Women's Empowerment and the Feminization of Poverty among

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V. WOMEN’S GROUP IN TAROUDANNTThis case study highlights the link between female-headed households and the challengesinherent to the feminization of poverty theory by way of “analyzing intersections betweenconstraints, vulnerabilities and aspirations” (Moore, 2010: 35). Using Rowlands’ dimensions ofwomen’s empowerment, this participatory assessment research with a women’s group in Taroudanntexplores how attempts to change deeply entrenched inegalitarian structures within the legal, socioeconomicand Islamic cultural realms translate into change toward Kabeer’s three components ofwomen’s empowerment – resource, agency and achievement. Qualitative analysis of the stages oflife, marital arrangements, education, employment, social networks, and self-confidence of femaleheadedhouseholds demonstrates the context-specificity required to apply the feminization ofpoverty theory in GAD.TaroudanntAs previously introduced, Taroudannt’s southern and inland location has continued to“render it rather impervious to European contact,” making it an ideal choice for studying traditionalMoroccan society – to which Daisy Dwyer attests in her anthropological study from 1970-78 (1978:8). Of an estimated population of 60,000, Taroudannt’s dwellers – known as Roudaniyin –predominantly maintain “indirect involvement with European paradigms, strategies, knowledge,and affairs,” limiting the agricultural economy to tapping only a few European markets and touristeconomy to attracting a trickle of tourists and entrepreneurs (Ibid.: 8). The town’s geographicsituation on the Souss Plain between the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas Mountains maintains itsposition as a mere stopping point for trekkers and as a regional agricultural producer (Ibid.: 9). Toplace Taroudannt in the national context, Morocco’s GDP and labor market composition show thatthe majority of the rural population continues to work in agriculture – the lowest-yielding GDPsector – which the UNDP estimates includes 70% of the population living under the nationalpoverty line, according to its 2009 report on Morocco (MCT, 2010: 18; UNDP, 2009: 12).Taroudannt’s geographical location has ensured its political and military strength in theregion, which later became less prestigious as nearby Agadir grew into a more Westernized city onthe Atlantic Coast (Dwyer, 1978: 10). While Agadir gave its identity to Western tourism andcommerce, Taroudannt maintained its unique history as the locally coined “Grandmother ofMarrakesh” and regional administrative and economic center (Ibid.; MCT, 2010: 8). Dwyerobserved that Roudaniyin generally didn’t find the Agadir pathway acceptable: “Those who aredrawn to life of the Agadir sort tend to move out of Taroudannt to the larger cities; for the most part,27
there is faith in the city’s life-style among those who remain” (1978: 11). Through my more recentobservations, I can support her example that the sexes are still segregated in the local economy “tomaintain the purity of women and thereby also their families’ honor,” forcing women who need “tosupplement their families’ incomes to work at such jobs as….sewing, cooking and laundering, taskswhich are part-time and generally undertaken in the household” (Ibid.: 17). Dwyer associated thisadherence to daily life traditions to the town’s size and regional history (Ibid.: 21).Legal, socio-economic and Islamic customary segregation as previously analyzed inMorocco limits Roudaniyin women’s empowerment according to Kabeer’s dimensions of resources,agency and achievements. Traditionally, Roudaniyin women of specific street neighborhoods havebeen able to use loosely organized voluntary networks, which are dependent upon their mobility asfemale heads of households, to exhibit power (Dwyer, 1978: 179). Yet, Dwyer cited a socialorganizationalshift in Taroudannt of deteriorating “female support groups,” raising the question ofthe effect of this deterioration as either perceived losses or gains for the women in support of a newconcept of ‘selfhood:’ “The more long-standing notions are key to a specifically Moroccan attitudeabout maleness and femaleness as well as to Moroccan social and economic philosophy, andpressure upon them can affect male-female relations, this time from a more explicitly ideologicaldirection” (Ibid.: 181). This flows into the Moroccan notion of ‘personhood,’ perceived by Dwyeras embedded within Taroudannt society rather than the Western view of isolation over interaction:“It unfolds interactionally, so that personality or character varies rather flexibly from relationship torelationship. The self defines itself contextually” (Ibid.: 182).Participatory assessment research approachApplying Dwyer’s concepts of Taroudannt to Rowlands’ conceptualization of women’sempowerment focuses on access to decision-making and change in people’s perceptions of self inthree dimensions: developing one’s sense of self (i.e. confidence); increasing one’s ability tonegotiate decision-making processes within close relationships; bringing people together to givethem greater power than as individuals (Chant, 2012c: 4). The use of these multidimensionalconcepts also elucidates Chant’s challenges to the feminization of poverty theory. The survival ofsome women who experience extreme cases of responsibility and obligation in a functioninginegalitarian society demonstrates how attempts to change deeply entrenched structures – law vs.rules legitimized by religious tradition – can translate into change in the Moroccan reality ofresource, agency and achievement needed for women’s empowerment.Progress toward the ability to make choices was embraced by the UK-registered charityMoroccan Children’s Trust (MCT) in its establishment of a women’s group piloted in September28
Page 4 and 5: I. INTRODUCTIONAttitudes about gend
Page 6: II. ANALYSIS OF EXISTING LITERATURE
Page 9 and 10: In recognition of the importance of
Page 11 and 12: women’s empowerment, the feminiza
Page 13 and 14: “Although women are often victims
Page 15 and 16: III. METHODOLOGYThis chapter begins
Page 17 and 18: Phase IOf the four phases of my pri
Page 19 and 20: acutely aware of the limitations of
Page 21 and 22: Despite the very recent historical
Page 23 and 24: (Ibid.: 716). In sum, de jure Mouda
Page 25 and 26: change which requires a period of a
Page 27 and 28: Cultural situationAnalyzing Morocca
Page 29: defiance of tradition, and society
Page 33 and 34: originally from Agadir, Ouled Berhi
Page 35 and 36: Dwyer’s observation that “a str
Page 37 and 38: Social networksSocial networks can
Page 39 and 40: dimension. When asked to identify h
Page 41 and 42: VI. CONCLUSIONThe participatory res
Page 43: BIBLIOGRAPHYAbiad, N. (2008) Sharia
Page 46 and 47: McIlwaine, C. (2012c) “Women’s
Page 48 and 49: InterviewsEch Chenna, Aicha, Presid
Page 50: Appendix B - Focus groupAimTo find

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