Women traders in cross-cultural perspective

About this book

"This innovative volume studies women as economic, political, and cultural mediators of space, gender, value, and language in informal markets. Drawing on diverse methodologies - multisited fieldwork, linguistic analysis, and archival research - the contributors demonstrate how women move between and knit together household and marketplace activities. Exploring the cultural identities and economic practices of women traders in ten diverse locales--Bolivia, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Peru, and the Philippines--the authors pay special attention to the effects of global forces, national economic policies, and nongovernmental organizations on women's participation in the market and the domestic sector. The authors also consider the impact that women's economic and political activities have on state policy, on the attitudes of different sectors of society toward female traders, and on the dynamics of the market itself. A final theme focuses on the cultural dimension of mediation"--Publisher description.