Discussing Women's Empowerment - Sida

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CITIZENSHIP AND WOMEN IN MEXICO • DOMÍNGUEZ
same time. Their ages varied between 23 and 60 years. Their levels of
education and social origins are also diverse, although many of them belong
to the lower urban middle class.
In the summer of the year 2000, I carried out a second round of interviews,
this time mostly with non-participants (twelve in number). The
criterion for the selection of interviewees was that their profiles should coincide
with some of the profiles of the participants interviewed in the first
round of fieldwork – in respect of age, social class, education levels etc.
These interviews were not as extensive as those carried out during the first
round, but they were also performed in three different cities.
All the interviews carried out in both rounds of the fieldwork were
semi-structured, i.e. open with certain key themes. Starting with the interviewee’s
profile (age, educational level, etc.), three major themes were
covered:
– Participation by Citizens in Politics. The history of their
participation, goals of their organizations, experience of
this participation and their vision of citizenship: rights,
duties, possibilities, views on the Mexican political situation
and the perspectives of change.
– Gender and Citizenship. Views on gender differences regarding
participation, consequences for their private lives
and families of this participation, views on the relationship
between women and political power and of the Mexican
political culture in a gender perspective, and their views
on certain events such as the Zapatista Women’s Revolutionary
Law, the Women’s Parliament and the creation of
Diversa.
– The External Context. Points of view on Mexico’s situation
in the global context, on the relations of their organizations
with other international organizations or women’s
movements, on regional economic integration and the
effects of this integration in their daily lives, etc.
As in other types of qualitative studies, it is necessary to bear in mind
that the aim is not to present a representative study of the views or situation
of women. I do not pretend to generalize but to offer a glimpse, a
sample of perceptions, views, and experiences from a diverse group of
women whose only common denominator is their participatory activities
or non-participatory activities. And I try to interpret these views, perceptions
and experiences in relation to the concept of citizenship as these
women understand it in Mexico at the end of the century.