Title
Gender empowerment in the Gran Chaco
Author(s)
Lastarria-Cornhiel, Susana;Villaseñor, Verónica;Barahona, Zulema;Orti, Leticia
Published
2017
Publisher
Women's Studies International Forum
Abstract
The Isoso area is situated in the tropical dry forest of the “Gran Chaco Americano” ecoregion in Bolivia's eastern lowlands (see Fig. 1), which is the continent's second most extensive forested region after the Amazonia.1 The forest around the indigenous Guaraní communities in Isoso provides them food, medicine, fuel, building materials, climate regulation, and water sources. Since the Isoseño population has consisted of relatively small communities strung along the Parapetí River, their subsistence use of natural resources has tended to be environmentally sustainable.
We will examine the drivers of change in Isoso's indigenous institutions and how these are affecting gender norms and productive practices that may be ecologically unsustainable, but that at the same time provide both new opportunities for women as well as risks. This discussion is relevant to the debates surrounding gender and natural resource management, decision-making, and women's participation in indigenous governance.
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PUB22796