Women and Development in Ethiopia: A Sociohistorical Analysis

Tesfaye Semela, Hirut Bekele and Rahel Abraham
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Tesfaye Semela: Institute of Policy and Development Research, Hawassa University and Department of Social & Cultural Sciences, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Hirut Bekele: Institute of Policy and Development Research, and College of Governance & Development Studies, Hawassa University
Rahel Abraham: College of Education, Hawassa University

Journal of Developing Societies, 2019, vol. 35, issue 2, 230-255

Abstract: This article analyzes the role of women as both contributors to and beneficiaries of the socio-economic development of Ethiopia over the past century during three divergent political regimes. Employing the social constructivist and feminist notions of doing and undoing gender, and Bourdieu’s concept of “Habitus†as its theoretical lenses, this study examines how women were able to deal with the external pressures exerted by social and institutional structures and navigated through a predominantly masculine world to negotiate their changing roles in the Ethiopian society. Based on a review of the relevant literature, analysis of government policies and strategies, and official statistics, this study traces the historical trajectories of Ethiopian women since the early modern imperial era to the present. The study also identifies policy options that have helped to overcome the deep-sited inequalities between men and women in the Ethiopian context.

Keywords: Gender; development; social history; habitus; women; Ethiopia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jodeso:v:35:y:2019:i:2:p:230-255

DOI: 10.1177/0169796X19844438

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