Women`s Empowerment through Cooperatives- A Study from Women`s Perspectives MSc Business Language and Culture - Business and Development Studies Master Thesis 2015 Supervisor: Peter Wad Number of pages: 74 Number of STU: 167855 29.05.2015 Caroline Marie Victoria Masabo Content Content .......................................................................................................................................I List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................ II List of illustrations……………………………………………………………………...…...III Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………...IV 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research field ............................................................................................................. 2 1.2 Conceptual and methodological frame ....................................................................... 3 1.3 Delimitations............................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Motivation and relevance ........................................................................................... 5 1.5 Thesis outline .............................................................................................................. 6 2 Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Feminist research ........................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Philosophy of science ................................................................................................. 8 2.3 Research strategy ........................................................................................................ 9 2.4 Research approach .................................................................................................... 10 2.5 Research design ........................................................................................................ 11 2.6 Data analysis ............................................................................................................. 14 2.7 Ethics ........................................................................................................................ 14 2.8 Reliability, validity and reflexivity ........................................................................... 15 3 Theoretical and analytical framework ............................................................................. 19 3.1 Empowerment of women through cooperatives ....................................................... 19 3.1.1 The concept of cooperatives ............................................................... 19 3.1.2 Cooperatives in a gender relation perspective ................................... 21 3.2 Gender relations, and gender and development ........................................................ 26 3.2.1 Overview of gender and feminist theory ............................................ 26 3.2.2 Feminism and development: theoretical perspectives ........................ 28 I 3.3 The concept of women`s empowerment ................................................................... 30 3.3.1 Agency, resources and achievements ................................................. 32 3.3.2 Practical and strategic gender needs................................................... 34 3.4 Analytical framework ............................................................................................... 36 4 The Research Setting ......................................................................................................... 38 4.1 Rwandan history and politics in a gender context .................................................... 38 4.2 Cooperatives in the Rwandan context ...................................................................... 40 4.3 AVEGA Agahozo ..................................................................................................... 41 4.4 Same Sky, Duhozanye group and Ghazibo group .................................................... 42 5 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 45 5.1 Data presentation ...................................................................................................... 45 5.1.1 Economic dimension .......................................................................... 45 5.1.2 Personal dimension ............................................................................ 54 5.1.3 Familial dimension ............................................................................. 55 5.1.4 Interpersonal dimension ..................................................................... 56 5.1.5 Educational dimension ....................................................................... 57 5.2 Data discussion ......................................................................................................... 59 5.2.1 Agency, resources, achievements ...................................................... 60 5.2.2 Practical and strategic gender needs................................................... 65 5.2.3 Reflections on applied theory ............................................................. 70 6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 72 References................................................................................................................................75 Appendix A Qualitative interview transcripts from 13 interviews…………………………...84 II List of abbreviations: AVEGA Associations des Veuves des Genocides CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women DIFD Department for International Development EAC East African Community GAD Gender and Development GII Gender Inequality Index GNI Gross National Income HDI Human Development Index HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus ICA International Cooperative Alliance IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development ILO International Labour Organisation KIE Kigali Institute of Education MDGs Millennium Development Goals MIGEPROF Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion MINICOFIN Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Investment Promotion, Tourism and Cooperatives MINICOM Ministry of Trade and Industry NGO Non-Governmental Organisation RPF Rwandan Patriotic Front RWF Rwanda Franc SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SSA Sub-Saharan Africa UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme US United States USD United States Dollars WAD Women and Development WID Women in Development III Abstract The story of women in Rwanda is a testimony of a subordinate group, which has made important strives for their equality, after a conflict has mixed up gender roles and relations in Rwanda. Post- genocide, women played a major role in the reconstruction and reconciliation process of the country and hence contributed to the national economy and welfare. Nevertheless, Rwanda is a society still characterised by a patriarchal social structure that subordinates women eco- nomically, socially, culturally and politically to men. Cooperatives have been acknowledged as a valuable tool to achieve both, changing the socio- economic role of women and foster their economic position and hence fostering women`s em- powerment process. This paper puts forward how cooperatives have received extensive recog- nition as institutional mechanisms to empower women. Therefore, the paper explores the role of cooperatives in the Rwandan context. To identify their potential as economic agents of change; leading to economic independence, promoting social inclusion, and ultimately contrib- uting to women`s empowerment by giving them the ability to make strategic choices in their lives. In order to capture how this can be comprehended a survey among 18 women in Rwanda has been conducted to answer how cooperatives facilitate the process of empowerment for their women members. In addition, supportive sub-questions help to relate contextual factors such as the development discourse, specifics about cooperatives and specifics about the Rwandan environment to women`s empowerment. To advance an academic and theoretical lens, Kabeer`s concept of women`s empowerment and Moser`s gender needs theory are combined to create a unique analytical framework giving space to women`s voices. As part of the methodological framework, an interpretive approach inspired by a social con- structivist ontology has been combined with different research techniques to capture and steer the analysis of women`s empowerment through cooperatives in Rwanda. From a social con- structionist perspective, the main interest has been to investigate: the phenomenon of women`s empowerment, the underlying structures in society, and the way cooperatives impact the mech- anism of the women`s empowerment processes. Besides social constructionism, feminist re- search principles have inspired not only the theoretical but also the methodological foundation. Feminist principles are embodied in a strong concern and interest for women by using them as valid sources of information. IV For this specific context, I have found that cooperatives are good mechanisms for pooling women`s resources, offering them advantages