The dilemma of women empowerment in informal artisanal and small-scale gold ore mining in Ghana
For several years, women demand more decision-making power from their husbands and the society. Studies indicate that egalitarian decision-making power can be beneficial in many important ways to the household and society, and the pathway to this desire policy objective is through women empowerment....
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Cogent Social Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2022.2108231 |
| _version_ | 1798038845047963648 |
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| author | James Natia Adam Timothy Adams Jean-David Gerber Michèle Amacker |
| author_facet | James Natia Adam Timothy Adams Jean-David Gerber Michèle Amacker |
| author_sort | James Natia Adam |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | For several years, women demand more decision-making power from their husbands and the society. Studies indicate that egalitarian decision-making power can be beneficial in many important ways to the household and society, and the pathway to this desire policy objective is through women empowerment. Yet, this is not as obvious as it seems. On the one hand, women empowerment is a game changer. On the other hand, the problem of women empowerment is complex. Thus, our goal is to evaluate the gendered intersectional power dynamics operating in informal artisanal and small-scale mining and the impact on women’s empowerment to balance decision-making power in the household. Theoretically, we ask: How does women empowerment enable women to demand more decision-making power from their husbands following their participation in informal mining? And how do men react to women empowerment? Empirically, 38 biographic interviews, 6 key informant interviews and 8 focus group discussions were conducted. Results show that informal mining improves the financial power of women and increases their bargaining power to demand more decision-making power from their husbands. Moreover, increase in women’s financial leverage can have a nuanced effect on their empowerment since men can intervene there by playing on the patriarchal rules. In conclusion, women empowerment is complex, and the major challenge is societal. Consequently, policy actions are required to vigorously address societal norms through formal education and awareness creation to bring about transformations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T21:45:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-65e1b3e9bd8447ee842b861117948dde |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2331-1886 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T21:45:55Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cogent Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-65e1b3e9bd8447ee842b861117948dde2022-12-22T04:01:25ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Social Sciences2331-18862022-12-018110.1080/23311886.2022.2108231The dilemma of women empowerment in informal artisanal and small-scale gold ore mining in GhanaJames Natia Adam0Timothy Adams1Jean-David Gerber2Michèle Amacker3Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandInterdisciplinary Center for Gender Studies, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandInterdisciplinary Center for Gender Studies, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandInterdisciplinary Center for Gender Studies, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandFor several years, women demand more decision-making power from their husbands and the society. Studies indicate that egalitarian decision-making power can be beneficial in many important ways to the household and society, and the pathway to this desire policy objective is through women empowerment. Yet, this is not as obvious as it seems. On the one hand, women empowerment is a game changer. On the other hand, the problem of women empowerment is complex. Thus, our goal is to evaluate the gendered intersectional power dynamics operating in informal artisanal and small-scale mining and the impact on women’s empowerment to balance decision-making power in the household. Theoretically, we ask: How does women empowerment enable women to demand more decision-making power from their husbands following their participation in informal mining? And how do men react to women empowerment? Empirically, 38 biographic interviews, 6 key informant interviews and 8 focus group discussions were conducted. Results show that informal mining improves the financial power of women and increases their bargaining power to demand more decision-making power from their husbands. Moreover, increase in women’s financial leverage can have a nuanced effect on their empowerment since men can intervene there by playing on the patriarchal rules. In conclusion, women empowerment is complex, and the major challenge is societal. Consequently, policy actions are required to vigorously address societal norms through formal education and awareness creation to bring about transformations.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2022.2108231Agencyempowermentminingpatriarchypower |
| spellingShingle | James Natia Adam Timothy Adams Jean-David Gerber Michèle Amacker The dilemma of women empowerment in informal artisanal and small-scale gold ore mining in Ghana Cogent Social Sciences Agency empowerment mining patriarchy power |
| title | The dilemma of women empowerment in informal artisanal and small-scale gold ore mining in Ghana |
| title_full | The dilemma of women empowerment in informal artisanal and small-scale gold ore mining in Ghana |
| title_fullStr | The dilemma of women empowerment in informal artisanal and small-scale gold ore mining in Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | The dilemma of women empowerment in informal artisanal and small-scale gold ore mining in Ghana |
| title_short | The dilemma of women empowerment in informal artisanal and small-scale gold ore mining in Ghana |
| title_sort | dilemma of women empowerment in informal artisanal and small scale gold ore mining in ghana |
| topic | Agency empowerment mining patriarchy power |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2022.2108231 |
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