Women and Credit: Researching the Past, Refiguring the Future (Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Women)

Credit can be instrumental in equalizing opportunity and alleviating poverty, yet historically men and women have not had the same access. Partly because of this, women have been excluded from many previous economic histories. This book fills a significant gap in exploring the vexed relationship between the women and credit across time and space.Providing examples of credit agencies and initiatives in both the developing and developed world, Women and Credit raises important policy issues and makes valuable suggestions for reconfiguring the relationship between women and credit. It also answers questions previously ignored by scholars, yet of vital significance to women's studies and economic history. What contribution did women make to the development of industrial capitalism? How does women's access to credit vary across time and cultures? How has the development of mico-credit initiatives affected women's economic position and what role will such initiatives play in the future?This book is an invaluable resource for anyone in the fields of Women's studies, economic history, anthropology or development. Women's Economic Spheres And Credit In Pre-industrial Europe / Laurence Fontaine -- Petty Debts And Family Networks : The Credit Markets Of Widows And Wives In Eighteenth-century Amsterdam / Anne E. C. Mccants -- Lending Women, Borrowing Women : Middle-class Women, Investments And Credit In Northern France In The Nineteenth Century / Beatrice Craig -- Women And Micro-credit In History : Gender In The Irish Loan Funds / Aidan Hollis -- Stokvels And Economic Empowerment : The Case Of African Women In South Africa, C. 1930-1998 / Grietjie Verhoef -- Women, Institutional Roles And Economic Opportunity / Mary Houghton -- A Personal Perspective On The Evolution Of Micro-credit In The Late Twentieth Century / Mary Coyle -- Banking With Poor Self-employed Women / Jayshree Vyas -- Micro-credit As A Path From Welfare To Work : The Experience Of The Full Circle Project, Uk / Ruth Pearson -- Credit Options, Human Resource Development And The Sustainability Of Women's Projects : Case Study Of The 'association Of Creative Teaching - Women In Development Projects' In The South-west Province, Cameroon / Joyce Bayande Endeley -- Negotiating Financial Autonomy : Women, Income And Credit In Urban Java / Hotze Lont -- Poor Female Youth And Human Capital Development In Bangladesh : What Role For Micro-credit Programmes? / Najma R. Sharif -- Women's Empowerment Versus Sustainability? Towards A New Paradigm In Micro-finance Programmes / Linda Mayoux -- Linking Formal And Informal Financial Intermediaries In Ghana : A Way To Increase Women's Access To Financial Services? / J. Howard M. Jones And Owuraku Sakyi-dawson -- Financial Arrangements Across Borders : Women's Predominant Participation In Popular Finance, From Thilogne And Dakar To Paris. A Senegalese Case Study / Abdoulaye Kane. Edited By Beverly Lemire, Ruth Pearson And Gail Campbell. Papers Originally Presented At A Conference Held In Fredericton, New Brunswick In Sept. 1999. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Comprises 19 papers which provide examples of credit agencies and initiatives in both developed and developing countries and make suugestions for reconfiguring the relationship between women and credit