Trade-offs for Indigenous Women Arising from Greater Economic Opportunity and Expanded Political Roles

• In Event: 477 - Section on Sociology of Development Paper Session. Gender and Development

Abstract

Sustainable development projects have emphasized promoting the participation of indigenous women in male-dominated indigenous productive and political organizations, as a way to advance gender equality and expand economic opportunity. As these projects emphasize equal rights of access, control, and decision-making over natural resources by indigenous women, they often overlook how greater economic opportunity and fuller participation in the political life of indigenous organizations sometimes translates into indigenous women working harder, and finding themselves in more settings where they must deal with discrimination and conflict associated with their indigenous identity. Thus, what initially appears to contribute to economic empowerment and political inclusion may, in fact, increase the amount of drudgery that indigenous women must perform, while placing them in situations where they experience greater marginalization and discrimination outside of extended families and communities as the price of improving their standing inside those spheres of activity. A comparison of experiences of Takana and Shipibo indigenous women, in the western Amazon, highlight how these issues arise and what their significance can be in different settings.

Author

• Sonia Arellano-Lopez, State University of New York-Binghamton