85 lines
2.8 KiB
YAML
85 lines
2.8 KiB
YAML
abstract: 'Electricity provides a range of desirable services such as the electric
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light and the use of mobile phones and is regarded as a conditional
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factor for economic growth. Gender equality and women''s empowerment are
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also promoted as a key to development on the international agenda.
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However, relatively little is known about how the advent of electricity
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in new contexts affects gender relations. The present analysis of
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electricity''s impact on gender relations engages with the concepts of
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care work and empowerment. Based on two ethnographic case studies in
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rural communities in Uttar Pradesh, India, and Bamiyan, Afghanistan, we
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examine how and to what extent the introduction of electricity affected
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women''s care work practices and empowerment - and potentially
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transformed gender relations. We also draw on our own empirical material
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from other parts of India (West Bengal and Jharkhand). We find that
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electricity affected everyday life in terms of providing important
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resources and enhancing women''s opportunities to perform their expected
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role as care workers more efficiently and in a qualitatively better way.
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The women appreciated this positive effect of electricity in their
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everyday lives. However, we argue that in India, electricity at the same
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time reinforced structures of gender inequality such as patriarchy and
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dowry practices, and we trace this tendency to the conceptualisation of
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women as care workers in combination with conventional, gender `neutral''
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electricity interventions. In contrast, there are signs that women''s
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status increased in the Afghanistan case, which we link to the unusual
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inclusion of women engineers in the electricity supply.'
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affiliation: 'Standal, K (Corresponding Author), Univ Oslo, Ctr Dev \& Environm, Oslo,
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Norway.
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Standal, Karina; Winther, Tanja, Univ Oslo, Ctr Dev \& Environm, Oslo, Norway.'
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author: Standal, Karina and Winther, Tanja
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author_list:
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- family: Standal
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given: Karina
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- family: Winther
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given: Tanja
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da: '2023-09-28'
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doi: 10.1080/08039410.2015.1134642
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eissn: 1891-1765
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files: []
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issn: 0803-9410
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journal: FORUM FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
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keywords: 'electricity; gender relations; empowerment; care work; India;
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Afghanistan'
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language: English
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number: 1, SI
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number-of-cited-references: '30'
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orcid-numbers: Winther, Tanja/0000-0002-9527-6063
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pages: 27-45
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papis_id: 83ec977db6a36e542bad38b4625ff84f
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ref: Standal2016empowermentenergy
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researcherid-numbers: Winther, Tanja/Q-7021-2018
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times-cited: '37'
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title: Empowerment Through Energy? Impact of Electricity on Care Work Practices and
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Gender Relations
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type: article
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unique-id: WOS:000376267600003
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usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
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usage-count-since-2013: '11'
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volume: '43'
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web-of-science-categories: Development Studies
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year: '2016'
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