Gendering Social Urbanism in Medellin: CEDEZOS D R K A T E M A C L E A N L E C T U R E R I N H U M A N G E O G R A P H Y K I N G ’ S C O L L E G E L O N D O N
Sea Change from micro-enterprises to SMEs “Crucially, the IADB reported, the main impulse behind this debilitating trend was seen as the channelling of the continent‟s financial resources increasingly into low-productivity microenterprises and self-employment units, and so away from the far more productive, skills-intensive, innovative and hence growth oriented small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.” http://www.nrk.no/contentfile/file/1.7404101!Bateman.pdf
Social Urbanism and „scaling up‟
Cultura E “This is a programme promoted and finances by the Mayor of Medellin that looks to boost a culture of entrepreneurialism by the creation and development of new businesses that respond to the needs of the market and regional producti0n chains, maximising economic potential and using the innovation capacity of its entrepreneurs.” http://www.culturaemedellin.gov.co/sites/CulturaE/CulturaE/Paginas/CulturaE.aspx
Gender and CEDEZOS “Women will take more risks at the beginning; it‟s only when the business starts to grow that the men step in” CEDEZO trainer Medellin 2/2011
Gendered Barriers to formal employment Household Structure Division of labour Time Women maintained households Market Structures Access to markets Gendered market values
CEDEZO case study: Ornate Spoons, San Javier The entrepreneur is a middle aged single woman, identified as „class 4‟ who acquired the capital to expand her business at a CEDEZO organised competition for start ups. She has attended various training sessions and http://stamptalk.wordpress.com/2007/05/ trade fairs, has contracts with stores in the city and is now making over $1000 per month profit.
What made this work? Time Initial capital Access to markets
Case Study 2: Importance of Market Access The co-operative has been set up for over 10 years and is run by a mother and daughter. They have secured the necessary equipment to make jam and sweets and donations of fruit from supermarkets. They currently have stores full of jam and sweets that will not sell.
Why didn‟t this work? Co-operative Importance of access to markets Rural/urban linkages The darkside of social capital Broader understanding of livelihoods
Conclusions “If civic engagement is to harness the full complement of human energy and creativity, then cities need to be inclusive and to welcome social diversity... [Women‟s] particular vulnerability to poverty and their specific economic survival strategies will only be reflected in urban policymaking if categories like the "household" and the "neighbourhood" are disaggregated by gender and family type.” Beall 2003: 18
Conclusions “Recognizing and, more importantly, counting women's invisible paid work - that is, fully counting what we call the gender reality - would challenge our empirical understanding not only of the informal sector but also of the economy as a whole.” Chen 1999: 604
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