Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Self-Image and Self-Naming: A Discursive and Social Analysis of Women’s Microenterprises in Senegal and Mali

  • Chapter
Gender Epistemologies in Africa

Abstract

Female entrepreneurship is not only an evocative metaphor of a genderized economic venture and a mantra in development discourses. It hinges on the long tradition of women’s economic activities traced back to earlier collective formations such as female members of rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs), Ekub in Ethiopia, Esusu in Nigeria, Susu in Ghana, chikola in Kenya, stockkvel in South Africa, ton-tine in Senegal, and Nietamusso in Mali (Lo 2005; 2007). Historically, West African women have been portrayed as small-scale and informal traders (Assie-Lumumba 1998; Summerfield and Aslanbeigui 1998), goddesses of the West African markets, and long-distance traders because of their legendary mobility and savvy trading skills. However, the current development agenda centered on female entrepreneurship is historically located, following structural changes and the influence of macroeconomic policies. The new configuration of female entrepreneurship in development programs and discourses responds to different imperatives, far from the long tradition of women traders and their indigenous practices. Strong claims are made about female entrepreneurship, its impacts on poverty alleviation, and women’s economic standing and empowerment in development narratives and discourses. These claims are specific to particular discourses embedded in shifting socioeconomic policies and practices (Republic of Mali PRSP 2002; Republic of Senegal PRSP 2003; Yunus 1997; World Bank 1996; Hulme and Mosley 1996).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Ardener, Shirley. 1995. Women making money go round. ROSCAS revisited. In Money-go-rounds: The Importance of Rotating Savings and Credit Associations for Women, ed. Shirley Ardener and Sandra Burman, 1–19. Oxford, UK and Washington, DC: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ardener, Shirley, and Sandra Burman, ed. 1995. Money-go-rounds: The Importance of Rotating Savings and Credit Associations for Women. Oxford, UK and Washington, DC: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Assie-Lumumba, Ndri T. 1998. Women in West Africa. In Women in the Third World: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Issues, ed. Nelly. P. Stromquist, 533–42. New York: Garland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, Albert. 1986. Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beneria, Lourdes. 2003. Gender, Development, and Globalization Economics as if All People Mattered. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bortei-Doku, Ellen, and Ernest Aryeetey. 1995. Mobilizing cash for business: Women in rotating Susu clubs in Ghana. In Money-go-rounds: The Importance of Rotating Savings and Credit Associations for Women, ed. Shirley Ardener and Sandra Burman, 77–94. Oxford, UK and Washington, DC: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charmes, Jacques. 1998. Women working in the informal sector in Africa: New methods and new data. Paper presented at the Delhi Group Meeting on Informal Sector Statistics, April 28–30, in Ankara. New York: United Nations Statistics Division.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniels, Lisa, Donald C. Mead, and Muli Musinga. 1995. Employment and income in micro-and small enterprises in Kenya: A result of a 1995 survey. Gemini Research Paper No. 26, Nairobi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emeagwali, Gloria. 2003. African indigenous knowledge systems (AIK): Implications for the curriculum in Ghana. In Africa and the World: Essays in Honor of Adu Boahen, ed. Toyin Falola, 17–24. Trenton, NJ: African World Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fall, Babacar. 2005. Senegalese women in politics: A portrait of twofemale leaders, Arame Diène and Thioumbè Samb, 1945–1996. In African Gender Studies: A Reader, ed. Oyèróné Oyĕwùmí. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flyvbjerg, Bent. 2001. Making Social Science Matter. Why Social Inquiry Fails and How It Can Succeed Again. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fried, Susana T. 1998. Women’s experiences as small-scale entrepreneurs. In Women in the Third World: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Issues, ed. Nelly Stromquist, 273–82. New York: Garland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jürgen. 1987. The theory of Communicative Action. Vol. 2, Life World And System: A Critique of Functionalist Reason. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hashemi, Syed M., Sidney Ruth Schuler, and Ann P. Riley. 1996. Rural credit programs and women’s empowerment in Bangladesh. World Development 24(4): 635–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holvoet, Nathalie. 2005. The impact of microfinance on decision-making agency: Evidence from South India. Development and Change 36(1): 75–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hulme, David, and Paul Mosley. 1996. Finance against Poverty. Vol 2. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labor Organization (ILO). 2002. Jobs, Gender, and Small Enterprises: Factors Affecting Women Entrepreneurs in Micro and Small Enterprises in Africa. Geneva: International Labor Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1997. Gender Issues in Micro Enterprise Development. Geneva: Intentional Labor Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, Susan, and Ben Rogaly. 1997. Microfinance and Poverty Reduction. Oxford, OK: Oxfam.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kane, Abdoulaye. 2001. Financial arrangements across borders: Women’s predominant participation in popular finance, from Thilogne and Dakar to Paris. A Senegalese case study. In Women and Credit: Researching the Past, Refiguring the Future, ed. Beverly Lemire, Ruth Pearson, and Gail Campbell, 295–317. Washington, DC: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, Jerome, and William B. Gartner. 1988. Properties of emerging organizations. Academy of Management Review 13: 429–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Littlefield, Elizabeth, Syed Hashemi, and Jonathan Morduch. 2003. Is microfinance an effective strategy to reach the Millennium Development Goals? http://www.idlo.int/texts/IDLO/mis7533.pdf

  • Lo, Marieme S. 2008. Beyond instrumentalism: Interrogating the micro-dynamic and gendered and social impacts of remittances in Senegal. Gender, Technology and Development 12(3): 413–37 (special issue).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. 2007. Self-image and self-naming: A discursive analysis and social analysis of women’s microenterprises in Senegal and Mali. Paper presented at the 50th annual meeting for the African Studies Association, October 18–21, in New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 2005. Understanding and capitalizing on social learning: An asset based approach to capacity-building and development of women’s microenterprises in West Africa. Ph.D. diss., Cornell University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayoux, Linda. 1999. Questioning virtuous spirals: Microfinance and women’s empowerment in Africa. Journal of International Development 11: 957–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niger-Thomas, Margaret. 1995. Women’s access to and the control of credit in Cameroon: The Mamfe Case. In Money-go-rounds: The Importance of Rotating Savings and Credit Associations for Women, ed. Shirley Ardener and Sandra Burman, 95–110. Washington, DC: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nnaemeka, Obioma. 2005. Bringing African women into the classroom: Rethinking pedagogy and epistemology. In African Gender Studies: A Reader, ed. Oyèrónké Oyĕwùmí, 51–66. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oyĕwùmí, Oyèrónké. 2005. African Gender Studies: A Reader. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rankin, Katharine N. 2001. Governing development: Neoliberalism, microcredit, and rational economic woman. Economy and Society 30(1): 18–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Republic of Mali. 2002. Republic of Mali. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).

    Google Scholar 

  • Republic of Senegal. 2003. Republic of Senegal. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, Marguerite S. 2001. The Microfinance Revolution: Sustainable Finance for the Poor. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rogaly, Ben. 1996. Microfinance, evangelism, ‘destitute women’, and the hard selling of a new anti-poverty formula. Development in Practice 6(2): 100–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sidikou, Aissata G. 2001. Recreating Words, Reshaping Worlds: The Verbal Art of Women from Niger, Mali and Senegal. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sougou, Omar. 2008. Transformational narratives: Hearing/reading selected Senegalese folk-tales by young women. Research in African Literatures 39(3): 26–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sow, Fatou. 1997. Gender relations in the African environment. In Engendering African Social Sciences, ed. Ayesha Imam, Amina Mama, and Fatou Sow, 251–70. Dakar: CODESRIA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Summerfield, Gail, and Nahid Aslanbeigui. 1998. The impacts of structural adjustment and economic reform on women. In Women in the Third World: An Encyclopedia Of Contemporary Issues, ed. Nelly Stromquist, 332–40. New York: Garland.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2010. Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and Development. New York: UNDP Human Development Report 2009. http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_SEN.html.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). 2001. Women entrepreneur-ship development in selected African countries. Working Paper No. 7. Vienna: UNIDO.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 2006. Development Story. Microcredit: An Innovative Way to Help Poor People Improve Their Lives. Washington, DC: World Bank. http://youthink.worldbank.org/4teachers/pdf/development/story-dev-microcredit.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 2001. A Source Book for Poverty Reduction Strategies. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1996. Bangladesh Rural Finance Report No. 15485-BD. Washington, DC: World Bank Agricultural and Natural Resources Division.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 1996. Implementing the World Bank’s Gender Policies: Progress Report No 1. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yunus, Muhammad. 1997. The Grameen Bank story: Rural credit in Bangladesh. In Reasons for Hope: Instructive Experiences in Rural Development, ed. Anirudh Krishna, Norman Thomas Uphoff, and Milton Jacob Esman, 9–24. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press, and New Delhi: Vistar Publications.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Marieme S. Lo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stony Brook University, USA

    Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyĕwùmí

Copyright information

© 2011 Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyĕwùmí

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lo, M.S. (2011). Self-Image and Self-Naming: A Discursive and Social Analysis of Women’s Microenterprises in Senegal and Mali. In: Oyĕwùmí, O. (eds) Gender Epistemologies in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230116276_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation