Beschreibung
Martina Aruna Padmanabhan explores the negotiations at the inter- and
intrafaces of knowledge and gender. The author analyses the construction of
gender and knowledge to reveal how innovations in agriculture either transform
existing gender relations or unfold a transcending potential. The case studies on
the cultivation of cowpeas, onions and soybeans by Dagombas and Kusasis
show that supposedly gender-neutral agricultural innovations become contested
fields when men and women are “Trying to Grow”. The
contextualisation and
social connotation of a crop decides over women’s participation in rural
development. This study throws a fresh light on the management of agricultural
knowledge.
Dr. Martina Aruna Padmanabhan has been
trained as an agricultural engineer in
Berlin, Nottingham and Göttingen. She graduated in Rural Sociology with a
pronounced interest in gender studies, sociology of knowledge and participatory
methodology and gained vast empirical experience during fieldwork in India
and Ghana.