Cataloged from PDF version of article.This thesis analyzes the internal dynamics of women’s poverty, and how women
experience and cope with poverty in poor households. It mainly deals with two
points, one regarding the conceptualization of women’s poverty as content and
context, and the other regarding the method of investigation. As for the former,
women’s poverty is defined as unequal access to resources (social as well as
material), responsibilities (particularly the ones that exceed domestic borders) and
power (defined as power to do something on one’s own) within the household. The
thesis employs a “household perspective,” that is, women’s poverty has been
contextualized within the internal dynamics of household. Sectarian differences,
employment, support system and family structure are defined as four dimensions that
affect women’s poverty through enabling or disabling women’s subordination. These
are investigated by drawing upon a field study, which was conducted with 24 women iv
in poor households in Ankara, Turkey. As for the method, how women experience
and cope with poverty is presented through women’s own perceptions and opinions,
and by the woman’s perspective, namely through the gender lens. This perspective
also helps to reveal women’s active agency in poor households.
Keywords: Women’s poverty, Survival strategies, Active agency, Poverty
experienced, Internal household dynamics, Intrahousehold resource allocation,
Alevi/Sunni.Baysu, GülseliM.S
