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Demodynamiques, Mason
INSTITUT NATIONAL D'ETUDES DEMOGRAPHIQUES (Paris)
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Séminaire "Démodynamiques"
Nous espérons que vous avez passé de bonnes vacances.
Le séminaire "Démodynamiques" reprend cette semaine, avec une intervention
de Karen Oppenheim Mason, présidente de la Population Association of
America.
Nous vous enverrons prochainement le programme des séances de sptembre et
octobre. Vous pouvez proposer des interventions de scientifiques de passage
en France, de collègues ou de vous même, pour cet automne (ou plus tard
dans l'année).
-------------------------prochaine séance-----------------------------------
Jeudi 18 septembre 1997, de 14 à 15 h (salle du 3e étage) :
Islam, the status of women, and reproductive behavior in five Asian countries
Karen Oppenheim Mason (*)
Jeudi 18 septembre 1997, de 14 à 15 h (salle du 3e étage)
(*)Director, Program on Population East-West Center, 1601 East-West Road,
Honolulu, Hawaii 96848-1601 USA
Email: MasonK@hawaii.edu. Tel: +(808) 944-7466 Fax: +(808) 944-7490
La présentation se fera en anglais
Résumé
The goal of the current analysis (which is still in progress) is to
understand whether there are consistent differences between Muslim and
other women across a variety of Asian settings with regard to (a) women's
autonomy and power and (b) their reproductive goals and behaviors. Also of
concern is whether differences in women's autonomy between Muslims and
other women can explain any differences in their fertility goals and
behavior. The analysis uses data from a five-country collaborative project
that collected survey interview data from married women aged 15-39 residing
in approximately 60 communities in Pakistan (Punjab state), India (Uttar
Pradesh and Tamil Nadu), Malaysia (Port Klang, Pelau Island, Carey Island,
Khota Bharu and surround Kelantanese kampongs), Thailand (national
probability sample of communities), and the Philippines (2 communities in
four rural areas, including Zamboanga, plus 2 Metro Manila neighborhoods).
In all countries except Pakistan, data were collected for both Muslim and
non-Muslim women. Interviews were conducted in 1993-94. Women were asked
more than 15 questions about their participation in important household
decisions (economic and fertility), whether they were free to visit
particular types of places without obtaining permission from the husband or
another senior family member, and the extent to which the husband used
force or intimidation to control the wife's behavior.
The analysis first examines differences in the measures of women's autonomy
between Muslim women and women of other religions. With the exception of
Hindu women in Malaysia, the non-Muslim women consistently report greater
freedom of movement than do the Muslim women. In India, however, this
difference exists only in Tamil Nadu. In Uttar Pradesh, both Muslim and
Hindu women report equally low levels of freedom of movement, a pattern
that reflects the universal practice of purdah in this part of India. With
regard to economic and fertility decision-making, consistent Muslim-other
differences do not exist. In some settings, Muslim women have less say in
decisions than other women have, but in others, they have as much or more
say. With regard to exposure to being beaten by the husband, Muslim women
are consistently less likely to be beaten than are their non-Muslim
compatriots.
We used multivariate regression-type analysis (logit regression for
dichotomous dependent variables and OLS regression for a 5-point scale of
freedom of movement) to explore the extent to which differences between
Muslim women and their non-Muslim countrywoman can be explained by
differences in household socioeconomic status, women's age at marriage (as
represented by their current age) and education, their ownership of land
and experience with paid employment, and their position in the household
vis-a-vis the head (wife versus another position) and kin relationship with
the husband (any versus none). In no case were any of these variables able
to explain the entire Muslim-non-Muslim differences in autonomy observed,
although in a few settings, differences between Muslim and other women in
their participation in paid employment was related to the differences in
freedom of movement. (Whether the freedom of movement is the effect or the
cause of paid employment is unclear, however.) Thus, the mechanisms
through which Muslim women experience lesser freedom of movement and
greater freedom from domestic violence go beyond differences in the
schooling of girls, the provision of economic opportunities to women, or
the nature of kinship in relation to the husband. We speculate that
Islamic traditions about modesty, the subordination of wives to their
husbands, and the husband's obligation to protect and cherish the wife may
indeed play a role in creating these consistent differences in female
autonomy across specific sociocultural settings.
With regard to reproductive goals and behavior, striking differences
between Muslim and other women exist in virtually all settings examined in
the project. The proportion of non-pregnant women who want no more
children is greater among non-Muslim women than among their Muslim
compatriots. Moreover, among the non-pregnant women who say they want no
more children, non-Muslims are more likely than Muslims to be using
contraception. Thus, the Muslim women in our samples behavior in a far
more pronatalist manner than do their non-Muslim counterparts. In
multivariate analysis that we are only able to illustrate briefly in this
presentation, we have found that differences in freedom of movement and
exposure to being beaten by the husband cannot explain differences between
Muslim and other women in their reproductive goals and use of
contraception. Thus, the greater pronatalism of Muslim women does not
reflect their lower levels of freedom of movement, nor their greater
protection from domestic violence. What produces these consistent
differences thus remains unclear, although it may reflect the
identification of local religious leaders with the pan-Islamic movement and
its pronatalist undertones.
L'exposé sera retransmis en direct sur internet (audio)
La discussion sera introduite par Cem Behar, professeur à l'Université du
Bosphore, chercheur invité à l'Ined.
Animateur de la séance : laurent Toulemon
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On peut trouver le programme du séminaire sur
http://sauvy.ined.fr/seminaires/demodynamiques ou le recevoir sur la liste
(listserver) demodyn@sauvy.ined.fr
L'INED est situé au 27 rue du Commandeur à Paris dans le 14e arrondissement,
à 3 minutes du métro Alésia. Tél: 01 42 18 20 00. Un texte est généralement
disponible une semaine avant l'exposé au secrétariat, tél 01 42 18 20 18.
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D'autres renseignements ainsi que les textes fournis par les intervenants
peuvent être obtenus auprès d'E. Turpault, tél : 01 42 18 20 18.
INED, 27 rue du Commandeur, 75014 Paris, métro Alésia.
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Les responsables du séminaire Démodynamiques
(http://sauvy.ined.fr/seminaires/demodynamiques)
Nicolas Brouard et Laurent Toulemon
brouard@ined.fr toulemon@ined.fr