Gendered perceptions of power and decision‐making in rural Kenya

Abstract

Development policies and programmes rest on assumptions about what constitutes power and how to change power dynamics. However, they rarely consider local understandings of power. In this article we ask how these common assumptions correspond with socially and culturally specific ideas about what power is, who can hold power, and how power can be transferred, in rural communities in Kenya's lake region. We find that men and women are constantly negotiating for power in the household, within the bounds of their gendered limitations. And the predominant zero‐sum conception of power may undermine common development approaches to empowerment. However, the results also highlight some exceptions to this conceptualization, as well as the value of taking a whole‐family approach to empowerment.

“Breaking Even” under Intensification? Gendered Trade‐Offs for Women Milk Marketers in Kenya*

“…Beyond the household, they are also more vulnerable to the "social punishment" of losing their reputation as "good wives" or more severe community shunning. However, in the context of a changing climate and unstable labor markets for men, it is becoming increasingly difficult to adhere to these idealized gender relationships, and modern livelihoods are defined in part by the flexibility and contestation of norms between women and men (Aberman, Behrman, and Birner 2018).…”

Father involvement and early child development in a low-resource setting

“…Our setting of rural Kenya is characterized by high rates of poverty, the highest rates of spousal violence in Kenya ( DHS, 2009 ), as well as pervasive and restrictive gender norms ( Aberman et al, 2018 ). The “traditional” role of the father in these settings is as a provider and protector for the family, with little involvement in the active parenting of young children, which is left to mothers ( Lasser et al, 2011 ; Mwoma, 2015 ).…”

Exploring Women’s Differentiated Access to Climate-Smart Agricultural Interventions in Selected Climate-Smart Villages of Latin America

“…Climate change is expected to widen the gender inequalities that already exist in the agricultural sector [21]. These pre-existing gender inequalities in the agricultural sector include, for example, differences in the access to, and ownership of, productive assets [22,23], in the access to extension services and agricultural productivity [24], and in decision-making power [25,26], among others. Several socio-economic factors such as social and gender norms, education and poverty levels can influence differences in vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities of male and female farmers [27][28][29].…”