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Resources, Not Capital: A Case Study of the Gendered Distribution and Productivity of Social Network Ties in Rural Ethiopia *
Author(s) -
Torkelsson Åsa
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
rural sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.083
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1549-0831
pISSN - 0036-0112
DOI - 10.1526/003601107782638710
Subject(s) - livelihood , social capital , productivity , poverty , interpersonal ties , distribution (mathematics) , psychological intervention , social network (sociolinguistics) , economic growth , rural area , variety (cybernetics) , social network analysis , empirical evidence , demographic economics , business , socioeconomics , economics , sociology , political science , geography , psychology , agriculture , social science , philosophy , mathematical analysis , archaeology , computer science , social media , epistemology , mathematics , artificial intelligence , psychiatry , law
A bstract Poor people make use of a variety of contextually relevant resources to pursue their livelihood strategies, and there is wide empirical evidence that opportunities and contraints for accessing these may vary considerably for women and men, particularly in the rural areas of developing countries. In this article, micro‐evidence from a case study from a village in rural Ethiopia is used to analyze the role that gender plays in the distribution and productivity of social network ties. In the examined case, women and men have access to different social networks: women have access to bonded or relational social resources which can yield economic returns only if and when they are bridged, linked to, and associated with men and their networks. This is a result of the prevailing social structure in which men define social norms and implement these through locally available institutions, combined with women's time poverty. Consequently, for rural development interventions to be successful in building and strengthening women's social network ties, adequate attention needs to be paid to mechanisms that make sure that links and connections are in place as well.