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EMANCIPATION OR SHACKLE? Empowerment of ‘Left-behind’ Women in the Context of Male Labor Migration: Evidence from Rural Suining, Sichuan Province, China

Zhang, Yi LU (2017) MIDM19 20171
Department of Human Geography
LUMID International Master programme in applied International Development and Management
Abstract
Integrating women's empowerment into sustainable development is rightly seen as crucial to achieve gender equality. Based on quantitative and qualitative fieldwork, the thesis aims to build new evidence about whether male migration result in the empowerment of left- behind women in the context of rural Suining, Sichuan Province, China. Specifically, the study concretely focuses on investigating the change in left- behind women’s decision- making power and negotiating power after the migration of husbands. In view of this, introducing Kabeer’s empowerment framework to analyze, the findings demonstrate that there is few evidence supporting the widely accepted hypothesis that male migration empowers left- behind women in the rural setting of... (More)
Integrating women's empowerment into sustainable development is rightly seen as crucial to achieve gender equality. Based on quantitative and qualitative fieldwork, the thesis aims to build new evidence about whether male migration result in the empowerment of left- behind women in the context of rural Suining, Sichuan Province, China. Specifically, the study concretely focuses on investigating the change in left- behind women’s decision- making power and negotiating power after the migration of husbands. In view of this, introducing Kabeer’s empowerment framework to analyze, the findings demonstrate that there is few evidence supporting the widely accepted hypothesis that male migration empowers left- behind women in the rural setting of China, owing to the inhibition of females from patriarchy culture. Left- behind women’s capacities in their use and control over resources has been partially enhanced, which plays a positive role in improving their decision-making and negotiating process at small scales. However, it cannot be translated into an expansion of agency or achievements of empowerment since women are experiencing ‘a leadership in absentia’. Given that, further research can shed a light on exploring regional patterns of impacts of male migration on female empowerment and social support for left- behind women. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Zhang, Yi LU
supervisor
organization
course
MIDM19 20171
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Rural-urban migration, Women’s empowerment, Left-behind women, Male migration, China
language
English
id
8906764
date added to LUP
2018-03-09 10:32:29
date last changed
2018-03-09 10:32:29
@misc{8906764,
  abstract     = {{Integrating women's empowerment into sustainable development is rightly seen as crucial to achieve gender equality. Based on quantitative and qualitative fieldwork, the thesis aims to build new evidence about whether male migration result in the empowerment of left- behind women in the context of rural Suining, Sichuan Province, China. Specifically, the study concretely focuses on investigating the change in left- behind women’s decision- making power and negotiating power after the migration of husbands. In view of this, introducing Kabeer’s empowerment framework to analyze, the findings demonstrate that there is few evidence supporting the widely accepted hypothesis that male migration empowers left- behind women in the rural setting of China, owing to the inhibition of females from patriarchy culture. Left- behind women’s capacities in their use and control over resources has been partially enhanced, which plays a positive role in improving their decision-making and negotiating process at small scales. However, it cannot be translated into an expansion of agency or achievements of empowerment since women are experiencing ‘a leadership in absentia’. Given that, further research can shed a light on exploring regional patterns of impacts of male migration on female empowerment and social support for left- behind women.}},
  author       = {{Zhang, Yi}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{EMANCIPATION OR SHACKLE? Empowerment of ‘Left-behind’ Women in the Context of Male Labor Migration: Evidence from Rural Suining, Sichuan Province, China}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}