in the ways as the knowledge about Environmental Education has been arriving to the family farmers, in the influence of the education degrees about the readiness of participating or not in these and in the discontinuity of the same ones. In relation to the implications of the presence and participation disparities on the effectiveness of the Environmental Education was verified that the participants of activities of Environmental Education (men or women) present conceptions and more reflexive, critical and complex actions in their interactions with the environment, confirming that the effectiveness of the activities of Environmental Education would be larger with a larger mens' participation, because this would take them to leave a position of domain on the nature for a balance position, reflection and critical action on their own practices. The dissertation is concluded highlighting aspects of the research that can take to larger knowledge and that were not sufficiently developed due to space and time limitations of the dissertation.

Este trabalho buscou identificar e analisar porque a presença e a participação de agricultores familiares são inferiores às de agricultoras familiares nos processos de Educação Ambiental, no meio rural e a partir disto discutir as implicações desta disparidade na eficácia dos mesmos. Para tal, foi realizada pesquisa de campo em dois municípios do estado do RS que tinham trabalhos de Educação Ambiental com agricultores e agricultoras familiares. O método principal utilizado para realizar a pesquisa de campo foi a entrevista semiestruturada, seguida da análise e síntese dos conteúdos obtidos a partir de quadros, tabelas e resumos das entrevistas, associando-os aos aportes teóricos baseados em estudo de Gênero, Educação Ambiental, Desenvolvimento Rural, Agricultura Familiar e Sustentabilidade e ao contexto de vida dos sujeitos entrevistados. As constatações da pesquisa apontaram que a presença de agricultores do sexo masculino é reduzida em atividades de Educação Ambiental, porque na percepção destes a Educação Ambiental não trata de questões técnicas, produtivas e econômicas, indispensáveis para a sobrevivência das famílias. O interesse masculino volta-se para questões técnico/produtivas e os estudos sobre diferenças de gênero no meio rural mostraram que a técnica e a tecnologia reforçam valores masculinos, enquanto que o cuidado ambiental, assim como a educação dos filhos, são vistos como atividades "leves", não envolvendo técnica, produtividade ou lucro e por isto são consideradas atividades femininas. Outras razões para a disparidade encontram-se nas formas como o conhecimento sobre Educação Ambiental tem chegado até os agricultores familiares, na influência dos graus de escolaridade sobre as disponibilidades de participar ou não nestas e na descontinuidade das mesmas. Em relação às implicações das disparidades de presença e participação sobre a eficácia da Educação Ambiental verificou-se que os participantes de atividades de Educação Ambiental (homens ou mulheres) apresentam concepções e ações mais reflexivas, críticas e complexas em suas interações com o ambiente, confirmando que a eficácia das atividades de Educação Ambiental seria maior com maior participação dos homens, pois isto os levaria a sair de uma posição de tentativa de domínio sobre a natureza para uma posição de equilíbrio, reflexão e ação crítica sobre suas próprias práticas. A dissertação se encerra destacando aspectos da pesquisa que podem levar a maiores aprofundamentos e não foram suficientemente desenvolvidos devido às limitações de espaço e de tempo da dissertação. / This research looked to identify and to analyze why the presence and the family farmers' participation are inferior to the ones of farming family in the processes of Environmental Education in the rural space, and starting from this to discuss the implications of this disparity in the effectiveness of the same ones. For such, field research was accomplished in two municipal districts of the state of RS that had works of Environmental Education with farmers and farming family. The main method used to accomplish the field research was the semistructured interview, following by analysis and synthesis of the contents obtained from pictures, tables and summaries of the interviews, associating them to the theoretical contributions based on Gender study, Environmental Education, Rural Development, Family Agriculture and Sustainability and to the context of life from the subjects interviewed. The verifications of the research pointed that the presence of male farmers is reduced in activities of Environmental Education because in their perception the Environmental Education doesn't treat of technical, productive and economical subjects, indispensable for the families' survival. The masculine interest is focus on technical/productive subjects and the studies on gender differences in the rural space showed that technique and technology reinforce masculine values, while the environmental care as well the children's education are seen as "light" activities, not involving technique, productivity or profit and for this they are considered feminine activities. Other reasons for the disparity are in the ways as the knowledge about Environmental Education has been arriving to the family farmers, in the influence of the education degrees about the readiness of participating or not in these and in the discontinuity of the same ones. In relation to the implications of the presence and participation disparities on the effectiveness of the Environmental Education was verified that the participants of activities of Environmental Education (men or women) present conceptions and more reflexive, critical and complex actions in their interactions with the environment, confirming that the effectiveness of the activities of Environmental Education would be larger with a larger mens' participation, because this would take them to leave a position of domain on the nature for a balance position, reflection and critical action on their own practices. The dissertation is concluded highlighting aspects of the research that can take to larger knowledge and that were not sufficiently developed due to space and time limitations of the dissertation.

Este trabalho buscou identificar e analisar porque a presença e a participação de agricultores familiares são inferiores às de agricultoras familiares nos processos de Educação Ambiental, no meio rural e a partir disto discutir as implicações desta disparidade na eficácia dos mesmos. Para tal, foi realizada pesquisa de campo em dois municípios do estado do RS que tinham trabalhos de Educação Ambiental com agricultores e agricultoras familiares. O método principal utilizado para realizar a pesquisa de campo foi a entrevista semiestruturada, seguida da análise e síntese dos conteúdos obtidos a partir de quadros, tabelas e resumos das entrevistas, associando-os aos aportes teóricos baseados em estudo de Gênero, Educação Ambiental, Desenvolvimento Rural, Agricultura Familiar e Sustentabilidade e ao contexto de vida dos sujeitos entrevistados. As constatações da pesquisa apontaram que a presença de agricultores do sexo masculino é reduzida em atividades de Educação Ambiental, porque na percepção destes a Educação Ambiental não trata de questões técnicas, produtivas e econômicas, indispensáveis para a sobrevivência das famílias. O interesse masculino volta-se para questões técnico/produtivas e os estudos sobre diferenças de gênero no meio rural mostraram que a técnica e a tecnologia reforçam valores masculinos, enquanto que o cuidado ambiental, assim como a educação dos filhos, são vistos como atividades "leves", não envolvendo técnica, produtividade ou lucro e por isto são consideradas atividades femininas. Outras razões para a disparidade encontram-se nas formas como o conhecimento sobre Educação Ambiental tem chegado até os agricultores familiares, na influência dos graus de escolaridade sobre as disponibilidades de participar ou não nestas e na descontinuidade das mesmas. Em relação às implicações das disparidades de presença e participação sobre a eficácia da Educação Ambiental verificou-se que os participantes de atividades de Educação Ambiental (homens ou mulheres) apresentam concepções e ações mais reflexivas, críticas e complexas em suas interações com o ambiente, confirmando que a eficácia das atividades de Educação Ambiental seria maior com maior participação dos homens, pois isto os levaria a sair de uma posição de tentativa de domínio sobre a natureza para uma posição de equilíbrio, reflexão e ação crítica sobre suas próprias práticas. A dissertação se encerra destacando aspectos da pesquisa que podem levar a maiores aprofundamentos e não foram suficientemente desenvolvidos devido às limitações de espaço e de tempo da dissertação. / This research looked to identify and to analyze why the presence and the family farmers' participation are inferior to the ones of farming family in the processes of Environmental Education in the rural space, and starting from this to discuss the implications of this disparity in the effectiveness of the same ones. For such, field research was accomplished in two municipal districts of the state of RS that had works of Environmental Education with farmers and farming family. The main method used to accomplish the field research was the semistructured interview, following by analysis and synthesis of the contents obtained from pictures, tables and summaries of the interviews, associating them to the theoretical contributions based on Gender study, Environmental Education, Rural Development, Family Agriculture and Sustainability and to the context of life from the subjects interviewed. The verifications of the research pointed that the presence of male farmers is reduced in activities of Environmental Education because in their perception the Environmental Education doesn't treat of technical, productive and economical subjects, indispensable for the families' survival. The masculine interest is focus on technical/productive subjects and the studies on gender differences in the rural space showed that technique and technology reinforce masculine values, while the environmental care as well the children's education are seen as "light" activities, not involving technique, productivity or profit and for this they are considered feminine activities. Other reasons for the disparity are in the ways as the knowledge about Environmental Education has been arriving to the family farmers, in the influence of the education degrees about the readiness of participating or not in these and in the discontinuity of the same ones. In relation to the implications of the presence and participation disparities on the effectiveness of the Environmental Education was verified that the participants of activities of Environmental Education (men or women) present conceptions and more reflexive, critical and complex actions in their interactions with the environment, confirming that the effectiveness of the activities of Environmental Education would be larger with a larger mens' participation, because this would take them to leave a position of domain on the nature for a balance position, reflection and critical action on their own practices. The dissertation is concluded highlighting aspects of the research that can take to larger knowledge and that were not sufficiently developed due to space and time limitations of the dissertation.

Efforts to increase girls‘ access to quality education focus mostly on removing obstacles linked to poverty and discrimination, and often fail to acknowledge the violence many of them suffer in, around, and on the way to and from school. The objective of the present research is to examine the barriers to combating male sexual and gender-based violence in schools at the community level, and to consider community and expert-issued suggestions on removing these obstacles in the Ghanaian context. It does so through the lens of the Gender and Development approach and uses the Ecological Model of Gender-based Violence. Inspired by the standpoint feminist approach to research, data collection in Awaso and Accra involved classroom observation in four (4) Junior high school classes, 19 qualitative interviews with government and civil society personnel, and four (4) focus group discussions with parents, students and teachers. The findings show that barriers to eliminating male sexual and gender-based violence in Awaso include lack of knowledge of girls‘ rights to protection from violence, of consequences of violence against women and girls and of reporting mechanisms. Other barriers identified were lack of resources at the family and government levels, traditional values of family, community and religion, and social perceptions of both gender hierarchies and violence against women and girls. Gendered power dynamics underlie these barriers and hinder progress on the issue of girls‘ protection from violence, but groups of Ghanaian women, girls, men and boys are challenging these dynamics and finding ways to make schools safer for girls. Their strategies for change are also featured in the present research.

The thesis examines how the social construction of African women in development discourse transformed from the 1970s to the 2000s, focusing in particular on the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). From the 1970s to the 1990s representations of African women were based on women’s economic potential. The mainstreaming of gender in the 1990s resulted in women being represented as agents of change. This approach gave women an opportunity to play roles in decision-making but led to policies that failed to challenge the established institutions. The emphasis on women as agents of change opened doors to some African women but with implications for the women’s movement. Only some middle-class women appear to benefit but their gains have been marginal in comparison to the gender inequalities that persist. The thesis uses secondary sources and interviews with development practitioners in Ottawa to understand the representation of African women as agents of change.

This thesis gives an experiential account of notions of the home in contemporary rural China. Based on a year of fieldwork in a mountain village in rural Shanxi Province, the thesis explores everyday and ritual practices to investigate how people make themselves at home under conditions of political economic transformation. Villagers accommodate and resist conflicts of interest by negotiating boundaries of insiders and outsiders through the home. Differences of gender and generation come to the fore as people compromise between aspiration and pragmatism within the home under conditions of resurgent market competition. The theoretical concern of the thesis lies in connecting wider social processes to personal life projects through the intimate sphere of the home. The rhythm of the seasons patterns the thesis into spring, summer, autumn and winter chapters, as the seasons were pivotal in ordering people’s everyday practices and ritual activities within a shared social and ecological environment. The opening chapter on the autumn harvest coincided with my arrival in the village. The chapter explores how labour, and particularly women’s labour, transforms the earth into affective belonging, and how women negotiate conflicts over food consumption between the agricultural and market economy. The winter chapter parallels tales of personal life history with wider kinship networks across various generations, while simultaneously tracing bodily pathways from the domain of the hot stove in the home to the cold grave in the fields. The next chapter begins with the celebratory periods of springtime during the New Year Festival, a time of ritual renewal in the home when women partook in a local domestic ritual of propitiating the little spirits of the house. At Qingming Festival villagers’ practices of worshipping the ancestors in the fields were juxtaposed with a tour company’s staging of an elaborate ritual revival of star worship in the village. Conflicting aspirations over the future of the past thereby tore fissures into the emerging ritual terrain between outside spectacle and inside convergence. The last ethnographic chapter looks at the summer as a time for regenerating life, particularly through marriage and children. Reciprocal caring cycles between different generations of women are central to balancing domestic and occupational aspirations in negotiation with the local implementation of the family planning policy. House-based rituals at children’s birthday parties and bridal farewell ceremonies formally celebrate the roles of matrilateral relatives.

As a part of international economic relations, development cooperation is a relatively new issue area of the Czech foreign policy. In spite of the strong Czechoslovak cooperation with the pro-socialist Third World countries during the Cold War, the country quickly abandoned delegitimized development activities only to restart them in the mid-1990s. This time, the policy was induced mostly externally by the international and EU commitments to provide aid to developing countries. Building on James Ferguson's concept of 'anti-politics machine' and the Bourdieusian concept of illusio, this dissertation argues that (i) the apparatus of the Czech development cooperation deals with development as a technical matter and leads to the depoliticization of the Czech relations with the South; and (ii) the low public awareness of the policy and the dependence of the civil society on government funding tones down their criticism and facilitates the use of the policy for the particular interests of the Czech implementers instead of contributing to poverty reduction in the South. The second chapter justifies the interdisciplinary approach adopted in the dissertation. It argues that in the same way as multidimensional poverty cannot be reduced to mere income, a holistic analysis of development cooperation must extend beyond the neoclassical economic approach and include social, cultural, political and environmental aspects of development. The third and fourth chapters analyze accordingly the discourses (historical and legal sources, political and social context, government strategies) and practices (content of bilateral cooperation, its effectiveness, actors and interrelations between them) of the Czech development cooperation. The following chapters extend from the narrow topic of development cooperation to gender as a cross-cutting issue and further to the problem of policy coherence. While gender has gained serious credit on the international development research and policy agenda, it is reflected in policy and operational documents only formally, making bilateral cooperation projects gender blind, and hence detrimental to women. Finally, the Czech discourses and practices of the formally institutionalized policy coherence for development are analyzed in cases studies on migration, trade and agriculture. The chapter argues that slight changes in other government policies may have greater impact on developing countries than any substantial reforms of development cooperation. Overall, the dissertation advocates for a repoliticization of the development agenda and its return to the public space. So far, it was mostly the European Union funding that incited the civil society to raise new policy issues and question the effectiveness of the Czech development cooperation in reducing global poverty, but it is crucial to involve political parties, civil society at large, media and academia in the process as well. An annex lists a range of detailed policy recommendations for development cooperation generally, in particular its gender dimension, and its coherence with the Czech migration, agriculture and trade policies.

This research examines the applicability of the Kindernothilfe self-help group approach among the Ngäbe indigenous people in Panama from the perspectives of complex system theory and development as empowerment. It is based on an extensive literature review and an empirical qualitative study with focus group discussions and expert interviews following the grounded theory method. The dissertation displays the multiple dimensions that have reverberated to poverty and to the failure of development and most group approaches in the Ngäbe region. Nevertheless, it indicates that a culturally fitting self-help group concept could become a promising approach to empowering the Ngäbe people. Some crucial adaptations, however, are necessary. The most significant change regards the suggestion to work with mixed-sex ‘family groups’ that combine peer group meetings and joint gatherings. It represents the most suitable approach both from the perspective of the Ngäbe people and from the viewpoint of gender mainstreaming and complexity. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

Children begin to develop their understanding of gender in preschool, yet there is a dearth of research focused on understanding how preschool teachers affect the gender identity development of young children. Guided by Rokeach's belief systems theory, this qualitative case study explored the pedagogical strategies and perceptions of 4 Sacramento County, California preschool educators related to the gender identity development of young children. Interview data were collected and coded to derive 12 participant-specific themes and 3 common intersecting themes, which showed that teachers' perspectives on gender identity development were influenced by social rules, biases, and a lack of pedagogical knowledge related to more expansive definitions of gender. As a result of the lack of pedagogical knowledge, there was only 1 gender-related instructional strategy concerning gender roles, and this strategy was used by only 1 of the 4 respondents. Although they may have shown confusion relating to aspects of gender, these preschool teachers demonstrated a genuine interest in learning how to create safe spaces for gender exploration in the preschool classroom. These findings have led to the creation of a professional development series designed to educate preschool teachers about gender identity development, provide them with opportunities to develop curricula, and allow them to reflect upon their cisgender-related biases. Educators, administrators, and policymakers may find it useful to apply the results of this study and resultant project when creating educational programs and college-level curricula and policies. The results could also help educators create affirmative educational environments for all children, regardless of their biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression.

No description available.