Patriarchal bargains in protected spaces: a new strategy for agricultural and rural development innovation in the western hills of Nepal

Abstract

Abstract This paper integrates the theory of patriarchal bargains and strategic niche management theory to study whether or not creating strategic niches of struggle and negotiation as opposed to indiscriminate gender mainstreaming can help secure rural women's rights. Empirical data for this study were collected on rural women's tasks, resources, and benefits in the Kaski district of western Nepal using mixed methods. Findings suggest that unless women find a protected niche in which they can struggle and negotiate for their rights, patriarchal bargains would not be successful, partly because of women's lower control over land and services associated with land.

Résumé Cet article combine les approches de la négociation au sein des structures patriarcales et de la gestion stratégique de niche pour évaluer comment se comparent la création de niches stratégiques de lutte et de négociation et l'approche intégrée de l’égalité des sexes (gender mainstreaming) dans l'avancement et la sécurisation des droits des femmes rurales. À cette fin, l’étude a récolté et analysé des données sur le partage des tâches, des ressources et des bénéfices entre les femmes et les hommes du district de Kaski dans l'ouest du Népal. Les résultats indiquent qu'en partie à cause de leur plus faible niveau de contrôle sur l'accès à la terre et aux services liés au travail de la terre, les femmes ne sont pas bien servies par la négociation au sein des structures patriarcales à moins de trouver une niche protégée dans laquelle elles peuvent lutter et engager des négociations pour leurs droits.

Keywords:

• rural development
• Nepal
• gender
• patriarchal bargains
• strategic niche management

Acknowledgements

The empirical data were derived from the lead author's graduate thesis research, funded by the Norwegian Agency for International Development (NORAD) and managed by the Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric), Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway. The Local Initiatives for Biodiversity Research and Development (LI-BIRD) facilitated fieldwork in Nepal with in-kind logistical support under a project of the Biodiversity International, Rome. Gry Synnevåg at Noragric, together with Anil Subedi in Nepal, supervised the work. The authors are thankful to the supervisors, colleagues in Norway and Nepal, and farmers in Kaski district of Nepal, as well as several anonymous reviewers for their helpful contributions.

Biographical notes

Kiran Kumari Bhattarai is a PhD student in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph. Her research focuses on ecosystem health approaches to drinking-water source protection and social and environmental justice. She works for the Guelph chapter of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group.

Laxmi Prasad Pant is a postdoctoral researcher at the Monieson Centre, Queen's School of Business, Queen's University, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Guelph. His research focuses on interlinked social, ecological, and technical systems approaches to innovation and sustainable development, such as agricultural innovation systems, management of agricultural resources, and communicating controversial science and technology.

Notes

1. The United Nations declared 1975 as the International Women's Year and since then we have been annually celebrating International Women's Day on 8 March. The UN also declared 1976–1985 as the Decade for Women.

2. Literature juxtaposes civil and political rights against economic, social, and cultural rights (see, for example, Eide, Krause, and Rosas 2001).

3. Women accounted as many as 40 per cent of the Maoist cadres, with some female-only squads and platoons (Aguirre and Pietropaoli 2008).

4. A critical review on the impact of rural outmigration on women's livelihoods is beyond the scope of this paper, which has been extensively discussed elsewhere (Gartaula, Visser, and Niehof 2011; Maharjan, Bauer, and Knerr 2012). Sharma (2008) discusses Nepalese migrant workers' status at the point of destination.

5. The people of the Indo-Aryan community includes Brahimin, Chhetri, Thakuri, Newar, Yadav, Kami, Dami, and Sarki ethnic groups, and the Tibeto-Burman community includes Gurung, Magar, Rai, Limbu, and Tamang ethnic groups.

6. This research adapted various frameworks of gender analysis, such as the Howard Analytical Framework, the People-Oriented Planning Framework (POP), the Moser Framework, and Women's Empowerment Framework. For a critique of these frameworks, please see Bolt and Bird (2003).