Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Developmental gender perspective'

In 2003 the Swedish parliament passed the bill Shared Responsibility: Sweden’s Policy for Global Development (Gov. Bill 2002/03:122). As the first nation-state in the world, Sweden established a coherent policy on global development politics. The background matters for Sweden’s Policy for Global Development are a long history of unequal North - South relations and the effects of processes started more recently, most often mentioned as globalisation, which have increased interdependence between different parts of the world. Gender equality is one of the central elements in the policy along with human rights, democracy, sustainable use of natural resources and protection of the environment, economic growth, social development and social security, conflict management and human security, and global public goods. Gender equality is also often used as an example in the debate on culture and diverse understandings of development. Therefore, this is a pertinent focus of the thesis.

The key concepts of the thesis are consequently gender equality, development and culture and how they are used, are central to the contemporary discourse on global development politics, which has evolved over the past decades, but also reflect old images of the world originating from the hegemony of colonial and Western thought. The holistic approach to development will be discussed, as well as the Swedish self-image reflected in the policy and universal values versus perspectives of cultural relativism. Postcolonial theory provides critical perspectives on development and problematic issues of cultural difference in North – South relations. Considering the focus on gender equality, postcolonial feminist theories will be used to shed some light on the content of Sweden’s Policy for Global Development.

Sustainable development is an approach to development that seeks to be multidimensional, meaning that it integrates social, economic and environmental aspects in order to be inclusive for people of diverging nations and realities. Sustainable development adheres to the Human Rights regime and claims that every person regardless of social differences such as ethnicity, class and sex, has the right to undisputable freedom and justice. This study situates a group of people who are globally denied these basic rights and face political, social and legal discrimination. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people face a sexual violence that development discourse has not observed, making sexual identity a political issue. By using a queer feminist approach that understands gender and sexuality as co-dependent, this study analyses how discourse on sustainable development, in the documents of the Agenda 21 and Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, conceptualises gender and what the implications are for sexual identity. A conceptual framework with concepts drawn from queer feminism is utilised to conduct critical discourse analysis and has shown the discourse to be shaped by heteronormative assumptions. Women and men are viewed as essentially different, as women embody particular needs and roles distinct from men. A discourse of motherhood ties the woman in a sexual relationship to men and naturalises the heterosexual purpose of reproduction as a hegemonic way of expressing sexuality. This creates a blind spot towards non-heterosexual sexuality and non-reproductive sexuality and closes the door to policies and programmes on sexual issues other than reproductive. Not only does this exclude LGBT people from discourse, but also the limited heterosexual norm sets a standard that not even heterosexual people might comply to.

The purpose of this study is to understand the situation concerning women and gender in relation to development, in the Mozambican district of Nacala Porto. The ambition is to identify present theoretical feminist perspectives in terms of perceived problems for women, their ability to solve them, focus areas for improvement and strategies for reaching development aims.

To enable an understanding of the situation concerning women and gender in relation to development, we have conducted an analytical framework consisting of three main theoretical feminist perspectives in international development policies. These were applied as analytical tools, which consisted of Ester Boserups perspective of Women’s role in economic development, Women In Development (WID) and Gender And Development (GAD).

The study displayed a discrepancy between the powerful women in the Mozambican parliament and the lack of social power described by the women in Nacala Porto. At the district level the results showed a dominating modernistic paradigm, similar to the situation identified by Boserup, who emphasised that the economical development did not benefit women equally. The subordination of women has been apparent in the district. The long-term strategy of transforming the gender structure has been met with support as well as resistance. The GAD-aim of mainstreaming gender showed a gap between international policy and practise in the district. The interventions that were WID-oriented have on the other hand shown progress regarding female representation, non-discriminatory legislation and increase of girls starting primary school. However, the WID-progress is limited without a gender perspective.

Three main areas were continuously discussed as means having to change, to potentially alleviate poverty and include women in the development process. These areas were the access to employment, sustainable education and functioning family relations. The interdependence of these areas also seemed to require an integration of the three theoretical feminist perspectives of Boserup, WID and GAD.

The sexualization of girls is an ongoing issue that has garnered much attention in recent years, with one contributing factor, media, becoming an ever-increasing part of children’s lives. This study explored four questions: How do mothers and teachers perceive the media’s influence on young girls’ identity development? To what extent do these caregivers engage young girls in analyzing media messages? What observed behaviors of 4-year old girls indicate media’s influence? and What are caregivers interpretations and responses to these behaviors? Analyzing the perceptions of mothers and female teachers of 4-year old girls contributes to a better understanding of how girls are influenced, both by caregivers’ actions and by media consumed.

Twelve mothers and female early childhood teachers from three South Florida preschools were interviewed to better understand how girls are influenced by media, and to gain a more holistic perspective of the potential impact of media on young girls’ behaviors and their emerging understanding of what it means to be a girl today. The findings indicate that mothers and female teachers perceive media to be influential in the lives of girls, both in terms of general child development and young girls’ gender identity development. The participants are observing behaviors in their 4-year old girls that indicate media’s influence; these behaviors include sexualized dancing, attitude and language changes, and requests for sexualized clothing and beauty products. Although these mothers and teachers do not yet help girls analyze media messages, they do, however, engage in significant guidance as they interpret and respond to the observed behaviors. These findings reflect a need for media literacy education for parents and teachers, as well as comprehensive sexualization awareness and prevention education for children, parents, and teachers.

During the years the awareness of gender issues has increased in the international arena and the importance of including gender aspects in development projects has been emphasised. This Master’s thesis is based on a case study of the VI Agroforestry Project (VIAFP) in Uganda and is one of the two subprojects of the study Sustainable development around the Lake Victoria basin, with the purpose to investigate the importance of local anchoring and active participation in the work towards sustainable development. The aim of this subproject is to investigate how gender roles among men and women in Kalisizo zone, in the Masaka and Rakai districts, in Uganda, affect the VI Agroforestry Project and if the project in return affects the gender roles.

The study is primarily based on interviews with farmers involved in the VIAFP activities in Kalisizo zone and shows that the project and the gender roles affect each other more or less in both ways. The women are somewhat more active in both farming and the activities connected with the household, and therefore also more engaged in the project activities and meetings. However, the gender roles have changed in the way that men have increased their interest in farming activities since they joined the VI Agroforestry Project. Both men and women involved in the VIAFP activities have more work on their farm than before they joined the project, but it seems as if they think it is worth the extra effort to gain more in the end. However, the project has to consider the fact that women often have a bigger workload to start with.

It is important for the VIAFP to adjust the activities and the feedback to different wishes and needs within the communities so that everyone feels they gain from the project activities, and also so that everyone who wants to participate at different activities have the opportunity to do so. Since the majority of the staff are Ugandans the ways of implying values from the North into the communities are less than if this had not been the case.

The study is published in two versions, both as a Master's thesis for the Environmental Science Programme, Linköping University and as a Minor Field Study for Sida. The differences between the versions are only editorial.

Language and literacy, development and acquisition, has fascinated linguists, psychologists and sociologists for decades. The debate on whether thought precedes language, or language precedes thought, continues with the same fervour as the nature/nurture discussions for the development of human intelligence. Parents, teachers and care -givers need appropriate information to provide quality support for language and literacy development in early childhood. State and Commonwealth monies and projects are heavily focussed on improving student literacy outcomes.

The issues of language development and the serious short and long term consequences of language delay on the progression of literacy skills, attitudinal development and interpersonal relationships have provided the impetus for this study into the complexity of language delay in early childhood from a gender perspective. This incorporated the consequential impact for teaching and learning. Most government and non -government providers of educational services have policies to address gender issues. Accommodating that differences between and within genders are real and unique to the individual child, added to the complexity the topic.

This project researched language and literacy development in a study involving five Central Queensland State Schools. Students' attitudes to school (N=973), teachers' perceptions of students' attitudes (N=56), and staff opinions on the human relationships in each respective school were surveyed (N=60). Statistics were collected from ten learning support teachers in the Rockhampton area supporting 726 students who were referred as having some degree of learning difficulty. Screening and retesting of 39 early childhood students across the five schools, using the Bankson Language Test -2, was implemented to ascertain improvements in language acquisition. Teaching staff in the five schools, from Pre School to Year 3, were surveyed as to their opinions on language delay and language learning environments (N=23).

As evidenced throughout this project, language delay can be attributed to a number of genetic and environmental influences. This study strongly advocates for increased support to assist teachers and parents in understanding and meeting the needs of language delayed children and in creating an awareness of the gender implications for emergent language learners. Intervention programs can be effectively implemented.