Women’s Leadership in New Religions and the Question of Gender Equality in Post-Communist Lithuania

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 84-103
Author(s):  
Milda Ališauskienė
Keyword(s):  
Women Leaders ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Life Choices ◽  
Communist Society ◽  
Religious Leadership ◽  
New Religions ◽  
Social Innovations

This article discusses features of women’s religious leadership, social innovations, and transmission of existing gender relations patterns within diverse new religions in post-communist society in Lithuania. The article is based on participant observation in Pagan and Hindu-origin religious groups and interviews with women leaders of these groups. The narratives of women leading Pagan and Hindu religious groups in Lithuania reflected their agency, features of their leadership, and the basis for the construction of their religious authority. Research data showed that the women interviewed took leadership of their respective religious groups after gaining professional experience in their careers. Their agency was not permeated by feminist ideas, but instead the importance of men in their life choices was emphasized throughout their narratives. The three case studies indicate that female religious leadership in these new religions follows the tendency toward a return to patriarchal values in post-communist society in Lithuania, rather than moving towards an ideal of gender equality.

scholarly journals “Having more women humanitarian leaders will help transform the humanitarian system”: challenges and opportunities for women leaders in conflict and humanitarian health

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Preeti Patel ◽  
Kristen Meagher ◽  
Nassim El Achi ◽  
Abdulkarim Ekzayez ◽  
Richard Sullivan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Women Leaders ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
Women In Leadership ◽  
Humanitarian Emergencies ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Barriers And Opportunities

Abstract Background It is estimated that over 40% of the half a million humanitarian workers who provide frontline care during emergencies, wars and disasters, are women. Women are at the forefront of improving health for conflict-affected populations through service delivery, education and capacity strengthening, advocacy and research. Women are also disproportionately affected by conflict and humanitarian emergencies. The growing evidence base demonstrating excess female morbidity and mortality reflects the necessity of evaluating the role of women in leadership driving health research, policy and programmatic interventions in conflict-related humanitarian contexts. Despite global commitments to improving gender equality, the issue of women leaders in conflict and humanitarian health has been given little or no attention. The aim of this paper focuses on three domains: importance, barriers and opportunities for women leaders in conflict and humanitarian health. Following thematic analysis of the material collected, we discuss the following themes: barriers of women’s leadership domain at societal level, and organisational level, which is subcategorized into culture and strategy. Building on the available opportunities and initiatives and on inspirational experiences of the limited number of women leaders in this field, recommendations for empowering and supporting women’s leadership in conflict health are presented. Methods A desk-based literature review of academic and grey sources was conducted followed by thematic analysis. Results There is very limited evidence on women leaders in conflict and humanitarian health. Some data shows that women have leadership skills that help to support more inclusive solutions which are incredibly important in this sector. However, deeply imbedded discrimination against women at the organisational, cultural, social, financial and political levels is exacerbated in conflict which makes it more challenging for women to progress in such settings. Conclusion Advocating for women leaders in conflict and health in the humanitarian sector, governmental bodies, academia and the global health community is crucial to increasing effective interventions that adequately address the complexity and diversity of humanitarian crises.

The Impact of Religion and Culture on Leadership Styles of Women Policy-Makers in the Education Industry

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-26
Author(s):  
Shadiya Mohamad Saleh Baqutayan ◽  
Fauziah Raji
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Styles ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Gender Culture ◽  
Education Industry ◽  
Public And Private Sector ◽  
The Impact

This qualitative study is purposive in sampling and explored a small number of women leaders in the education industry who are policymakers of Malay Muslim origin of their experiences in leadership positions. Policymaking here involved policies at the micro-level, which related more to their institutions and organizations. The researcher examined the women's leadership styles and the factors that influenced how they lead explicitly. Likewise, the researcher focused on how gender, culture, and religion may relate to women's experiences. Basic interpretive and descriptive qualitative research methods were employed. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews. Participants interviewed included nine women leaders in the public and private sector who were either teachers/lecturers or administrators in the education industry. These women held positions within the top echelon of their organization or institution. The finding of this research indicated that gender, religion, and culture play an important role in women's leadership experiences, therefore, themes emerged around influences on the women's approaches to leadership, with particular emphasis on the role of the larger environment in impacting women's leadership behaviors. To further focus on the impact of culture and religion on women's leadership styles, the researcher conducted a focused discussion group on the second group of Malay Muslim women leaders. This group of women leaders compromised mainly of women leaders who are department and section heads but still involved in policymaking decisions albeit within their department or sections. This study can provide insight into the landscape of women‘s leadership roles and how to support these leaders.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Sébastien Billioud
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Religious Organization ◽  
New Religions

The introduction provides some background information about the Yiguandao, focusing on its historical roots, its ideology (spiritual lineages/daotong, syncretism, cosmology, millenarian eschatology), and its history across the twentieth century. The aim is to get a better understanding of what the Yiguandao has now become, that is to say, a transnational religious organization with a global footprint that currently attempts to reestablish itself in Mainland China where its expansion was strong before 1949. Mainland China, precisely, is the spiritual wilderness that the group ambitions to reclaim by promoting its Way of Heaven (Tiandao). The introduction also addresses the issue of fieldwork and more specifically participant observation and its difficulties in the context of new religions.

scholarly journals Rethinking Women’s Empowerment: Insights from the Russian Arctic

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Marya S. Rozanova ◽  
Valeriy L. Mikheev
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Numerical Representation ◽  
Russian Arctic ◽  
Political Empowerment ◽  
Study Results

This article examines women’s political empowerment in the Russian Arctic as an example of progress towards gender equality. In contrast to women’s severe underrepresentation in Russian federal politics, a strong trend towards women’s political empowerment can be observed in the Arctic regions of the country. Using the Nenets Autonomous Region as a case study, this article is aimed at narrowing the research gaps in women’s leadership by examining the representation of female deputies in both the regional and local levels of government/self-government. Research on women’s numerical representation indicates that women’s participation and political empowerment in decision-making processes are manifested most vividly in predominantly indigenous communities. Placing a special focus on these Arctic communities, this study describes the historical and institutional roots that impact shifts in traditional gender role and contribute to a phenomenon of indigenous women’s empowerment. Along with this positive pattern of women’s leadership, this study also reveals an alarming trend of “reverse gender disparity” concerning men’s severe underrepresentation in positions of power in indigenous communities of the North. The study results suggest that to achieve gender equality, a holistic approach to women’s empowerment requires taking into account socio-cultural and historical contexts, as well as regional and territorial disparities.

scholarly journals Women’s leadership and gendered experiences in tech cities

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 188-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariann Hardey
Keyword(s):  
Women Leaders ◽  
Women Professionals ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
Spatial Context ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Professional Experiences ◽  
Cultural Boundaries ◽  
Senior Women ◽  
Hidden Biases

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the findings from longitudinal study conducted with women leaders in tech cities to understand the cultural and discursive burden affecting their professional experiences and the dominant cultural boundaries they regularly have to cross to legitimise their knowledge and expertise. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on research from the Gender in Tech City project that included serial interviews with 50 senior women leaders over three years at three different tech city sites. Findings The paper illustrates the differing spatialities that women continue to face within tech culture and how terms such as “women in tech” are problematic. Research limitations/implications This study adds to the conceptualisation of tech culture and gendered constructions within a spatial context; there is a need to strengthen this path of investigation beyond gender as a lone issue. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature on spatial context, examining a new micro-context within tech culture that amplifies hidden biases and restricts the movement of women professionals.

scholarly journals A Tendency to Essentialism? Discourses about Women’s Leadership

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 130
Author(s):  
Maria Medina-Vicent
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
Professional Women ◽  
Appraisal Theory ◽  
Homo Oeconomicus ◽  
Leadership Model ◽  
Leadership Models ◽  
Management Literature ◽  
Initial Hypothesis

The main objective of this research is to identify the women’s leadership model diffused through management literature in order to determine if there is a pre-eminence of essentialist and exclusionary principles in its sense. Through the Appraisal Theory and by analyzing a recent management literature sample, the values associated with the women’s leadership model are identified, and a conclusion about their essentialist character is reached. The initial hypothesis is that the women’s leadership model, disseminated to professional women through management literature, contains an essentialist character that reproduces gender dichotomies and the rational homo oeconomicus model by hindering gender equality and the development of egalitarian leadership models from being accomplished.

scholarly journals The Contribution of the Participatory Guarantee System in the Revival of Agroecological Principles in Southern Minas Gerais, Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 4675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aloísia Rodrigues Hirata ◽  
Luiz Carlos Dias Rocha ◽  
Thiago Rodrigo de Paula Assis ◽  
Vanilde Ferreira de Souza-Esquerdo ◽  
Sonia Maria Pessoa Pereira Bergamasco
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Minas Gerais ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
Guarantee System ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Market Pressures ◽  
Stimulation Of

Market pressures generated by the demand for organic food have pushed farmers to turn away from agroecological principles, which leads to actions focused directly on the agricultural practices for production. The objective of this study was to analyze whether the methodology used by the Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) contributes to farmers’ appropriation of agroecological principles, understood here in their environmental, sociocultural, economic, and political dimensions. We analyzed the PGS-Sul de Minas, which was the first PGS founded in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil and includes 14 organizations and more than 200 families. Documentary analysis and participant observation were prioritized in data collection. The main results are the correlation between the practices used by the farmers in these organizations with the principles of agroecology. This is evident in aspects such as the encouragement of productive diversification, the construction of new marketing alternatives, the revival and use of heirloom seeds, the stimulation of women’s leadership, and places and policies that support and strengthen agroecology. The study found that the procedures adopted by the PGSs help strengthen agroecology and bring direct benefits to the farmers through revival and encouragement of agroecological principles.

Reconceptualizing Types of Religious Organization

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 4-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Bromley ◽  
J. Gordon Melton
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Religious Organization ◽  
Organizational Forms ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Relational Approach ◽  
New Religions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Religious Economies ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Over Time

One important theoretical task in the study of religion is distinguishing among the different organizational forms that religious groups assume. The most influential typology of religious organization has been based upon distinctions of church, denomination, sect, and cult. However, the various formulations of this typology have proved problematic, theoretically and empirically, and of little use to new religions scholars. We propose a relational approach to categorizing religious groups based on the social and cultural relationship of a group to established institutions (including religion). This approach yields four types of tradition groups: dominant, sectarian, alternative, and emergent. We argue that a relationally based typology is particularly useful in mapping religious economies, conducting comparative analysis, and tracking the changing status of religious groups over time.

“I Am Because We Are”

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faith Wambura Ngunjiri
Keyword(s):  
Women Leaders ◽  
Leadership Training ◽  
Community Building ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Black Feminist ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
African Context ◽  
Depth Interviews

The Problem Although there are women leading in various sectors within African societies and institutions, very little research has been done to explore and explain their experiences within their cultural, economic, social, historical, and political context. To have a deeper understanding of women’s leadership globally, there must be studies of women’s leadership within specific local contexts. The Solution This article explicates women’s leadership under the ubuntu worldview, with implications for application in contemporary organizations beyond the African context. Ubuntu reflects the African understanding of the essence of humanity. Guided by Black feminist theorizing, the study employed portraiture qualitative approach; in-depth interviews with women leaders provided illustrative quotes about spirituality, interdependence, unity, and community building. The Stakeholders The article is aimed at both leadership scholars and leadership training practitioners with a focus on the African context.

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