Discussing Women's Empowerment - Sida

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CITIZENSHIP AND WOMEN IN MEXICO • DOMÍNGUEZ
Participation is certainly linked to citizenship – participation in general,
not only that traditionally linked to public affairs, to politics. Public
responsibility and political participation are both needed to change a political
culture considered highly undemocratic (even after the recent election results).
Public responsibility is linked to the idea of a community project at
both the local and national level. Citizenship is engagement and engagement
is participation. But – as the non-participant group shows – it also
requires information, interest, awareness, personal development and
strong self-confidence. Is this a challenge these women are prepared to
meet? As I noted in the beginning, this work should be regarded as one
of the partial results of a research project that hopes to explore empirically,
in two diverse contexts, a much debated notion that has lost its concrete
meaning for many people, but which is the basic element for the
construction of any real democracy, namely citizenship.
References
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Political in Latin American Social Movements” in Alvarez Sonia, Dagnino Evelina and Escobar
Arturo (Eds.), 1998 Cultures of Politics, Politics of culture, US: Westview Press.
Ciudadanas en Movimiento por la Democracia (1996). Cuaderno de trabajo 1995 y primer
trimestre de 1996. Publ. by CMD, México, D.F.
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1998, pp.179-203. Instituto Iberoamericano, University of Gothenburg.
Cid: see Interviews below.
Dahlstedt M (1999) Politisk deltagande och icke deltagande. Umeå: Serie: Partnerskap för
Multietnisk Integration PfMI.
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Domínguez Edmé, R., Castro A. (1998) Women’s urban and rural movements. Towards a new
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las Mujeres que? Serie Haina I, Instituto Iberoamericano, University of Gothenburg