Microfinance and Gender: Issues,Challenges and The Road Ahead

Abstract

This special collection examines the claim that microfinance promotes gender equality. The focus is on three areas of the debate: first, the question of how successful microfinance has been in empowering women; second, whether and how negative gender discrimination operates within the sector; third, how power relations within and beyond the household shape the context and outcomes of microfinance initiatives. The papers in this collection demonstrate the divergence of circumstances and emphasise the need to go beyond the past searches for a simple narrative regarding the impact of microfinance. Rather, as the sector evolves and is incorporated into the mainstream financial system, the challenge ahead for researchers is to marshal the evidence on gendered dynamics to ensure that the gains made are built on through deeper understanding of why impact outcomes and processes differ and use this to inform new initiatives to further gender equality.     

Dispelling a Myth? The Fathers of Europe and the Construction of a Euro‐Identity

Abstract:  There is a broad agreement on the fact that today there is a wide gap between the European Union (EU) and the citizens of the Member States. According to a common belief, this gap is the result of a deliberate decision made by the founding fathers and subsequent European officials to keep the integration dynamic distant from the people. Yet, if we look closely at their writings and actions that were initiated by the European Commission at an early stage in the integration process, we can only conclude that there is little evidence to support this common belief. On the contrary, it appears that the founding fathers were eager to inform the public on issues related to the communities and that they did not hesitate to support measures aimed at enhancing knowledge about Europe, its policies, and its institutions. It is essential to question these beliefs in order to improve our understanding of the democratic deficit in the EU and especially of the solutions proposed for remedying it. If we admit that the founding fathers never had the intention of keeping the people in ignorance and that some actions were rapidly taken to bring the EU closer to them then it becomes difficult to claim that a reduction of the democratic deficit will follow when decision-makers simply imagine and adopt programmes aimed at bridging the gap. The question then becomes why have this socialisation and this 'rapprochement' not occurred.     

The paradox of deliberative democracy: The National Action Committee on the Status of Women and Canada's policy on reproductive technology

This article explores the relationship between inclusive and deliberative social movement organisations (SMOs) and state authorities. Three perspectives are presented. The first perspective argues in favour of an autonomous public sphere, in which SMOs establish only indirect relations with state authorities. This perspective suggests that direct relations are unnecessary to exert influence on policy choices. In contrast, the second perspective advocates an inclusive state, invested with SMOs. While direct cooperation guarantees policy influence, it does not necessarily lead to co-optation on the part of SMOs. The third perspective is primarily concerned with the impact of deliberative and strategic ideas and practices on power relations within SMOs. It argues that state authorities have expectations toward the public sphere that sometimes feed into the tension within SMOs between the proponents of deliberation and those in favour of strategic action. When this organisational strife reaches a critical point, the capacity of a SMO to contribute to both deliberation and policy-making are seriously undermined. Our empirical analysis of the contribution of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC) on the issue of assisted reproductive technology (ART) in Canada during a period of 15 years provides strong support for this third perspective.     

Can One Prove that Something Exists Beyond Consciousness? A ?aiva Criticism of the Sautr??ntika Inference of External Objects

This article examines how the Kashmiri non-dualistic ?aiva philosophers Utpaladeva (tenth century) and Abhinavagupta (10th?C11th centuries) present and criticize a theory expounded by certain Buddhist philosophers, identified by the two ?aiva authors as Sautr??ntikas. According to this theory, no entity external to consciousness can ever be perceived since perceived objects are nothing but internal aspects (??k??ra) of consciousness. Nonetheless we must infer the existence of external entities so as to account for the fact that consciousness is aware of a variety of objects: just as a mirror takes on a variegated appearance only by reflecting a multiplicity of objects that remain external to it, in the same way, phenomenal variety can be explained only by assuming the existence of various objects external to consciousness. In ???varapratyabhij???k??rik??s I, 5, 8?C9 and their commentaries, Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta endeavour to criticize this theory, which challenges their own idealistic principles: according to them, the Sautr??ntikas?? inference is neither legitimate nor even possible. The passage is particularly telling as regards the strategy developed by Pratyabhij??? philosophers with respect to their Buddhist opponents: they make use of certain arguments propounded by Dharmak??rti in defense of Vij???nav??da in order to criticize the Sautr??ntikas?? inference, but they also exploit this discussion to underline the superiority of their idealism over that of the Vij???nav??dins.     

A Cross-Cultural View of Adults’ Perceptions of Children’s Rights

This study examined how the need for autonomy may be coexisting with current cultural norms. A total of 264 U.S., 76 Swiss, and 51 British adults completed two perceptions of children’s rights surveys. The results showed that Swiss and British participants were significantly more likely to advocate for autonomy or self-determination rights than same-aged U.S. adults. British participants were also more likely to advocate for children’s self-determination rights than U.S. and Swiss participants, whereas Swiss adults were more likely to grant children nurturance rights than British and US adults. Generally, parents were less likely to advocate for autonomy than non-parents. The results are discussed in terms of individualism—collectivism, self-determination theories, and parentalism.     

Do governments delay the implementation of parliamentary requests? Examining time variation in implementing legislative requests in Switzerland

Policy Sciences - This paper investigates time variations in the implementation of legislative requests by the Swiss government. Combining the literature on executive–legislative relations...     

Gender Gap and Turnout in the 2003 Federal Elections

We examine the gender gap in turnout in Switzerland by analysing the 2003 federal elections. Despite being a standard component in electoral studies, the gender variable is, in most cases, only used as a control variable and its effects and interaction are too often under‐analysed. We focus on individual‐level factors by looking at three types of explanations for the gender gap: (1) resources, (2) political motivations and attitudes, and (3) social capital and integration. Our analysis, based on binomial logistic regression models, shows that compositional and conditional effects play an important role in explaining the persistent gender gap in Swiss electoral turnout.