IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jhudca/v11y2010i4p533-554.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Opportunities for the Poor, Co-responsibilities for Women: Female Capabilities and Vulnerability in Human Development Policy and Practice

Author

Listed:
  • Alejandro Agudo Sanchiz

Abstract

This paper looks at a particular type of anti-poverty aid and its implications for gender inequality. The development model underpinning the Mexican Oportunidades Programme, a 'flagship' in Latin America, focuses on the reduction of inter-generational poverty through transfers conditioned on 'co-responsibilities' fulfilled especially by mothers and aimed at strengthening the human capital of household members. Through a consultant-insider narrative on the tension between this policy model and the actual lives of beneficiaries, the paper scrutinizes the delivery of the Programme in the light of the capabilities approach. Some case studies are then examined within this framework, assessing the position of women in each case by reviewing the state of their capabilities and resources. This exercise reveals social relationships obscured by the Programme's representations and assumptions of gender roles within families, pointing to a significant failure to address women's own needs by development schemes aimed at poverty rather than at inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Alejandro Agudo Sanchiz, 2010. "Opportunities for the Poor, Co-responsibilities for Women: Female Capabilities and Vulnerability in Human Development Policy and Practice," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(4), pages 533-554.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jhudca:v:11:y:2010:i:4:p:533-554
    DOI: 10.1080/19452829.2010.520915
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19452829.2010.520915
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/19452829.2010.520915?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jhudca:v:11:y:2010:i:4:p:533-554. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CJHD20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.