Spatial Constraints on Women's Work in Tarija, Bolivia

Abstract

This geography of women's work in the less‐developed world is set in Tarija, Bolivia, a small city that has been dramatically changed by economic crisis and structural‐adjustment programs. Explored is the spatial component of women's economic activities in a low‐income barrio following the imposition of structural‐adjustment programs in the 1980s and 1990s. Women who pursue employment away from home must rely on other women. In particular, households that include more than one woman who is capable of handling important daily chores are more likely to have a woman engaged in income‐generating activities away from the home and the neighborhood. Women at home make it possible for other women to extend their economic activity into the broader community. These findings are important because they draw attention to women's reliance on other women, how women use space, and how they are constrained by spatial factors as they negotiate their daily lives.

• Bolivia
• employment
• structural adjustment
• women

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kathleen Schroeder

Dr. Schroeder is an assistant professor of geography at Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina 28608.