WID Information
|
- RESEARCH NOTES
- WID ACTIVITIES AT UI
- WID LIBRARY RESOURCES
- GRANTS
- WORKSHOPS/CONFERENCES
- JOB OPENINGS
- RESOURCES
WOMEN’S PROPERTY RIGHTS AND ASIAN ECONOMIC TRANSITION POLICIES
By Gale Summerfield
As new director of the WID Office,I want to share my current research interests.A significant part of my recent work has centered on examining the gendered aspects of economic transition policies in China,ietnam,and Laos.The policies have led to stellar results in terms of economic growth for China and Vietnam,and growth has remained positive even during the crisis of the last year and a half.Growth,however,
is only one factor in the development process --and not the goal of development,which is more appropriately denoted as improving people ’s well-being and agency in an environmentally sustainable manner (see any of the Human Development Reports of the UNDP).Many women have benefitted from the changes;it is,after all,easier to share the wealth when wealth is abundant.(The accompanying photos show women in China and Vietnam engaged in typical income- earning activities.)At the same time,researchers have noted some disturbing trends in discrimination in the labor market, housing,and political participation (see Aslanbeigui,Pressman, and Summerfield,1994).(The people crossing the Red River are squatters on the mid-river sandbar near a northern suburb of Hanoi.)The Asian Economic Crisis that began in 1997 is likely to put more strain on problematic areas. I have been working with Prof.Irene Tinker(University of California, Berkeley) to build an international network of specialists to study these changes: WONET (Women’s Network on Socio-Economic Transition in East/Southeast Asia). The first members of the network met in Bangkok in 1994 to identify topics for research; the participants were concerned about women and their families, employment, environment, and social security. Subsequently we organized a panel for the NGO Forum of the 4th World Conference on Women in Huairou, China in 1995 and published a symposium of papers based on the panel (Summerfield and Tinker, 1997).
We are just finishing the first book of the network, Women’s Changing Rights to House and Land in China, Laos, and Vietnam (Tinker and Summerfield, 1999). Land reform that returned farming responsibilities from the commune to individual families has played a significant role in transition policies. For rural women in China and Vietnam, this has on average resulted in higher family incomes and a higher concentration of women in agriculture (up to 70% women in many areas) as men and young women seek employment in the non-state rural industries or migrate to the city. While families attempt to maximize their well-being with this division of labor, the implications for women are not all positive. Agriculture is a relatively low-wage field in general, and thus, the concentration of women in this sector could work against them in the long run. There are problems with discrimination in the allocation of the best lands and in the additional lands that are contracted for cash crops. In Laos, the process of privatization based on Western models has resulted in many lands that had been handed-down by matrilineal tradition being transferred to the husband – merely because only one signature is required on the new title and usually the husband signs. Local specialists are in the processing of calling for reform of these procedures.
Housing reform in these Asian countries has recently been emphasized more as governments seek to cut subsidies. China, by far, provided the most subsidized housing, mainly in the cities; state work units provided small apartments to their workers at a cost of 1-5% of their wages, not sufficient even for maintenance. These units were usually allocated to the husbands despite rhetoric of equality. In the reform policies, gender issues are being ignored by local and international analysts. Some of the areas of concern to WID specialists are lack of rights for divorced women as divorce increases, housing security for poor women and their children, mortgage credit availability to women, supply of affordable units, and permission to use housing for income generation as well as shelter.
Success of the housing reform depends on numerous interrelated changes not only in the housing market itself but also in the labor and financial markets, environmental legislation, and the legal structure. While the goal of reform is to establish a private market in housing and improve allocation of resources, this should not be a market for men only. As the reports from the UN’s Habitat II Conference in Turkey in June 1996 summarize, a gendered policy for urban reform needs to include women in the decision-making at all levels (Summerfield and Aslanbeigui, 1999).
The next network project in formation is a study of microenterprise, gender, and environment (both “green” and “brown” aspects). The WID Office plans to sponsor a campus workshop on this topic on March 26-27, 1999. If you are interested in participating and/or presenting your research, contact me at the WID Office or email: summrfld@uiuc.edu. I also encourage students who are interested in the graduate concentrations that we offer to come by the Office.
References
Aslanbeigui, Nahid; Pressman, Steven; and Summerfield, Gale. eds. 1994. Women in the Age of Economic Transformation, London: Routledge.
Summerfield, Gale and Nahid Aslanbeigui 1999, “Housing Reform in Urban China: Gender Impacts and Strategies,” in Tinker and Summerfield.
Summerfield, Gale and Tinker, Irene 1997, “The Family and Economic Transformation in Developing Countries: Impacts and Strategies, A Symposium Based on Issues Raised at the NGO Forum of the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women, Huairou, China August 30 - Sept. 9, 1995,” Review of Social Economy, Summer.
Tinker, Irene and Summerfield, Gale, eds 1999, Women’s Changing Rights to House and Land in China, Vietnam, and Laos, Lynne Rienner Publishers.
USAID GRANT AWARDED TO THE OFFICE OF WOMEN IN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
The Office of Women in International Development (WID) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has been awarded a grant from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to study rural women’s employment in agribusiness in developing countries. Kathleen Cloud, former Director of the WID Office, is the lead principal investigator for a team composed of faculty from the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Department of Journalism and the WID Office; two international post-doctoral women from Nigeria and India will also participate.
The WID Office will develop model partnership agreements with selected international agribusiness firms to explore issues related to women’s employment through case studies of three companies in different developing countries. Dr. Earl Kellogg, Associate Provost for International Affairs, stated that the studies will provide much needed data for encouraging more substantial and better employment opportunities for women in countries undergoing economic transformation. “Both research and practical experience confirm that movement toward sustainable human development accelerates when women are able to increase their incomes in working environments which foster their own welfare and that of their families,” observed Dr. Gale Summerfield, Director of the WID Office.
Several teams composed of one member from UIUC and at least one member from the partner companies will travel to the host countries to meet with personnel from agribusiness companies, USAID, non-governmental organizations, and the government to appraise labor market policies and institutional factors that affect the employment of women. They will collect data on the participating companies and other local and regional institutions. The project will document “best practices” that are responsive to gender-based constraints in the agribusiness sector and contribute to improvements in women’s economic status. Presentation of the results will be made to the companies, to the UIUC agribusiness community, and USAID personnel. The university will work with the companies to develop a partnership strategy for extension of the identified best practices across the agribusiness sector.
For more information on the project or the WID Office please contact Kate Cloud, principal investigator (k-cloud@uiuc.edu) or Gale Summerfield, Director of the WID Office.
WID LIBRARY RESOURCES
by Beth Stafford-Vaughn
UIUC Library has one of literally a handful of library units devoted to women’s and gender issues in the country, our Women’s Studies/WID Library, or WST. The purpose of WST is to provide support for the research and teaching of both WID and Women’s Studies through acquiring materials for the the UIUC Library collection and providing reference service for the WID/WS communities. Essentially a reference collection, WST includes bibliographies, indexes, abstracts, guides, directories, etc. relevant to gender issues, in print and electronic formats. In addition, WST maintains a database of WS and WID programs and another of WS/WID videotapes at the UIUC, accessible through our website at: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/wst
Recently, WST acquired an important WID collection for UIUC - the collection of the Equity Policy Center (EPOC) and its archives. These valuable resources are being donated by Dr. Irene Tinker, one of the first scholars to initiate the field of WID. The materials include unpublished conference papers, research documentation produced under contract for international economic assistance agencies, contract study group reports, and United Nations documents relating to WID issues, as well as originals and photocopies of publications.
The collection includes a strong emphasis on such topics as agricultural development, health, water resources, education, food production and preparation, energy, technology, women’s rights, peace and violence. The Library is seeking funds to process the EPOC collection to make it available and to digitize portions of it.
GRANTS
Travel Grants for International Women Graduate Students to Attend the AAEA Annual Meeting in Nashville, TN.
The AAEA Foundation Board has approved a $2,000 grant to CWAE to help international women graduate students attend the 1999 AAEA annual meeting in Nashville. Grants ranging from $300-$400 will be made to approximately six international women graduate students who have completed two or more years of study towards a Ph.D. in Agricultural, Resource, or Applied Economics at a U.S. or Canadian University, to help defray the costs of attending the meeting. Send a brief statement (no more than one page) explaining why they want to attend the meetings, what they expect to gain from the meetings, and their need for assistance (including other sources of funding to attend the meetings). The applicant should also note if she will be participating in the meetings in any other way (e.g. paper, poster, symposium, etc). The applicant’s advisor should also include a brief letter of support confirming the applicant’s eligibility and explaining why the student should attend the meetings and why the student needs our support.
Applicants should be sent to: Janet Perry, CWAE Chairperson, Economic Research Service, 1800 M St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20036-5831.
The application deadline is June 15 and applicants will be notified of their status by June 29.
WORKSHOPS/CONFERENCES
WID Office Symposium Fall 1999: Women Organizing for Advancement in International Development, Oct. 8-10, 1999, at UI. Contact the WID Office for more information. Also mark your calendars: Symposium 2000 : Where has WID Been? Where is WID Going? October 20-22, 2000.
Participatory Development: Concepts, Tools and Application in Participatory Rural/Rapid Appraisal (PRA), June 21-26, 1999 or July 19-24,1999. A workshop designed for international development practitioners, NGOs, participatory action researchers and educators, policy, program and project officers, and community activists. Organized by Mosaic.net International and the Praxis Group in Ottawa, Canada. For registration and other workshop information contact Mosaic.net International, Inc., 705 Roosevelt Ave., Ottawa, Canada K2A 2A8; Tel: (613) 728-1439 ext.1 ; Fax: (613) 728-1154; E-mail: workshop@mosaic-net-intl.ca
Feminist Economics: A Special Issue on Globalization. Feminist Economics invites submissions of papers, short discussions and book reviews for a special issue on globalization to be published in 2000. The deadline for submission of papers is June 15, 1999. The guest editors for the issue are Lourdes Beneria (lb21@cornell.edu), Maria Floro (mfloro@American.edu), Caren Grown CGrown@macfdn.org), and Martha MacDonald (Martha.MacDonald@stmarys.ca). For guidelines check the journal’s web page at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~femec/ or contact the editorial office Tel: 713-527-4083; fax: 713-285-5495; email morehc@rice.edu. For more information, contact one of the guest-editors or Diana Strassmann (dls@rice.edu).
Housing, Work and Development:the Role of Home-based Enterprises--The CARDO International Conference on 26-28 April 2000, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Some of the proposed topics include: Employment policy and the encouragement of home-based enterprises; Housing policy related to home-based enterprises; The effect of environmental upgrading on home-based enterprises ; Rental housing as income generation; Economic contribution of home-based enterprises at personal, household, neighbourhood, city and national level. Abstracts of 500 words should be submitted to Ms Justine Coulson (J.A.Coulson@ncl.ac.uk) at CARDO by June 1, 1999. A hard copy and either an email or diskette copy in Word for Windows 2, Word 6 or Wordperfect 5 should be also sent. Those who have submitted abstracts by that date will be notified of their acceptance by 2nd August, 1999. For inquiries regarding abstracts, contact Ms Coulson either by email or phone (0191 222 5686). The conference flyer complete with booking details can be sent either by post or email. To request a copy email: S.J.Lane@ncl.ac.uk. Alternatively, visit the CARDO website at http://sharkie.csir.co.za/hbe
Women Mean Business: A Global Exchange, a national Lessons Without Borders conference on Mentoring and Marketing for Women Entrepreneurs, sponsored by the U.S.Agency for International Development will be held in Chicago, Illinois at the Westin River North Hotel, June 2-3, 1999. Microenterprise and small business owners from the U.S. and abroad will share experiences and learn new techniques to support expansion of their businesses. For more information, contact: email: lessons@usaid.gov, fax: (202) 216-3034, phone: (202) 712-0072.
Top
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
OPPORTUNITIES WITH CONSULTATIVE GROUP ON INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH (CGIAR)
IFPRI Postdoctoral Fellow, Uganda:
The Environment and Production Technology Division of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks an economist to serve as a Postdoctoral Fellow for two years to help lead policy research on policies to improve land management in Uganda.
To apply, send a detailed letter of interest summarizing the relevance of your experience to IFPRI’s needs, curriculum vitae, and the names of at least three references to: IFPRI, Human Resource Services, Ref: 98-140 & Code GP, 2033 K St., NW, Washington, DC 20006, USA. Fax (202) 467-4439.
Email for more info: A.Howard@cgiar.org.
Position will remain open until a qualified candidate is identified.
Director, Communications Division,
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is seeking an experienced senior manager to develop and implement institute wide strategies to: (1) disseminate IFPRI’s research products; (2) support communications and capacity strengthening efforts by research and outreach divisions; and (3)strengthen IFPRI’s capacity to target science-based food policy information through forms and media techniques that are attractive to its diverse stakeholder group. IFPRI’s stakeholders include national policy makers, advisers and researchers in developing countries, regional and international organizations, donor organizations, NGOs and the public.
To apply, send a detailed letter of interest summarizing the relevance of your experience to IFPRI’s needs, curriculum vitae, and the names of at least three references to: IFPRI, Human Resource Services, 2033 K St., NW, Washington, DC 20006, USA. Fax 202/467-4439.
Email:A.Howard@cgiar.org.
Position will remain open until a qualified candidate is identified. Please refer to Code GP.