Many development organizations now recognize the importance of culturally
sensitive project design and implementation. Unfortunately most of these groups continue
to disregard the significance of gender. This qualitative research examines a women's
cooperative in rural El Salvador which formed in order to find a means of generating
income and to improve the general status of women in this region. One purpose of this
qualitative research was to investigate what, if any, economic and social benefits the
cooperative members received through their involvement. Another purpose was to
analyze the models of development employed by the agencies involved in implementing
four cooperative projects, as well as the member's attitudes toward those projects. Data
presented in this thesis was collected during a fifteen-month period in 1994 and 1995,
and a one-month period in 1998. Twenty-six cooperative members were interviewed in
1998. The four projects investigated include cows and nutrition, land and reforestation,
artisan crafts and corn mills. These findings indicate that the empowerment model of
development, in which self-reliance is maintained and strategic gender needs are met
through mobilizing around practical gender needs, is the most successful. Focusing on
local knowledge and preserving the agency of the target population are critical to project
success. The findings also show that social power is attained by many women in the
cooperative as increased self-esteem and involvement lead to gaining a legitimate voice
in community affairs. Economic power, however, is only achieved by maintaining a paid
leadership position within the cooperative. This research makes recommendations
centered on improved access to credit. / Graduation date: 2001
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28614 |
| Date | 23 October 2000 |
| Creators | Hannigan-Luther, Kristen L. |
| Contributors | Rosenberger, Nancy |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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