Browsing Faculty of Engineering and Technology by Author "Kalabamu, F."
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Kalabamu, F. (Elsevier http://www. doi:10.1016/j.habitatint.2003.09.005, NaN, 2005)[more][less]
Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to identify gender contracts in self-help housing construction. Gender contracts have been defined as invisible power relationships that determine roles, responsibilities, privileges, status, sexuality and behaviour of men and women within households, communities, the market and the state. Gender contracts shape social, economic, political and sexual relationships in what people often refer to as ‘our culture’. Various gender contracts constitute a gender system (e.g. patriarchy or matriarchy) under which general rules, perceptions, hierarchies and privileges are formulated, refined and preserved. The paper notes that although the advent of colonialism and capitalism did not replace patriarchal structures in Botswana, they set in new political and production systems that upset the traditional power base and provided opportunities for women to challenge traditional gender contracts—notably the marriage contract that had hitherto been used to oppress women. The paper further notes that despite women having made inroads into male domains, there has surfaced new sites and forms of female subordination largely due to gendered inequalities in accessing and controlling contemporary critical resources (land, money, modern technical skills and formal employment) as well as continued male dominance of community and state structures. Taking Lobatse as a case study, the paper tries to identify gender contracts formed as a result of men’s takeover of construction activities which were traditionally undertaken by women in Botswana. It notes that besides dominating construction work, men control access to land, building skills, housing finance, and the entire self-help housing process in Lobatse, thereby forcing women into subordinate positions from which they have to bargain or negotiate new gender contracts. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/430 Files in this item: 1
Kalabamu_HI_2005.pdf (2.325Mb) -
Kalabamu, F. (Elsevier www.elsevier.com/locate/landusepol, NaN, 2006)[more][less]
Abstract: Patriarchy has been defined as a gendered power system: a network of social, political and economic relationships through which men dominate and control female labour, reproduction and sexuality as well as define women’s status, privileges and rights in a society. Taking Botswana as a case study, this essay examines the effects of patriarchy on women’s access, control and ownership of land in southern Africa. It notes that while women were largely excluded from land ownership during the pre-colonial era, patriarchy has since been selective on the type and nature of land rights that women may enjoy. The essay argues that the weakening of traditional patriarchal structures, attitudes and practices in Botswana is a result of women’s self-empowerment, economic transformations and the replacement of chieftainship with democratic institutions. It ends by noting that despite the apparent weakening of pre-colonial institutions and attitudes, there have emerged new forms of female subordination, which require vigilance and constant exposure. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10311/630 Files in this item: 1
kalamu2006PATRIARCHY.pdf (967.9Kb)
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