This thesis examines the ways in which women assess and seek resources in their urban contexts. I argue that the struggles of daily life in local communities and institutional groups can produce ideological spaces into which new practices, arising from increased consciousness of issues, can be developed. My aim has been to uncover women's experiences in a way that not only interprets meanings from their practices, but also encourages such practices to be seen as valid renderings of women's understandings. I examine women's initiatives through the analysis of varying contexts. While I acknowledge the historical importance of the domestic situation as a threshold for much historic activism, women's proactivity requires a broader situational analysis. I therefore present cases of proactivity within the domestic, public and business spheres, within the two cities of Waitakere and North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Through the search for new progressive social identities, women's activities at the inter-personal level are a prime source of social change. It is through the recursive relationship between women as agents and the social structure, that changing interpretations of social expectations are produced, allowing for creative activism. While women's initiatives may aim to transform particular social environments, they become part of the incremental process of change that alters the experience and structure of women's lives. The thesis has four parts. The first outlines the scope, objectives and theoretical framework, while the second conceptualises women's agency and its positioning within social gendered structures. Part Three presents the investigative processes linking the theoretical framework and the empirical analysis. Part Four submits the thematic interpretations of the thesis, concluding that women can be agents of social change in a diversity of ways. I acknowledge my feminist stance, one with layerings of objectives and motivations. I view women's circumstances as resulting from the interweaving of structural forces and personal capacities. The resulting awareness of women's experiences can challenge the values and concepts of masculine discourses. This is viewed through the concept of multiplicity. On a political level this means creating a resistance to hierarchies and a commitment to a plurality of voice, style and structure. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:AUCKLAND/oai:researchspace.auckland.ac.nz:2292/65 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Billot, Jennie Margaret |
| Publisher | ResearchSpace@Auckland |
| Source Sets | University of Auckland |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Source | http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/9908064 |
| Rights | Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only. Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated., http://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm, Copyright: The author |
| Relation | PhD Thesis - University of Auckland, UoA845998 |
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