ศูนย์นวัตกรรมเทคโนโลยีหลังการเก็บเกี่ยว

Resistance against seclusion: women, work, and patriarchy in Bangladesh.

Zaman, H.

Canadian Journal of Development Studies Year: 1995 Issue: No. SPEC/ISSUE Pages: 105-122 Ref: 83 ref.

1995

บทคัดย่อ

The paper examines the concept of 'work' in ideological and methodological terms, particularly as it applies to women in developing countries. The discussion is based on a detailed case study of Tarapur village in Bangladesh. Three case studies are presented of women who were married but are now divorced/widowed or living apart from their husbands. Despite the cultural practice of seclusion, women are increasingly becoming involved in field agriculture and wage labour due to the deterioration of the general socioeconomic conditions and poverty in the country. These women have already challenged the traditional village authority and established their own new roles in the domestic as well as in the local labour market. It is, therefore, important that future studies on women and work in Bangladesh move beyond what is often simply a male perspective on the status of women and explore women's multiple roles, positions, and statuses within the various power structures of the Bangladeshi rural society

. Rural women benefit very little from the existing agricultural programmes and rural development projects. Secondly, this also means that they are largely isolated from all kinds of institutional support (e.g., credit, agricultural or business loans) to maintain or expand their productive base. Future public policies should recognize women's role both in field and postharvest activities, and accordingly, devise new policies creating non-traditional work and employment opportunities to facilitate women's entry into the labour market.