چکیده:
The Association of Women Beekeepers included 53 rural women andwas formed in 2000 based on a developmental intervention named Land and Water project. They received an interest and collateral free loan plusa grant from an international program named Small Grants Program (SGP)to implement an environmental project. These women worked for 10 years and then decided to split up into five smaller groups. Inthe earlyyears they showed some very important features of empowered women who could work together easily and successfully. After splitting up, near the end of 2010, they did little collective action.The question is while they seemed so successful why were theynot empowered enough to continue their interaction with the society. Werethey empowered personally and not collectively? For answering these questions a mixed method was designed. The observation showed that the process of personal empowerment was more successful than the collective one. Based on the theoretical approaches the women’s empowerment process, especially based on the microcredit schema, usually keeps women in the informal sector which means they cannot connect with social and economic infra-structure.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Uneven Empowerment: A Case Study on Women Beekeepers in Central Iran SoheilaAlirezanejad Assistant Professor, Department of social sciences, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad University,Garmsar, Iran Received 13 February 2011 Revised 2 May 2011 Accepted 30 May 2011 The Association of Women Beekeepers included 53 rural women andwas formed in 2000 based on a developmental intervention named Land and Water project.
Based on the theoretical approaches the women’s empowerment process, especially based on the microcredit schema, usually keeps women in the informal sector which means they cannot connect with social and economic infra-structure.
Looking at women’s daily lives, there is no doubt that raising income is one important feature of economic empowerment, but there is a hypothesis which indicates that there is a shift in the role of women from unpaid family workers to managers if the men migrate (Bose et.
The impact of their income generating activities on the children, especially daughters, is very important (Shaditalab, 2002 (1381)), Personal Empowerment Moyle and Dollard mentioned that the rural/indigenous women in the way of economic empowerment need a certain level of personal will to take the responsibilities of their livelihoods (2002: 160).
Ziba, a member of the Association who sold her beehives in the second year said," If my husband took some of my financial advice we would not experience lots of economic troubles in our life".
All the members of the Association believed that education empowers women.
Almost all (only two were unsure) women believed that being a member of the Association made them do more social activities.