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P-KVINN-Program for kvinne- og kjønnsf

Kjønn, eierskap og lokal kultur Gender, ownership and local culture

Awarded: NOK 4.6 mill.

This project examines the gender relations embedded in property relations and traditions of ownership. Relations and management of property and ownership are central for the understanding of socio-cultural gender arrangements and for theories about gender equality. The focus is put on the severely understudied area of gender and ownership and how ideas about gender inform and are constituted by property relations in capitalist societies. Forms of family capitalism, female entrepreneurial activity and lo cal traditions of ownership will be studied to gain understanding on gendered structures within the business sector, and how this is interwoven with the local community and the private sphere. This involves questions concerning how different economic acti vities are valued and gendered. Local contexts and traditions which seem to favour female ownership and female entrepreneurial activity, as well as situations where female ownership and entrepreneurship are favoured are of particular interest. An interlin ked issue is how gendered processes and ideas influence on the growth and innovation processes of women-owned businesses, both related to strategies and values of female business owners and to access to external resources such as financing. The local cont ext is of vital importance. We will explore how specific historical traditions may have shaped particular gender cultures in terms of evaluation of women's economic activities and property management. Researching these issues demands a theoretical appro ach bridging the traditional barriers between economy and culture. A multi-disciplinary approach is taken to integrate historical and contemporary perspectives, and to bridge the barriers between studies of economy and culture. A quantitative mapping of t he gendered structures of local ownership will be combined with local case studies of gender cultures, enterprises and networks as well as case studies of gendered entrepreneurship, growth and innovation.

Funding scheme:

P-KVINN-Program for kvinne- og kjønnsf