Browsing by Subject "Gender"
Now showing items 21-23 of 23
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(2020)This thesis provides information of the unjust geographies of girls and assesses empirical data on girls’ access to and through secondary education in Tanzania by using a case study approach. This study focuses on girls’ education in rural Mtwara because of its utmost importance. First, an internationally accepted human rights-based perceptive on girls’ education is present. Second, gender equality in and through secondary education has a direct and indirect effect on the reduction of overall poverty: employment and increased decision-making capabilities modify family opinions that further advance girls’ education and future asset accumulation that indirectly benefits the wider society. Rural Mtwara was chosen as a case study since it is characterized by particularly low secondary-school attendance and poor academic performance of girls. A number of variables affect access to education, including family and social factors as well as those related to the learning environment itself. Outside donors and governments can also affect the outcome. This study investigates the role of families in structuring the secondary school access of girls in low-income rural households, and it examines the individual, cultural, environmental, and economic factors that shape girls’ access to education in the rapidly changing environment of rural Mtwara. This study qualitatively explores how girls’ graduation from secondary school has benefitted both their lives and their families’ lives, especially in economic terms, and increased girls’ access to other spaces such as employment in a segregated society. Gender equal access remains a core issue of this study.
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(2023)Youth climate activism has accelerated on an unprecedented scale since 2018 and of the rising popularity of international activist movements Fridays For Future and Extinction Rebellion. Gender and age affect all social positions, but the meaning of girlhood is scarcely studied in the context of youth climate activism. This thesis aims to address this gap and offer valuable perspectives on girls’ experiences of agency and girlhood in climate activism, which is a powerful way to practice active citizenship. This thesis delves into girls’ gendered and age-specific positions in the youth climate movement and explores the boundaries activist girls experience due to their girlhood. The material consists of interviews with 13 girls from Finland, Sweden, and Denmark who are active on climate matters. For the purpose of the analysis, the participants are categorised as climate activists and climate agents, depending on their self-perceived position and forms of action. I study the positions of power and their connection to different cultural positionings by using an intersectional approach in the analysis. I present the ways climate activism is practiced by the participants, both in the public and private spheres. The participants are in different parts of their activist journey and have different experiences of age-related boundaries. Being a girl also produces boundaries for agency both in social and public arenas. The boundaries are often set by adults, but the participants experience their parents being a great support, even when the boundaries for activists are negotiated. Critical voices towards activism usually come from adults outside the movement or in a school environment. School climate/environment groups are also important arenas for young people to get engaged in climate activism. The strong involvement of girls is normalised in the movement, which the participants reflect on resulting from girls’ socialisation to care about other people and the environment. Regardless of the emphasised inclusiveness of the movement, some gendered boundaries and obstacles, such as the cultural notions of girls as individual heroes and experiences of not being safe, remain and need to be overcome to act.
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(2023)Youth climate activism has accelerated on an unprecedented scale since 2018 and of the rising popularity of international activist movements Fridays For Future and Extinction Rebellion. Gender and age affect all social positions, but the meaning of girlhood is scarcely studied in the context of youth climate activism. This thesis aims to address this gap and offer valuable perspectives on girls’ experiences of agency and girlhood in climate activism, which is a powerful way to practice active citizenship. This thesis delves into girls’ gendered and age-specific positions in the youth climate movement and explores the boundaries activist girls experience due to their girlhood. The material consists of interviews with 13 girls from Finland, Sweden, and Denmark who are active on climate matters. For the purpose of the analysis, the participants are categorised as climate activists and climate agents, depending on their self-perceived position and forms of action. I study the positions of power and their connection to different cultural positionings by using an intersectional approach in the analysis. I present the ways climate activism is practiced by the participants, both in the public and private spheres. The participants are in different parts of their activist journey and have different experiences of age-related boundaries. Being a girl also produces boundaries for agency both in social and public arenas. The boundaries are often set by adults, but the participants experience their parents being a great support, even when the boundaries for activists are negotiated. Critical voices towards activism usually come from adults outside the movement or in a school environment. School climate/environment groups are also important arenas for young people to get engaged in climate activism. The strong involvement of girls is normalised in the movement, which the participants reflect on resulting from girls’ socialisation to care about other people and the environment. Regardless of the emphasised inclusiveness of the movement, some gendered boundaries and obstacles, such as the cultural notions of girls as individual heroes and experiences of not being safe, remain and need to be overcome to act.
Now showing items 21-23 of 23