Overcoming Gender Disadvantages. Social Policy Analysis of urban middle-class women in Colombia

The World Bank Report 2012 starts with this statement: “Gender equality matters in itself andit matters for development because, in today’s globalized worlds, countries that use the skillsand talents of their women would have an advantage over those which do not use it.” With theframe that suggest that gender equality matters, this paper describes some policy alternativesoriented to overcome gender disadvantages in the formal labor market incorporation of theurban middle class women in Colombia. On balance, the final recommendation suggest that itis desirable to adopt policy alternatives as Community Centers, which are programs orientedto a social redistribution of the domestic work as a way to encourage women participationin the formal labor market with the social support of the members of their own community.The problem that the social policy needs to address is the segregation of women in the formallabor market in Colombia. Although the evidence shows that the women overcome theeducational gap by showing better performance in education that their male peers, womenare still segregated of the labor market. The persistence of high rates of unemployment on thefemale population, the prevalence of the informal labor market as a women labor market, andthe presence of the payment difference between men and women with similar professionaltrainings are circumstances that sustain the segregation statement. These circumstances areinefficient for the society because an economic analysis shows that the cost of maintain the statuquo is externalized in the social security system that includes health, pension and maternityleave regimens. Therefore, the women segregation involves a market failure.This paper evaluates five policy alternatives each directed to the progress of a different causaldimension of the problem: (i) Quotas in the private market, (ii) Flexible working hours,(iii) replace the maternity leave with a family leave, (iv) Increase the Community Centers forredistributing the care work, and (v) Equal payment enforcement. The first alternative looksto increase women’s participation in the formal labor market. The second, third, and fourthalternatives constitute a package addressed at redistributing care work by reducing women’sresponsibility for reproductive work in the household with the help of husbands and the localgovernment. The fifth alternative intervenes to resolve the equal payment problem.After a four criteria evaluation that measure effectiveness, robustness and improbability inimplementation, efficiency and political acceptability or social opposition, the strongest alternativeis the fostering of Community Centers that promote a redistribution of care work. Thispolicy performs well in the assessment process because it combines gender focus with importantindirect effects: child support and human capabilities. The policy also shows a bottomup implementation process that overcomes the main adoption difficulties in the gender focusprograms and is supported by strong evidence of success in the Colombian context; this evidenceis produced by both transnational actors as a World Bank and also in local accountabilityreporters executed by local institutions like Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF)

Imaginários sobre práticas judiciais em Cali, Colômbia

El artículo explora las emociones de usuarios y funcionarios respecto a los procesos de administración de justicia en Cali, Colombia, y propone que el estado no remite únicamente a un lenguaje burocrático racional, sino también a sentimientos. De esta manera, no solo los imaginarios centrales que describen los procesos judiciales estatales sino la idea propia de justicia están marcados por sensaciones de tedio, demora y caos, descriptores que son identificados tanto por usuarios como por empleados judiciales. No hay justicia si esta no es demorada, ritual, mística, desordenada, difícil. Estos hallazgos evidencian que, al contrario de lo que ocurre en los discursos liberales que enfatizan el orden, la unidad y la racionalidad de las acciones públicas, el poder del estado encuentra en lo desagregado, lo irracional y lo emotivo un marco más amplio para ser explicado.This article explores the emotions of users and functionaries involved in the justice system and the administration of justice in Cali, Colombia. The analysis presented argues that the state not only employs a bureaucratic rational language but also invokes emotions and feelings. In this sense, it is not only the central imaginaries of the state justice system and judicial processes but also the idea of justice itself that is marked by tediousness, delay and chaos, imaginaries of the system that were identified by the users and the officials involved in the administration of the system. There is no justice if it is not a process that is tedious, marked by ritual, mysticism, disorder and difficulties. These findings demonstrate that, against liberal discourses that emphasize the order, unity and rationality of public actions, that the power of the state actually operates through the disaggregated, the irrational and the emotional, a much wider and inexplicable framework.O artigo explora as emoções de usuários e funcionários referentes aos processos da administração da justiça em Cali, Colômbia, e propõe que o Estado não remite unicamente a uma linguagem burocrática-racional, senão também a sentimentos. Desta maneira, não só os imaginários centrais que descrevem os processos judiciais estatais senão a ideia própria de justiça estão marcados por sensações de tédio, demora e caos, descritores que são identificados tanto por usuários quanto por funcionários judiciais. Não há justiça se esta não for demorada, ritual, mística, desordenada, difícil. Estes resultados evidenciam que ao contrário dos discursos liberais que enfatizam a ordem, a unidade e a racionalidade das ações públicas, o poder do Estado encontra no desagregado, no irracional e no emotivo, um marco mais amplo para ser explicado

Feminismo y crítica jurídica

Reseña de libro:Alviar, Helena y Jaramillo, Isabel (2012). Feminismo y crítica jurídica. El análisis distributivo como alternativa crítica al legalismo liberal. Bogotá: Siglo del Hombre Editores y Universidad de los Ande

El activismo burocrático y la vida mundana del estado. Las madres comunitarias como burócratas callejeras y el programa de cuidado de niños Hogares Comunitarios de Bienestar

This article discusses the spaces of the outsourced social policy known as Welfare Homes as new scenarios in which the idea of what is public is produced and negotiated. Gathering up the main findings of the fieldwork developed with community mothers in different Colombian cities, the text suggests that there are public and non-state areas where streetlevel bureaucracies produce, at its discretion, the rule of law as a language of the state. In this sense, the production of the public in postneoliberal scenarios has a life beyond the State, without stop depending on it, which takes place in everyday scenarios. That new existence of the public is far from the institutional, vertical and ritualized State idea that has been standardized by Weber’s reading of the public administration. https://doi.org/10.22380/2539472X30Este artículo analiza los espacios de la política social tercerizada conocida como Hogares Comunitarios de Bienestar en tanto nuevos escenarios de negociación y producción de lo público. Recogiendo los principales hallazgos del trabajo de campo desarrollado con las madres comunitarias en diferentes ciudades de Colombia, el texto sugiere la existencia de esferas públicas no estatales, producidas de manera discrecional por burocracias callejeras que asumen el principio de legalidad como lenguaje de estado. En este sentido, la producción de lo público tiene una vida más allá del estado, sin dejar de depender de él, en escenarios cotidianos lejanos de una idea institucional, vertical y ritualizada de lo estatal como la que estandariza la lectura weberiana de la administración pública. https://doi.org/10.22380/2539472X3

¿Seguridad y desarrollo? Una historia sobre los pequeños crímenes, el pequeño Estado y sus pequeñas leyes

In this article we engage with the promises and limits of the “Security and Development” discourse. Using Cali (Colombia)as our case study, we show how initiatives associated with this discourse, instead of helping States move beyond insecurity, exclusion and low levels of development by strengthening social relations, official institutions and legal frameworks, end up producing, instead, a particular set of precarious institutional and human arrangements. We characterise this precarity as moving in the realm of “pettiness:” a characterisation that for us suggests both the marginal kinds of solutions that ultimately form the core of Security and Development, and the flimsiness that has come to mark those institutional and human arrangements resulting from it. The result is a resilient liminality across the board and the continuation of insecurity.En este artículo discutimos las promesas y los límites del discurso de “Seguridad y Desarrollo”. Usando Cali (Colombia) como nuestro estudio de caso, mostramos cómo las iniciativas asociadas con este discurso terminan produciendo un conjunto de arreglos institucionales y humanos precarios, en vez de ayudar a los Estados a superar la inseguridad, la exclusión y los bajos niveles de desarrollo. En este artículo caracterizamos esta precariedad en términos de “pequeñez”: una caracterización que para nosotros sugiere la limitación de los tipos marginales de soluciones que en última instancia forman el núcleo de la Seguridad y el Desarrollo, así como de la fragilidad que han marcado los arreglos institucionales y humanos que él mismo construye. El resultado final es una permanente liminalidad del Estado y una continuación de la inseguridad.Neste artigo, discutimos as promessas e os limites do discurso de “Segurança e Desenvolvimento”. Usando a cidade de Cali (Colômbia) como nosso estudo de caso, mostramos como as iniciativas associadas a esse discurso acabam produzindo um conjunto de acordos institucionais e humanos precários, em vez de ajudar os Estados a superarem a insegurança, a exclusão e os baixos níveis de desenvolvimento. Neste artigo, caracterizamos essa precariedade em termos de “pequenez”: uma caracterização que, para nós, sugere a limitação dos tipos marginais de soluções que, em última instância, formam o núcleo da Segurança e do Desenvolvimento, assim como da fragilidade que vem marcando os acordos institucionais e humanos que ele constrói. O resultado final é uma permanente limitação do Estado e uma continuidade da insegurança

Género y constitucionalismo. Una mirada feminista al derecho constitucional colombiano

El propósito de este artículo de reflexión es evaluar si el derecho constitucional ha sido una herramienta eficaz para desarrollar la agenda de género en Colombia después del cambio constitucional de 1991. Para ello, analiza las formas de acción que  las mujeres han  utilizado para  ocupar un  lugar  físico  en  el escenario constitucional, los mecanismos que  han  usado para instrumentalizarlo y los resultados que han obtenido en tres escenarios: la Asamblea Na- cional Constituyente, la jurisprudencia de la Corte Constitucional y el activismo de las ONG en la ciudad de Bogotá. Además, ofrece  una  lectura crítica de la visión  del derecho constitu- cional como herramienta para redistribuir el poder entre géneros. La conclusión presenta una visión  escéptica del uso que se le ha dado  al derecho y al juez constitucional en el desarrollo de la agenda de género en Colombia.The purpose of this paper is to assess whether a constitutional law has been an effective way to develop the gender agenda in Colombia after the constitutional change of 1991. To that extend, this paper analyzes the forms of action that women have used for being at the constitutional stage, the mechanisms that have been used to instrumentalize it and the results obtained in three scenarios: the National Constituent Assembly, the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court and NGO activism in the city of Bogotá. It also offers a critical reading of the vision of constitutional law as a tool to distribute power between genders. The conclusion presents a skeptical view to the use that has been given to the law and the constitutional court in the development of the gender agenda in Colombi

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Los trabajadores de la salud, especialmente el personal de enfermería, se encuentran expuestos a una  importante variedad de factores de riesgo laborales y personales que pueden provocar accidentes de trabajo dependiendo del tipo de tareas que desempeñan y el puesto de trabajo que ocupan. La Clínica Villapilar ESE  Rita Arango Álvarez del Pino de Manizales como institución de alta complejidad, y la cual tiene una gran  demanda por parte de la población del departamento de Caldas, debido a la amplia cantidad de servicios  hospitalarios y especializados que ofrece, fue la institución escogida para realizar esta investigación. Se  estudiaron los factores laborales y personales que incidieron en la ocurrencia de accidentes de trabajo  biológicos, así como la notificación de los mismos en el personal de enfermería tanto auxiliar como  profesional durante el periodo de junio a noviembre de 2005. Se realizó un estudio cuantitativo descriptivo,  en donde se utilizaron como instrumentos para la recolección de información: una encuesta estructurada de  acuerdo a los parámetros de las normas ANSI-Z-2, revisión documental y una guía de observación; del  análisis de los resultados se pudo concluir que: De 11 accidentes de trabajo notificados, 7 (63%) fueron en el  personal de enfermería, siendo el más frecuente el accidente por punción, al cual se le realiza seguimiento  según los protocolos establecidos. El 100% de la población que ha tenido accidentes de trabajo, ha notificado  el hecho y, de éstos, el 90% considera que los elementos de protección personal que proporciona la  institución son suficientes. Los resultados obtenidos son similares a los de otros centros hospitalarios en  donde el riesgo de punción es el más frecuente. Dada la posibilidad de transmisión de agentes infecciosos  por esta vía de entrada, se destaca la importancia de desarrollar programas preventivos de este frecuente  accidente laboral (1).Health workers, especially nursing personnel, are usually exposed to a large variety of work and personal risk factors that can cause industrial accidents depending on the types of duties they perform. VillaPilar ESE Rita  Arango Alvarez del Pino Clinic of Manizales is an institution that develops complex surgeries and procedures.  Because of this, its services are highly demanded by the people that live in the Department of Caldas. The  clinic offers a wide range of specialized health services and this was the reason it was chosen to carry out this research process. The work and personal factors that influence the occurrence of biological work factors  were studied, as well as the notification of these by professional and assistant nursing personnel from June  to November 2005. A descriptive quantitative study was carried out, using the following tools for gathering  information: a survey designed according to the regulations established by ANSI-Z-2 norms, document  analysis and an observation guide. The conclusions include: from 11 reported work accidents, 7 (63%)  happened to nursing personnel. The most frequent accident was puncturing, which is monitored according  to the protocol established. 100% of the population that has had work accidents has notified the event, and  90% of them think that the personal protection tools provided by the institution are enough. The results  obtained are similar to those of other hospital centers, where puncturing risk is the most frequent. Due to  the possibility of transmission of infectious agents by this entry way, it its important to develop prevention  programs against this frequent work accident (2)

Peace, Land, and Bureaucracy in Colombia: An Analysis of the Implementation of the Victims and Land Restitution Law from a Multiscale Perspective of State Bureaucracies

This article presents an analysis of the complexities implied by the implementation of the Colombian land restitution policy, as an example of the way in which the state works in its day-to-day practice. The document highlights the role played by the bureaucracy of “land” in the management of the so-called post-conflict setting. It is constructive in showing the multiscale nature of the state, whose operation cannot be understood outside the various levels and scales that compose it. This conception is very well exemplified by the typology of the bureaucracies to which it resorts in order to explain the different meanings of notions, such as “conflict,” “land” or “victim,” for the public officials according to the position they fill in the institutional architecture of restitution. By analyzing the research findings, the author reveals that it is emotional, rather than material, benefits that condense the state’s role in the Colombian post-conflict period