De-stereotyping informal sector gendered division of work: a case of Magaba Home Industry, Harare, Zimbabwe
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.83.9609Keywords:
informal sector, human capital development, de-stereotyping, gendered division of work, skills mainstreaming.Abstract
The informal sector is gradually becoming the sole source of income for millions of people around the world. Yet, there exists grossly asymmetric relationships between men and women in accessing functional prerequisites to operate and survive in the industry. Cultural and socially constructed consciousness within the industry, has created gendered division of work. Therefore, this study explored how to de-stereotype gendered division of work in the informal sector, focusing on Magaba Home Industries in Harare, Zimbabwe.
This qualitative study concludes that human capital development accompanied with social and financial capital is significant in improving capacities of both women and men in productive informal work. The study recommends an ideological shift from perceived oriented line of work based on gender to mainstreaming equality of achievement based on mobile societies that foster upward social mobility thus bridging the gendered skills gap.
References
AU (African Union). 2007. Strategy to Revitalise Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Africa, Addis Ababa: African Union.
Brand, V. 1986. One dollar workplaces: A study of informal activities in Magaba, Harare. Journal of Social Development in Africa, 53-74.
Berger, M., & Buvinic´, M. 1995. Women's ventures: assistance to the informal sector in Latin America, Hartford: Kumarian Press Inc.
Brett, EA. 2005. From corporatism to liberalisation in Zimbabwe: Economic policy regimes and political crisis, 1980-97. Journal of International Political Science Review, 26(1), 91-106.
Chirau, T.J. 2012. Understanding livelihood strategies of urban women traders: a case of Magaba, Harare in Zimbabwe, Grahamstown: Rhodes University.
Chirisa, I. 2009. The geography of informal sector operations (ISOs): A perspective of urban Zimbabwe. Journal of Geography and Regional Planning, 2(4), 66-79.
Geyer, H. 1989. The integration of the formal and informal urban sectors in South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 6, 29-42.
Gergen, K.J. 2009. Realities and relationships: Soundings in social construction. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
Gwagwa, N. 1998. Money as a Source of Tension: An analysis of low income households in Durban. In A. Larsoon, A. Mapetla & A. Schlyter (eds), Changing gender relations in Southern Africa: Issues of urban life, Maseru: University of Lesotho.
Gumbo, T. 2013. On Ideology Change and Spatial and Structural Linkages between Formal and Informal Economic Sectors in Zimbabwean Cities (1981-2010), http://scholar.sun.ac.za (accessed 10 May 2018).
Gumbo, T. & M. Geyer. 2011. Picking up the pieces’: Reconstructing the informal economic sector in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, SSB/TRP/MDM 2011 (59), 53-64.
Harriss-White, B. & A. Sinha. 2007. Trade liberalisation and India's informal economy, Indian Economic Review, 44, (1).
Kasukuvere, S. 2013. Skills Development and Rural Development Zimbabwe (speech on Handover Ceremony of Field Officer Equipment), Harare, Ministry of Youth Development Indigenisation and Empowerment.
Kinyanjui, M. 2014. Women and the Informal Economy in Urban Africa: From the Margins to the Centre. London: Zed Books.
Mambo, M. 2010. Situational analysis and institutional mapping for skills for Youth Employment and Rural Development in Zimbabwe. Harare: ILO Sub-regional Office for Southern Africa.
Medina, L. & F. Schneider. 2018. Shadow Economies Around the World: What Did We Learn Over the Last 20 Years? (Working Paper), IMF.
Miranda, M., V.Santos & M. Giampietro. 2015. Informal settlements as socio-ecological systems: the metabolic pattern of the Vidigal slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Paper delivered to the 2nd International Conference on Energy & Environment (ICEE).
Moser, C.N. 1984. Informal sector or petty commodity production: Dualism or dependence in urban development? World Development, 6 (9/10), 1041-1064.
Mosoetsa, S. 2005. Urban Livelihoods and Intra-Household Dynamics: The Case of Mpumalanga and Enhlalakahle Townships, Kwazulu-natal, South Africa. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Johannesburg, University of the Witwatersrand.
Murinda, E. 2014. An Analysis of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training and the Employment Situation of Young People in Zimbabwe. Harare: Association for the Development of Education in Africa.
Nyatanga, P., S. Mpofu & M. Tekere. 2000. Informal Cross Border Trade: Salient features and Impact on Welfare – Case Studies of Beitbridge and Chirundu Border Posts and selected Households in Chitungwiza. Harare: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
Pasour, J. 2013. Theodore W. Schultz: Ideological profiles of the economics laureates. Econ Journal Watch 10(3), 593-601.
Peterson, J. & M. Lewis. 1999. The Elgar companion to feminist economics, Gloucester, Edward Elgar Publishing.
Rakowski, C.A. 1994. ‘Convergence and divergence in the informal sector debate: A focus on Latin America, 1984-1992. World Development, 22(4), 501-516.
Yap, W.W., T. Sarmidi, A.H. Shaari & F.F Said. 2018. Income inequality and shadow economy: a nonparametric and semi-parametric analysis. Journal of Economic Studies.
Stitchter, S. 1990. Women employment and the family: Current Debates. In S. Stitchter & J.L. Parpart (eds.). Women, employment and the family in International Division of Labour, London, Macmillan Press Ltd.
Tamukamoyo, H. 2009. Survival in a Collapsing Economy: A Case Study of Informal Trading at a Zimbabwean Flea Market. Unpublished PHD Thesis, Johannesburg, University of the Witwatersrand.
Wamuthenya, W. 2009. Gender Differences in the Determinants of Formal and Informal Sector Employment in the Urban Areas of Kenya across Time. Paper presented to the 18th IAFFE Conference in Boston, June 25-28, 2009.
United Nations. (2016) ‘Sustainable Goal 8’ https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg8 (access May 18 2018).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Shadreck Tanyanyiwa, Maxwell Tawanda Mutukwa
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
