Gender and Entrepreneurship in Iran Microenterprise and the Informal Sector

by Bahramitash, Roksana

• ISBN13: 9781137342867
• ISBN10: 1137342862
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-10-03
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Iran is estimated to have the third largest informal sector in the MENA region—a major source of income for many low-income households whose numbers are growing as sanctions tighten. Gender and Entrepreneurship in Iran provides insight into the role of informal networks in employment creation in Iran from a gender perspective. Drawing upon theories of social capital, social network, and the postcolonial feminist critique of mainstream development, this analysis sheds light on the ways in which poverty and unemployment may be tackled.

Author Biography

Roksana Bahramitash is director of research for the Canada Research Chair in Islam, Pluralism and Globalization at the University of Montreal. She previously worked as Faculty Lecturer on Gender and Environment with the Simone de Beauvoir Institute and research associate of Iranian studies at Concordia University (Montreal). Originally from Iran, she was active after the Iranian Revolution in literacy projects among peasant women. After several years in Iran working to improve women's development and their access to economic resources, she moved to Canada to pursue doctoral and post-doctoral work. She is the author of Liberation from Liberalization: Gender and Globalization in Southeast Asia (2005) and numerous articles on women's participation in economic development; she has also studied informal Islamic organizations. Bahramitash participated in the December 2007 symposium on 'Global Development and Faith-Inspired Organizations in the Muslim World,' co-sponsored by the Berkley Center.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1: Social Capital, Social Net Work and Micro Enterprise
Chapter 2: Women and the Informal Economy: A Literature Review
Chapter 3: Women's Employment in Iran: An Overview
Chapter 4: Gender and Informal Economy in Iran: A Review of Previous work
Chapter 5: Field Work: Female Workers
Chapter 6: Field Work: Male Workers: Comparing the Two Sample (Male with Female)
Conclusion