ABSTRACT

This paper aims to contribute to more comprehensive understandings of occupation by: 1) conceptualizing gendered occupation as a theoretical tool to aid scholars in unpacking the gendered and politicized nature of occupation, and 2) sharing findings from the first author’s critical decolonizing ethnographic dissertation research in Tanzania to illuminate diverse understandings of gender, womanhood, and collective resistance through occupation. The study in discussion employed a critical decolonizing methodological approach in partnership with MikonoYetu, a local women’s rights organization, over a 1-year period to explore five Tanzanian women’s experiences of gender inequities through occupation. Guided by diverse feminist theories, including Africana womanism and an African Feminist Communicative Lens, the research attempted to enact a decolonial approach, collecting data in Swahili, Tanzania’s national language. Methods included one semi-structured interview, one participatory occupation session and one tribal storytelling session with each participant, and member reflections and theoretical coding for the analysis of data. Four primary findings pertaining to gendered occupation, as situated within a broader exploration of Tanzanian historical, sociocultural, and political contexts were shared: 1) Situated Understandings of Gender, 2) Conceptualizations of Womanhood, 3) Navigating Gender Inequities through Resistance, and 4) Envisioning Gender Equity through Occupation. The need for future research is recognised, to explore the potential of gendered occupation to politicize and historically situate conceptualizations of gender and gender norms, as well as challenge unjust forces which continue to influence, shape, and perpetuate them.

摘要

本文旨在通过以下方式为对职业的更全面理解做出贡献：1）将性别职业概念化为一种理论工具，以帮助学者解开职业的性别化和政治化本质，以及 2）分享第一作者的批判性非殖民化民族志论文研究成果坦桑尼亚通过职业阐明对性别、女性和集体抵抗的不同理解。讨论中的研究采用了一种批判性的非殖民化方法，与当地妇女权利组织 MikonoYetu 合作，在 1 年的时间里探讨了五名坦桑尼亚妇女因职业而遭受性别不平等的经历。在各种女权主义理论的指导下，包括非洲女性主义和非洲女权主义交流镜头，该研究试图制定一种非殖民化方法，以坦桑尼亚的国语斯瓦希里语收集数据。方法包括与每位参与者进行的一次半结构化访谈、一次参与式职业会议和一次部落故事会，以及用于数据分析的成员反思和理论编码。在对坦桑尼亚历史、社会文化和政治背景的更广泛探索中，与性别职业有关的四项主要发现得到了分享：1) 对性别的情境理解，2) 女性身份的概念化，3) 通过抵抗引导性别不平等，以及 4)通过职业设想性别平等。认识到未来研究的必要性，以探索性别职业将性别和性别规范的概念化政治化和历史定位的潜力，