Feminism, Women’s Agency, and Subjective Well-Being: Women’s Experiences of Village Community Banks in Tanzania
Abstract
Abstract
This study addresses some limitations in the understanding of the relationship between micro-credit facilities and women's empowerment, particularly when seen in terms of micro-credit's capacity to reduce the vulnerabilities of resource-poor households and to encourage women's engagement in providing for themselves with basic needs. Although such empowerment, seen through its material implications, may be limited in confronting macro-structural processes within which exclusion and exploitation are firmly rooted, many studies put less emphasis on how it may stimulate women’s self-appreciation and agency. Using a qualitative analysis of Village Community Banks (VICOBA) in Tanzania, this article shows how women experience ownership of the processes related to VICOBA as a resource for agency, and how, through such ownership, they claim empowerment as individuals; and interpret their actions within VICOBA as expressive of their subjective well-being.
Keywords
References
References
Abrams, K. (1999). From Autonomy to Agency: Feminist Perspectives on Self-Direction, 40 Wm. & Mary Law Rev. 805. (1999), http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol40/iss3/6.
Adjei-Bosompem, E. (2013). Micro-credit Lending and Women's Empowerment: The Experiences of Rural Kasoa Women. Journal of Global Gender Studies, 1(1), 2013.
Andersen, M L. (2005). Thinking about Women: A Quarter Century's View. Gender and Society, 19(4 Aug., 2005), pp. 437-455.
Askew, K. (1999). Female Circles and Male Lines: Gender Dynamics along the Swahili Coast Author(s): Kelly M. Askew Source: Africa Today, 46(3/4, Islam in Africa (Summer - Autumn, 1999), pp. 67-102 Published by: Indiana University Press Stable. http: //www. jstor. org/stable/4187285.
Bakari, V., R. Magesa, & S. Akida. (2014). Mushrooming Village Community Banks in Tanzania: Is it really making a difference? International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research 6(2): 127-135.
Brannen, C. (2010). An Impact Study of the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) Program in Zanzibar, Tanzania by Class of 2010. Bachelor of Arts thesis, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut. April, 2010.
Centre for VICOBA and Enterprise Development, CEVEDE. (2014). Report of a VICOBA Forum conducted at Landmark Hotel Ubungo, Tanzania. 30-31 May, 2014, Centre for VICOBA Microfinance and Enterprise Development, by E. S Chipindi. Dar es Salaam.
Dancer, H. (2015). Realising Women’s Land Rights: Law, Gender and Farming in Tanzania. http://www.future-agricultures. org/blog/ entry/ realising- women-s-land-rights-law-gender-and-farming-in-tanzania. Accessed on Feb 29, 2016.
Duflo, E. (2012). Women Empowerment and Economic Development. Journal of Economic Literature., 50(4): 1051-1079.
Duncan, J. (2014). Women’s Land Rights Guide for Tanzania. Landesa, Centre for Women’s Land Rights. Rural Development Institute. http://www.landesa.org/wp-content/ uploads/LandWise-Guide-Women%E2%80%99s-land-rights-guide-for-Tanzania. pdf.
Gerami, S. & L. Melody. (2001). Women's Agency and Household Diplomacy: Negotiating Fundamentalism. Gender and Society, 15 (4): 556-573.
Gonzalez-Brenes, M. (2004). Domestic Violence and Household Decision-making: Evidence from East Africa. University of Berkeley, California. http://cega.berkeley. edu/assets/miscellaneous_files/wgape/7_Gonzalez. pdf.
Hitlin, S. & K. J. Monica. (2015). Reconceptualizing Agency within the Life Course: The Power of Looking Ahead. American Journal of Sociology, 120(5): 1429-1472.
Holten, A. B., G. F. Boateng, N. M. Madsen, S. O. Wambutsi & H. Marcussen. (2014). Micro-credit - A Magic Bullet for Women’s Empowerment? International Development Studies, Spring 2014.
Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women's Empowerment. Development and Change, 30(3): 435-464, July 1999.
Feminism, Women’s Agency and Subjective Well-Being
Kamara, G. M. (2001). The Feminist Struggle in the Senegalese Novel: Mariama Ba and Sembene. Journal of Black Studies, 32(2): 212-228.
Kandiyoti, D. (1988). Bargaining with Patriarchy. Gender & Society, 2: 274-89.
Kato, M. P. & J. Kratzer. (2013). Empowering Women through Microfinance: Evidence from Tanzania. ACRN Journal of Entrepreneurship Perspectives, 2(10: 31-59.
Keating, C., C. Rasmussen & P. Rishi. (2010). The Rationality of Empowerment: Micro-credit, Accumulation by Dispossession, and the Gendered Economy. In Shirin M. Rai and Kate Bedford Signs (eds). Feminists Theorize International Political Economy: Special Issue. University of Chicago Press, pp. 153-176.
Kihongo, R. M. (2005). Impact Assessment of Village Community Bank (VICOBA). Dissertation for Master of Science in Community Economic Development. Open University of Tanzania and Southern New Hampshire.
Kim, J. C., H. Charlotte, J, R. Watts, L. Hargreaves, X. Ndhlovu, G. Phetla & P. Pronyk. (2007). Understanding the Impact of a Microfinance-Based Intervention on Women’s Empowerment and the Reduction of Intimate Partner Violence in South Africa. American Journal of Public Health, 97(10): 1794-1802. doi: 10. 2105/AJPH. 2006. 095521.
Lott, C. E. (2009). Why Women Matter: The Story of Micro-credit. Journal of Law and Commerce. 27: 219.
Madaha, R. M. (2016). Networking by the Rural Poor as a Mechanism for Community Development within the Neoliberal context. The Case of Women Networks in Mkalama District, Singida Region, Tanzania. A Thesis Submitted in (Partial) Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Development Studies) of the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 2016.
Mahmoud, S. (2006). Feminist Theory, Agency, and the Liberatory Subject: Some Reflections on the Islamic Revival in Egypt. The Finnish Society for the Study of Religion, Temenos, 42 No. 1. (2006), 31–71.
Mahmud, S. (2003). Actually How Empowering is Micro-credit? Development and Change., 34, issue No. 4 pp 577-605. Sept 2003.
Mayoux, L. (2000). Microfinance and the Empowerment of Women: A Review of Key Issues. http: //www. ilo. org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@edemp/documents/publication/wcms_ 117993. pdf.
Mbezi, R. G. (2009). Women’s Economic contribution in sustaining the Livelihoods of Coastal Households in the Era of Neo-liberalism. A Case Study of Somanga Village and Songosongo Island in Kilwa District, Tanzania. Master of Arts (Sociology) dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam.
Micro-Finance Transparency, MFT. (2011). Country Survey: Tanzania. MF Transparency. org Promoting Transparent Pricing in the Microfinance Industry. December 2011. https://www.mftransparency.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/MFT-RPT-106-EN-Country-Survey-Tanzania. pdf, accessed on 25th January 2016.
Ministry of Finance (MoF). (2000). National Microfinance Policy. Ministry of Finance. United Republic of Tanzania. Government Printer.
Moghadam, V. M. (2010). Women, Structure, and Agency in the Middle East: Introduction and Overview to Feminist Formations' Special Issue on Women in the Middle East. Feminist Formations, 22(3), Fall 2010.
Rosemarie Mwaipopo & Masoud Dauda
Moodie, M. (2008). Enter Micro-credit: A New Culture of Women's Empowerment in Rajasthan? American Ethnologist, 35(3): 454-465.
Muhanna, A. (2015). Women's Moral Agency and the Politics of Religion in the Gaza Strip: Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 31(1): 3-21. Indiana University Press.
Mushumbusi, P. K. & J. Kratzer. (2013). Empowering Women through Microfinance: Evidence from Tanzania. ACRN Journal of Entrepreneurship Perspectives, 2(1): 31-59.
Narayan-Parker, D. (1997). Voices of the Poor: Poverty and Social Capital in Tanzania. World Bank Publications, January 1997.
National Economic Empowerment Council, NEEC. (2016). Economic Empowerment Implementation Report- 2005-2015. National Economic Empowerment Council, March 2016. United Republic of Tanzania.
Nissanke, M. & E. Aryeetey. (2005). Financial Integration and Development: Liberalisation and Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa. Routledge Studies in Development Economics. ODI.
Oduol, W. & W. M. Kabira. (1995). The Mother of Warriors and Her Daughters. The Women’s Movement in Kenya. The Challenge of Local Feminisms. Women’s Movements in Global Perspective by Amrita Basu (ed.) 1995.
OECD. (2013), OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10. 1787/9789264191655-en.
Otsyina, R. M., B. L. Benno &J. M. Abdallah. (2010). Strengthening Community Capacity for Fisheries Co-management (SCCaFCoM) in Rufiji, Mafia and Kilwa Districts. WWF-Norway Project Evaluation Report. WWF-Tanzania Country Office.
Owen, M. (2006). Debt and Development: Exploring the Microfinance Debate in Senegal. Urban Studies senior Seminar Paper. CUREJ. University of Pennsylvania, Winter, 2006. http://repository.upenn.edu/curej/111.
Peterman, A. (2011). Women's Property Rights and Gendered Policies: Implications for Women's Long-term Welfare in Rural Tanzania. The Journal of Development Studies. Special Section on Assets and Gender. Volume 47, Issue 1, 2011.
Parthasarathy, S. K. (2012). Fact or Fiction: Examining Microcredit/Microfinance from a Feminist Perspective. Association for Women’s Rights (AWID) February, 2012.
Rajput, P. (2003). Women and Globalization: Is micro-credit the Answer? Journal of International Development and Cooperation. Vol 9, issue No. 2. (2003).
Ramos, F. (2008). Life’s Structures and the Individual Agency. Making Sense of Women’s Words. in, Women, Structure, and Agency in the Middle East: Introduction and Overview to Feminist Formations' Special Issue on Women in the Middle East. Feminist Formations, Vol 22, Issue 3, Fall 2010.
Roxin, H., H. Berkumuller, P. J. Kohler; J. Lawoon, N. Pooya & J. Schappert. (2011). Economic empowerment of Women through Micro-credit. The Case of the Microfinance Investment and Technical Assistance Facility (MATIF). SLE Publication Series. Berlin. http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/series/sle/240/PDF/240. pdf.
Feminism, Women’s Agency and Subjective Well-Being
Sarker, D. (2013). Microfinance for Disabled People: How is it Contributing? Research Journal of Finance and Accounting. Vol. 4, No. 9, 2013.
Social and Economic Development Initiatives of Tanzania, SEDIT. (2008). VICOBA (village community banks): A tool for community emancipation from poverty “MKUKUTA”. Paper presented to national policy dialogue on MKUKUTA, P.E.R. annual consultative meeting held on 19th to 21st November 2008, Blue Pearl Hotel-Ubungo plaza, Dar es Salaam. Tanzania. Social and Economic Development Initiatives of Tanzania (SEDIT).
Shaheed, F. (1999). Culture, Women’s Agency and the Muslim World. Wiley Online Libraries. UNESCO. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2451.00177/epdf.
Shekilango, S. M. (2012). Micro-credit and Empowerment of Rural Women Experience from Mbeya Region Tanzania. Sylvia LUMID Thesis May 2012. Lund University, Lund University Master of International Development and Management.
Sultana, A. (2011). Patriarchy and Women’s Subordination: A Theoretical Analysis. The Arts Faculty Journal, July 2010-June 2011. University of Dhaka.
Syed, M. A. (2005). The Position of Women in Islam. A Progressive View. State University of New York Press.
United Nations (UN). (2013). Microfinance in Africa: Overview and Suggestions for Action by Stakeholder. February 2013.
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA. (2007). Women and Access to Land and Credit: Discussions and Key Findings of the African Gender Development Index in Selected African Countries June 2007. African Centre for Gender and Social Development. UNECA, June 2007. http://www1.uneca.org/Portals/awro/ Publications/ 28Women%20and%20Access%20to%20Land%20and%20Credit. pdf.
United Republic of Tanzania (URT). (2004). National Economic Empowerment Policy. The Prime Minister’s Office. United Republic of Tanzania.
Villarreal, A. (2007). Women's Employment Status, Coercive Control, and Intimate Partner Violence in Mexico Source, Journal of Marriage and Family, 69(2 May, 2007): 418-434.
White, S. (2009). Bringing Well-being into Development Practice. WeD Working Paper 09/50. August 2009. Well-being in Developing Countries Research Group. University of Bath.
World Development Report (WDR). (2012). Promoting Women’s Agency. World Bank. http:// siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2012/Resources/7778105-1299699968583 /7786210-1315936222006/chapter-4. pdf.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2020 Tanzania Journal of Development Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.