IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i6p3166-d516494.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investigating the Conceptual Plurality of Empowerment through Community Concept Drawing: Case Studies from Senegal, Kenya, and Nepal

Author

Listed:
  • Chesney McOmber

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06268, USA)

  • Katharine McNamara

    (Department of Environmentaland Global Health, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
    Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA)

  • Therese d’Auria Ryley

    (Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA)

  • Sarah L. McKune

    (Department of Environmentaland Global Health, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
    Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA)

Abstract

Women’s empowerment is a driving concept in gender and development scholarship. This scholarship often engages quantitative indices of evaluation that are unable to account for culturally specific meaning and nuance that shape local understandings of empowerment. Recent efforts within the field of international development are attempting to create methodological mechanisms for capturing this nuance. This study employs one such method, Community Concept Drawing (CCD), in rural villages within Kenya, Senegal, and Nepal. Findings indicate significant differences between the field sites in the local conceptualization of empowerment. Cross-examination of site-specific data yields an understanding of how cultural norms and values shape local perceptions of empowerment in ways that are critical for research that engages gendered understandings. Furthermore, such analysis is critical to a more accurate understanding of the locally specific context of gender inequity.

Suggested Citation

  • Chesney McOmber & Katharine McNamara & Therese d’Auria Ryley & Sarah L. McKune, 2021. "Investigating the Conceptual Plurality of Empowerment through Community Concept Drawing: Case Studies from Senegal, Kenya, and Nepal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:6:p:3166-:d:516494
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/6/3166/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/6/3166/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shareen Joshi & T. Paul Schultz, 2007. "Family Planning as an Investment in Development: Evaluation of a Program's Consequences in Matlab, Bangladesh," Working Papers 951, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    2. T. Paul Schultz, 1980. "An Economic Interpretation of the Decline in Fertiliiy in a Rapidly Developing Country: Consequences of Development and Family Planning," NBER Chapters, in: Population and Economic Change in Developing Countries, pages 209-288, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Connell, Raewyn, 2012. "Gender, health and theory: Conceptualizing the issue, in local and world perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(11), pages 1675-1683.
    4. Narayanan, Sudha & Lentz, Erin & Fontana, Marzia & De, Anuradha & Kulkarni, Bharati, 2019. "Developing the Women's Empowerment in Nutrition Index in Two States of India," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    5. Stéphanie Jaquet & Thomas Kohler & Gudrun Schwilch, 2019. "Labour Migration in the Middle Hills of Nepal: Consequences on Land Management Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-19, March.
    6. Naila Kabeer, 1999. "Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women's Empowerment," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 30(3), pages 435-464, July.
    7. Bishnu Raj Upreti & Yamuna Ghale & Sharmila Shivakoti & Sushant Acharya, 2018. "Feminization of Agriculture in the Eastern Hills of Nepal: A study of Women in Cardamom and Ginger Farming," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(4), pages 21582440188, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Espada, Ana Luiza Violato & Kainer, Karen A., 2023. "Women and timber management: From assigned cook to strategic decision-maker of community land use," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    2. Pratyusha Basu & Alessandra Galiè, 2021. "Introduction to Special Issue: Gender and Rural Development: Sustainable Livelihoods in a Neoliberal Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-4, November.
    3. Carlo Murer & Alessandra Piccoli, 2022. "Affirmative Policy in Nepal’s Community Forestry: Does it Make a Difference in Terms of Social Sustainability?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sinharoy, Sheela S. & McManus, Shauna & Conrad, Amelia & Patrick, Madeleine & Caruso, Bethany A., 2023. "The Agency, Resources, and Institutional Structures for Sanitation-related Empowerment (ARISE) Scales: Development and validation of measures of women’s empowerment in urban sanitation for low- and mi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    2. Saha, Shree & Narayanan, Sudha, 2022. "A simplified measure of nutritional empowerment: Using machine learning to abbreviate the Women’s Empowerment in Nutrition Index (WENI)," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    3. Quisumbing, Agnes & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Malapit, Hazel, 2022. "Women’s empowerment and gender equality in South Asian agriculture: Measuring progress using the project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) in Bangladesh and India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    4. Shareen Joshi & T. Schultz, 2013. "Family Planning and Women’s and Children’s Health: Long-Term Consequences of an Outreach Program in Matlab, Bangladesh," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(1), pages 149-180, February.
    5. Phyllis Dako-Gyeke & Adolphina Addoley Addo-Lartey & Deda Ogum Alangea & Yandisa Sikweyiya & Esnat Dorothy Chirwa & Dorcas Coker-Appiah & Rachel Jewkes & Richard Mawuena Kofi Adanu, 2019. "'Small small quarrels bring about happiness or love in the relationships’: Exploring community perceptions and gendered norms contributing to male perpetrated intimate partner violence in the Central ," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(11), pages 1-22, November.
    6. Ebelechukwu Maduekwe & Walter Timo de Vries & Gertrud Buchenrieder, 2020. "Identifying Human Recognition Deprived Women: Evidence from Malawi and Peru," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(8), pages 1594-1614, July.
    7. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Sproule, Kathryn & Martinez, Elena M. & Malapit, Hazel, 2021. "Do tradeoffs among dimensions of women’s empowerment and nutrition outcomes exist? Evidence from six countries in Africa and Asia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    8. Helen M. Haugh & Alka Talwar, 2016. "Linking Social Entrepreneurship and Social Change: The Mediating Role of Empowerment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(4), pages 643-658, February.
    9. Das Gupta, Monica & Bongaarts, John & Cleland, John, 2011. "Population, poverty, and sustainable development : a review of the evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5719, The World Bank.
    10. Jungho Kim, 2023. "Female education and its impact on fertility," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 228-228, May.
    11. Rao, Nitya, 2017. "Assets, Agency and Legitimacy: Towards a Relational Understanding of Gender Equality Policy and Practice," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 43-54.
    12. DeJaeghere, Joan & Pellowski Wiger, Nancy & Le, Hue & Luong, Phuong & Ngo, Nga Thi Hang & Vu, Thanh Thi & Lee, Jongwook, 2022. "Why do aspirations matter for empowerment?: Discrepancies between the A-WEAI domains and aspirations of ethnic minority women in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    13. Schultz, T. Paul, 2009. "The Gender and Generational Consequences of the Demographic Transition and Population Policy: An Assessment of the Micro and Macro Linkages," Working Papers 71, Yale University, Department of Economics.
    14. K. Gayathri Reddy & Varsha, P. S. & L. N. Sudheendra Rao & Amit Kumar, 2019. "Exploring dimension, perceived individual tension and capacity building measure of women empowerment in India," Asian Journal of Empirical Research, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(5), pages 111-131, May.
    15. Alice W Clark & T V Sekher, 2007. "Can Career-Minded Young Women Reverse Gender Discrimination?," Working Papers 179, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.
    16. Portner, Claus C & Beegle, Kathleen & Christiaensen, Luc, 2011. "Family planning and fertility : estimating program effects using cross-sectional data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5812, The World Bank.
    17. chatterjee, susmita, 2017. "Empowerment translated to transition," MPRA Paper 80067, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Alkire, Sabina & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Peterman, Amber & Quisumbing, Agnes & Seymour, Greg & Vaz, Ana, 2013. "The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 71-91.
    19. Bussolo,Maurizio & Ezebuihe,Jessy Amarachi & Munoz Boudet,Ana Maria & Poupakis,Stavros & Rahman,Tasmia & Sarma,Nayantara, 2022. "Social Norms and Gender Equality : A Descriptive Analysis for South Asia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10142, The World Bank.
    20. Rania Salem & Yuk Fai Cheong & Kathryn M. Yount, 2018. "Is Women’s Work a Pathway to their Agency in Rural Minya, Egypt?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 807-831, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:6:p:3166-:d:516494. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.