Browsing by Author "Mama, Amina"

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    Hidden power: gender relations in export-oriented tasks and access to resources for Uganda's horticulture sector
    (2006) Sengendo, May Christine; Mama, Amina; Kirumira, Edward
    The aim of the study is to investigate gender relations in the production and export marketing of horticulture produce in Uganda. The study uses gender as an analytical tool in critiquing the Neoliberal reforms that advocate trade liberalization. This is done through examining the construction and perpetuation of unequal power relations within the tasks as well as access to production and market resources needed for effective participation in export trade. The study fills a gap in knowledge by providing an explanation of the factors that hinder effective participation of female and male tanners and traders. It reveals the failure of the assumptions of price, supply and demand as organizing principles in a market economy as those ignore the practices of politics and gender dynamics that shape the production and distribution of products for export trade. In order to reveal hidden control and influence of decisions, the study investigates the manifestation of power in the marketing channel at three sites: the household site (for production); the collection site (for purchase and assembling); and the exportation site (for export arrangements and air freight). Examples are given through a case study of female and male farmers, collectors and exporters of horticulture produce, in particular hot-pepper and okra, in Uganda. The unequal power relations that are examined, show how women and men create a hierarchical setting within the same site, as well as through the interactions they make by linking to the other sites. While female and male tanners require the tasks and resources provided by the collectors, collectors also need the resources given by exporters. Within such a context, this study, shows how gender analysis can be used to examine the dynamics of the relations between women and men who interact within tasks and resource acquisition between the different sites. The question of power therefore becomes a key concern as some categories of men, and sometimes women who are in positions of control of resources, have the "power to" influence decisions on allocation of tasks and acquisition of resources. Yet, such power to influence actions concerning who should perform the tasks and who can have access to resources, is so hidden that revealing it requires examination of its manifestations as well as the way its is exercised differently by men compared to women. Those practices, through which power manifests, create conflicts and hierarchical differences between tanners, collectors and exporters that show gender as well as status differences. Female collectors and exporters can manage to control resources, recognize these power practices, and react by resisting and manipulating them according to their own interests. Unfortunately, in most cases, both female and male tanners cannot challenge decisions of the exporters. Such dynamics create differential access to production and market resources. The characteristics that enable women as well as men to have influence are investigated in addition to what leads to the subordinate position that others experience. Gender theory is applied and focuses on two arguments: the extent to which men exercise power over women in ways that show how power relations are manifested through the gender division of labour and the way tasks are organised; and how power relations are manifested through different positions that women occupy compared to men in the different sites in ways that enable mostly men to have the power to influence decisions and command allocation of resources. Gender analysis is used as a methodology that enables examination of power practices that are hidden in the way tasks are organized and resources acquired in the different sites at a specified time period. Although these sites are self-contained, the findings indicate that actors also have opportunities to move across and between sites. The ability to participate in more than one site is therefore a means of rescue from practices that disempower women, thus hindering their participation in export trade. The findings do not only affirm the claims by gender critique of macro-economic theories that the markets are not abstract entities, but also provides examples that show how markets have a gendered structure. Women and men engage in relationships of cooperation, conflict and manipulate decisions of others who seek to access resources. Women who undertake activities in more than one site have power to make choices and influence decisions that would otherwise have had adverse effects on their export-oriented activities. Women who are able to access resources are sometimes those who exclude and exploit other women of lower status, just as higher-status men do to those below them. Such women decide to take actions not necessarily with an intention of resisting male dominance but to develop defensive and creative ways through which they can promote their own agenda. Some men of lower status resist actions of exploitation and exclusion imposed upon them by men of higher status. In addition, they can overcome the informality of labour provision and contracts that exist in trade relationships by becoming decision-makers themselves and dealing directly with export trade. This study therefore makes contributions to gender theory in ways that illustrate how gender analysis is an effective tool in investigating the construction of unequal power relations for export trade within an African setting.
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    Lovelife: productions and re-productions of gender constructs and HIV
    (2003) Templeton, Laura; Bennett, Jane; Mama, Amina
    The HIV/AIDS youth education organisation, loveLife, was examined to determine how its production of knowledge and values relates to transforming gender relations as they impact on HIV/AIDS in a South African context. The research originated out of a concern that loveLife, the world's largest HIV/AIDS youth education organisation in the world, was possibly replicating gendered inequities in its communication initiatives geared toward reducing transmission of HIV in the adolescent population. To carry out the research data was collected from three different "sites" and was analysed using discourse analysis. The approach to discourse analysis was informed by both Foucauldian and feminist theory. Furthermore, both the literature review and the primary data were informed by a social constructionist approach, in an attempt to recognise the environmental, social, structural, temporal and political impact on the constructions of AIDS, gender and sexuality by loveLife messages, staff and participants as they intersect with the lived realities of South African adolescents. All of the primary data is qualitative, and therefore, limited in scope. The research is experimental and iterative in nature and the data produced is varied. Nevertheless, it provides a useful snapshot with which to begin an examination of loveLife's production of knowledge and values. The data sites included: loveLife's second major print media campaign; interviews with loveLife staff and their volunteer youth corps, known as "groundBREAKERS"; and a focus group with participants at a loveLife youth centre. The print campaign included a series of five billboard advertisements and produced the most static of all the data examined. The interviews were conducted with five loveLife staff and four groundBREAKERS at loveLife's head office in Johannesburg and at a loveLife youth centre in Langa. Finally, the focus group consisted of three young men and two young women between the ages of 14-18 and was also conducted at the youth centre in Langa. The findings show that loveLife's constructions of gender are both narrow and problematic and often lose relevance when intersecting with the target audience as represented by the focus group. The findings also show that through its chosen strategy to promote loveLife as a brand, loveLife is producing a discourses that both homogenises its target audience and shifts the focus of the organisation away from transforming behaviour change as it relates to sex, sexuality and gender relations in an attempt to curb HIV transmission. Lastly, the findings also reveal that loveLife assumes that sexual choice is universally available to all South Africans. However, because this assumption does not reflect the lived realities of South African youth, particularly the realities of young women, loveLife ignores, and consequently, further replicates existing gendered inequities.
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    National gender policy for Rwanda: a case study of institutional response to policy recommendations on women in science and technology
    (2005) Kimonyo, Augustin; Mama, Amina
    The purpose of this study was to explore the question of poor representation of women in science and technology in two academic institutions of Rwanda. Those are the National University of Rwanda (UNR) and Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). By exploring institutional factors underlying the said question, the study has complemented previous works on the same subject, which placed an emphasis on social, economic and cultural factors. Data were collected through archival exploration, in-depth face-to-face interviews and focus groups discussions. Exploration of archives was mainly based on gender policies existing within the concerned institutions, and their compliance with Rwanda national gender policy. Access of women to science and technology, and their participation in these areas were the key elements that guided the exploration of relevant policies and various discussions with participants. In-depth interviews were conducted with men and women teachers at the concerned academic institutions and high government officials from the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, and Rwanda Parliament. Focus group interviews targeted men and women students from the third year level of study and above from the concerned areas. Discussed questions were given in an open-ended form. Through the exploration of existing policies and thematic analysis of qualitative data, the study revealed three main areas of gender inequalities. Those are decision making, infrastructure and academic cultures. It was found that the poor representation of women in decision-making affects the rest of these areas and their interconnectedness proved to be the key explaining the under-representation of women in science and technology. The study concludes that in the current form, the concerned institutions are embedded with forces that contribute to women's discrimination, especially in the areas of science and technology, which remain the preserve of men. It gives recommendations on how to address gender inequalities in the highlighted areas.
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    Negotiating institutional transformation : a case study of gender-based change in a South African university
    (2007) Shackleton, Lesley; Mama, Amina; Bennett, Jane
    This study contributes towards understanding the complex dynamics that are inherent in the transformation of institutional culture in the higher education environment in South Africa. Innovative use was made of gender-based change as a case study of social transformation in a case institution, the University of Cape Town. A feminist, qualitative approach was used to map gender as a component of institutional culture and to explore how the institution's culture influences the dynamics of gender-based change. A gendered lens was focused on three different sources of data: the leadership discourse from 28 years of annual Vice Chancellor's Reports, and interview and documentary data around two purposively selected feminist initiatives to further women's career development in the higher education environment. The integration of analyses of different types of data from these three sources proved to be a powerful tool for exposing contested meanings and highlighting discrepancies between the logic of the organization and experienced realities. My research corroborates numerous previous studies of universities worldwide and reveals the case institution to have a conservative, patriarchal culture. In addition to the formal hierarchical and collegial structures typical of many universities, aspects of the institutional culture that contribute towards its marked conservatism were identified. The analyses revealed how the hegemony of academic and androcentric discourses resulted in a culture which 'others' people into differently empowered groups and how this interacts with a dominant liberal discourse that values and privileges individualism. The resultant mystification is exhausting and confusing to those who are not part of the dominant group, and combines with fragmented understandings of purpose to stifle institutional change and thus strengthen conservatism. Beyond the male hegemony, the most significant aspect of the gendered institutional culture is the persistent vanishing of gender on the campus. There is little evidence of any ability to engage seriously with gender or any recognition that this might be a priority. The gender-based change initiatives that were studied were the result of spontaneous action of tempered radicals, insiders within the institution who felt alienated by aspects of its culture and thus were positioned also as outsiders. Both initiatives have resulted in successful programmes but an analysis of the dynamics around their establishment shows the power of the institutional culture to neutralize and de-politicize their impact on the gendered culture, despite the pervasiveness of the liberal discourse. I suggest that for change to succeed it is necessary to purposely reduce the power that the conservative institution can exert. This can be achieved by avoiding direct confrontation with the dominant patriarchal culture and by forging appropriate, sympathetic external alliances with those who have influence and access to resources. My research suggests that transformation of the institutional culture is unlikely to be led by those who, by conforming to the culture, have attained hierarchical leadership positions and are thus most threatened by change. Transformation is most likely to be brought about by those who question norms, seize opportunities and focus on small wins. The liberal discourse common to many universities leads to a tolerance of mavericks, and I suggest that this can provide opportunities to surface the silent voices that must inform debates around transformation. However I have revealed how resistant the sector can be to cultural change. My analyses have shown how even ostensibly very successful initiatives can be assimilated and how their ability to result in institutional change can be disempowered using political structures and micropolitics. Effecting transformation of the complex institutional culture in higher education will require a deep engagement with these powerful conservative forces.
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    A poor women's pedagogy' : an exploration of learning in a housing social movement
    (2006) Ismail, Salma; Mama, Amina; Walters, Shirley
    This study examines the critical role that adult education played in a housing social movement whose membership was mainly poor African women in informal settlements. In this social movement women have combined learning with the struggle to obtain social goods from the state. The study explores the interconnectedness between learning, development and social change. The conceptual framework developed from a feminist critique of popular education was applied in the methodology and yielded insights with regard to the learning of VM women. The feminist critique allowed for an exploration of the contradictions within popular education and people-centred development. In addition it provided a vocabulary to explain the learning and agency of VM women. The conceptual framework allowed me to argue that learning is contextual, and to analyse and understand learning in the micro-context (VM and the life changes and learning of VM women) it is necessary to examine the interaction between the macro-- (political, economic and policy context of South Africa) and micro-contexts. The interaction of these contexts has brought political opportunities to mobilise the agency of poor African women who were seeking solutions to their housing problems.
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    Restore, reform but do not transform: The gender politics of higher education in Africa
    (2003) Mama, Amina
    This paper uses gender analysis to reflect on the emergence and development of higher education in Africa. The available statistical picture indicates that despite the absence of formal exclusions, women's entry into higher educational institutions—as students and as employees—has remained slow and uneven, suggesting the need to look beyond the numbers. The overall pattern of exclusion and marginalization is true for both administrative and academic tracks but is at its most extreme for senior academic and research positions. The persistence of extreme gender inequality is most easily and often attributed to external social and familial factors. Here, however, it is argued that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that, despite institutional and managerial claims of administrative neutrality, the institutional and intellectual cultures of African institutions are, in fact, permeated with sexual and gender dynamics.
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    Restore, reform but do not transform: The gender politics of higher education in Africa
    (2003) Mama, Amina
    This paper uses gender analysis to reflect on the emergence and development of higher education in Africa. The available statistical picture indicates that despite the absence of formal exclusions, women's entry into higher educational institutions—as students and as employees—has remained slow and uneven, suggesting the need to look beyond the numbers. The overall pattern of exclusion and marginalization is true for both administrative and academic tracks but is at its most extreme for senior academic and research positions. The persistence of extreme gender inequality is most easily and often attributed to external social and familial factors. Here, however, it is argued that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that, despite institutional and managerial claims of administrative neutrality, the institutional and intellectual cultures of African institutions are, in fact, permeated with sexual and gender dynamics.
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    Rethinking home economics careers in the struggle for women's education in Botswana
    (2004) Ndikimbela, Taboka; Mama, Amina
    The purpose of the study was to explore gender experiences of Home economics professionals in Botswana educational institutions with the aim of presenting argument against this colonial mentality that still lingers in the education system of Botswana and result in Home economics teachers suffering professional indignity in schools and colleges. In Botswana. Home economics teachers do not easily progress to senior positions like other subject teachers do. However they always find themselves overloaded with both domestic and public activities. This situation prevents them from being fully and effectively productive in their day-to-day duties. The researcher of the paper is a Home economics teacher, first in secondary school and now in colleges of education. She has a first-hand experience of this indignity and it is this frustration that sparked her to do so much research and create a correct image of this long neglected or down trodden noble subject.
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    Women and Politics in a Plural Society: The case of Mauritius
    (2009) Ramtohul, Ramola; Mama, Amina; Salo, Elaine
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    The Zimbabwean Women's Movement, 1995-2000
    (2003) Essof, Shereen; Mama, Amina
    This research project comes out of my own 7-year engagement with the Zimbabwe women's movement. It reconstructs a herstory of Zimbabwe Women's organising with the aim of reinstating a herstory in order to challenge malestream narratives that seem intent on disappearing women. In doing this it seeks to examine the nature of women's movement in Zimbabwe during the period 1995 - 2000, which facilitates a deeper exploration of women's collective action in a challenging national context.