Women In Micro- And Small-scale Enterprise Development

Louise Dignard

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367213626
• eBook ISBN: 9781000011272
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

An exploration of women's participation in small- and micro-enterprise activities in less developed countries. Topics covered include: the human economy of microentrepreneurs; and the Swedish International Development Authority's support of women's small-scale enterprises in Tanzania.

PART I Social Context and Main Issues

DOI: 10.4324/9780429267703-1

1 The Human Economy of Microentrepreneurs

DOI: 10.4324/9780429267703-2

IRENE TINKER

Economic principles that undergird development programs for large free-market enterprises presume values and motivation that frequently are at odds with those practiced by microentrepreneurs in both developing and developed countries. Indeed, while the large free-market enterprises consider profit-making and growth the very essence of entrepreneurship, microenterprises focus rather on family subsistence needs. By and large, economists dismiss the latter type of value and motivation as pre-entrepreneurial, and microenterprises as not deemed worthy of inclusion in credit and other assistance programs. This chapter argues that the problem lies with the dominant economic value system, not the microentrepreneurs, and calls for a paradigm shift to a more human economy. The chapter further suggests that by disparaging the human economy, economic theory exacerbates intrahousehold stresses among the poor; by pushing, urging and forcing men to conform to a self-pleasured economy system largely free of community and family responsibilities, women are left in residual, and increasingly poor social strata where they struggle to support themselves and their children.

Differing Economic Values

Thus, the concept of "human economy" is used in the title of this chapter in order to distinguish the basic values held by a majority of microentrepreneurs from the conventional liberal economic values. These contrasting values are responsible for a deep cleavage existing between organizations working with microenterprises, especially between the traditional charitable organizations that are wedded to humanitarian aid, and the economically oriented ones more concerned with profit and growth.

The programs run by both types of organizations today face serious criticism. On the one hand, the programs run by charitable organizations are under attack because they are perceived as too expensive for wide-scale replication, and as too broad because they pretend to treat the societal context of the entrepreneur as well as her enterprise, and often view empowerment as important a goal as income. On the other hand, the programs run by economically oriented organizations are also under attack because they are perceived as not actually addressing the poverty issue; they emphasize growth, consider expansion to employ more workers as the criteria for success, and disparage enterprises that do not grow as economically marginal, comprising the "community of the poor" (House, 1984). Among the latter enterprises are more often than not the microenterprises, in particular those of women: given^that they frequently use credit funds for household needs and invest in children rather than in the business, many donor agencies have withdrawn their program support for microenterprises and focused on larger enterprises that provide employment.¹

It is my contention that microenterprises constitute alternative systems of income production operating on the principle of a "human economy." Such principles are more sensitive to people than either the liberal or Marxist economic theories that dominate most development planning today. The concept of "human economy" is a contemporary adaptation of James C. Scott's "moral economy," which identifies as a significant source of security and welfare in peasant precapitalist societies the obligation of better endowed members of the community to take care of the needier ones, this implying that the entire village collectivity as well as the patron-client relationships can—and should—fulfill such function (Scott, 1976). This caring approach has been transferred to cities through kin networks (Lomnitz, 1977), but it is increasingly under stress because of townward migration, increased population pressure and rapidly changing occupational patterns. As a result, squatter settlements are often frightening places (De Jesus, 1962; Wikan, 1980), yet they are also sources of social support (Nelson, 1979).

What seems to be happening is that men are being drawn away from mutual support systems into the world of individual pursuit of profit and happiness, while women, left behind with their children, struggle to maintain themselves and their families in a human economy. As the ability of kin to support its needy members erodes, so does the ability of elders to impose family responsibility on the men. Men may continue to contribute to the family, but a greater percentage of women's income goes to the family than does that of men (Senauer, 1990; IFPRI, 1991). More often, the women are left to support their children, earning income they allocate according to principles of a human, rather than liberal, economy. This situation has become widespreaded; indeed, worldwide, more than one third of all households are now headed by women (Youssef and Hetler, 1983) and in urban agglomerations, the numbers are reaching 40 percent (United Nations, 1991). This rise of women-headed households has produced new matrilineal kin support networks in both developing and developed countries (Stack, 1974).

Thus, women bear and nurture their children. But this should not mean that they can be dismissed as economic actors. "Women as dependent home-makers" was the predominant view held by liberal development economists before the emergence of the WID movement; however, such a view has never reflected reality even though many cultures have idealized this type of restrictive roles for women. In order to change such a biased view of women's work, much WID research during the last three decades has addressed these issues: it has focused on making women's work visible, has proved women's essential economic role by documenting the multiplicity of activities they undertake in different societies, and has underscored the need to adapt development programs to the differential societal responsibilities of women and men, that is to gender patterning (Tinker, 1990).

Furthermore and more broadly, WID research has critically reexamined the values that influence economic planning (Boulding, 1981; Sen, 1988). This reexamination has added its voice to a considerable existing literature advocating an alternative approach to such planning, an approach that—for instance—has proposed noneconomic measures for development, as the "Humangrowth" index (Cleveland and Wilson, 1978) or the Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) of the Overseas Development Council. While these noneconomic measures were not explicitly gender sensitive, the three proxy variables of the PQLI—infant mortality, life expectancy and literacy—in reality reflect women's status in the country. Similarly, current efforts by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to propound a Human Development Index explicitly include women's equality among factors measured for the human freedom elements of the index (ul Haq, 1991). Contemporary authors writing on development ethics and human economics also express how essential it is for feminist perspectives to be integrated into their outlooks (Croker, 1991; Henderson, 1978, 1990; Lutz and Lux, 1988).

The above-described growing critique of the values underlying the contemporary dominant economic system has been helped by the environmental movement, which undoubtedly constitutes today the most vocal confrontation with unbridled growth. This movement reflects diverse economic and political views, but it clearly challenges basics assumptions of economists about costs of utilizing resources (Daly, 1990). However, despite the contribution of the environmental movement, the values underlying the contemporary dominant economic system remain in practice almost unchallenged².

Given this general situation, this paper is essentially concerned with the persistence of liberal economic values and their contrast with values imparted through gender patterning. How do these contrasting values influence development programming? How do the values imparted through gender patterning influence the economic behavior of microentrepreneurs? Is it possible to distinguish women's enterprises from those run by men? How do the contrasting values influence development programming? However, before considering these applications, the chapter will first briefly discuss liberal economic values and gender patterning.

Liberal Economic Values

The contemporary dominant economic values are grounded in the intellectual paradigms essentially of the eighteenth century. A new liberal thinking emerged then, espousing and encouraging scientific investigation, democratic government and the Industrial Revolution. Essentially, these ideas celebrated the individual over society and the pursuit of happiness over social responsibility. Liberal economics based its analysis on a market economy of rational individuals pursuing their best self-interest. Scientific discoveries allowed unparalleled exploitation and control over resources. The result was ambiguous: on the one hand, industrialization separated home from workplace for ever increasing numbers of people, and in the process devalued domestic work—women's work at home. But on the other hand, the liberal ideas freed human imagination and energy, paving the way for the explosion of innovations and technology that govern modem lives and make them easier.

As the called-for society took shape, a primary concern of economic and political thinkers was how to promote the dynamism of capitalism while taming its unpredictability and ruthlessness. The dramatic stock market fall of October 19,1987 is an example of this: the fall was twice as considerable as that of Black Tuesday in 1929, a Black Tuesday that created a major panic and triggered the Great Depression. However, the October 1987 market crash did not give way to panic, a fact that business commentators have explained by listing the various government interventions that acted as a safety net, such as guaranteed bank deposits and unemployment compensation. These stock market gyrations directly relate to the problem of the human economy and microentrepreneurs because if the risk-taking of 1929 may be labeled unbridled capitalism, then the safety net of 1987 represents an adaptation in the direction of a more human economy: the harsh realities of individual private enterprise have been moderated by a concern for other dimensions of the human condition.

Such concern constitutes an obvious progress, but it remains to be determined to what extent this progress has equally—or unequally—favored rich and poor, especially in developing countries' contexts. This question is particularly relevant for two reasons. The first one is that the modernization of LDCs has resulted in the creation of a wealthy class and in the exacerbation of income disparities.³ The second reason is that welfare provisions that moderate poverty in industrialized countries, particularly in European social democratic countries, are too expensive for developing countries. The result has been a widening gap between rich and poor in LDCs. Development researchers illustrated this gap, showed the widespread persistence of poverty and prescribed "basic needs" approaches. Simultaneously, some of these researchers—especially female ones—discovered the feminization of poverty; this feminization was marked among other features by the undercutting of rural women's traditional economic activities and by the increase in the number of women-headed households, and it called for the integration of women into development programming.

Adherents to the new feminist approach believed that if they could convincingly prove that women do in fact work, and that such work is critical to the economies of LDCs, planners and policymakers would alter their projects in order to support women's economic activities. This feminist agenda has been partially successful. As a result of recent scholarship, women's economic roles have been amply documented: as farmers; as providers of such basic services as water, fuel, and processed food; and as artisans and market traders; thus, the "invisible" women workers and the "invisible" women microentrepreneurs have become visible. However, these research achievements have not been matched by an equal success in policymaking, planning and program implementation: while WID and related approaches have made impressive inroads in these realms, much remains to be accomplished.

Gender Patterning

The first part of this section will explain in broad terms the general frame of gender patterning considerations in development research and practice. The second and last part will address the gender patteming's impact on women's roles, social statuses, self-perceptions and expectations of behavior.

Gender patterning considerations gained both substance and prominence during the United Nations Decade for Women, 1975-1985, to such an extent that development organizations gradually became aware of the enormous economic contribution made by women in developing countries and began to design programs to assist them in their capacity of workers. For example, agricultural extension services in Africa were extended to women (Walker, 1987). But in spite of such successes, numerous grey areas subsist. For instance, are these women controling the surplus they generate when their produce enters the commercial market system? Similarly, will calls for women's ownership of land result in greater income for women, or merely more work? Or will women's employment in donor-sponsored microenterprises merely mean that husbands contribute less to the family support?

Such considerations have forced many early WID proponents to reexamine their earlier assumptions about work. More precisely, because social status in developed countries is so tied to occupation, the second phase of the women's movement made access to equal jobs and equal pay the bases for equality. This assumption informed the WID movement as well; but today, WID researchers are expressing numerous doubts about it and consider that focusing only on a part of women's lives obscures other values, of compassion and nurturance, that are central to the human economy. WID researchers start their analysis from the observation that all individuals assume many roles, and that their social status and self-perceptions come from a mix of activities, many circumscribed by culturally dictated expectations of behavior. Then, they challenge the male biases inherent in the study of these roles, social statuses, self-perceptions and expectations of behavior. And finally, they show the power of gender patterns, and their influence on women's roles, social statuses, self-perceptions and expectations of behavior. As a result of these male biases and gender patterns, contemporary WID researchers generally consider that women should not be measured by the same yardstick as men and, thus, that they need their own scale. Obviously, such an approach is at odds with the view that the key bases for the equality between genders are equal pay and equal jobs.

A major element in women's scale will be the caring for their family; this nurturing will take priority over individual pursuit of profits and growth. Such an attitude makes women "pre-modem" or "irrational" in the eyes of hard-line economists, whose growth perspective is obviously opposed to that of adherents to a feminist approach. Given such a polarization, it may be asked why hard-line economists still have such extensive decision power in international development organizations. The question is legitimate, and a...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents Page
• Preface Page
• Introduction
• PART I Social Context and Main Issues
• PART II Case Studies
• PART III Components of Women's Micro- and Small-Scale Enterprise Assistance
• Bibliography
• About the Book and Editors
• About the Contributors
• Index