Integrating gender and environmental issues : A case study on gender mainstreaming within the organisation of WIEGO and their waste management projects in Brazil

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Integrating gender and environmental issues

A case study on gender mainstreaming within the organisation of WIEGO and their waste management projects in Brazil

COURSE: Bachelor Thesis, 15 credits

PROGRAM: International work - Global Studies AUTHORS: Elin Niklasson, Victoria Nordell EXAMINATOR: Maarja Saar

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JÖNKÖPING UNIVERSITY

School of Education and Communication International Work Bachelor Thesis Global Studies Spring 2021 ABSTRACT ___________________________________________________________________________

Elin Niklasson & Victoria Nordell Pages: 46

Integrating gender and environmental issues

A case study on gender mainstreaming within the organisation of WIEGO and their waste management projects in Brazil

The world is facing a global waste crisis due to half of the waste produced not being collected, treated or safely disposed of. Waste not managed in a proper way causes air and water pollution and has negative health and social impacts on people living or working close to the waste. Alt-hough evidence shows that implementing gender approaches improves environmental issues, and the majority of waste pickers are women, few organisations focused on waste management are implementing gender mainstreaming into their work. This case study examines gender main-streaming within the organisation Women in Informal Employment: Globalising and Organising (WIEGO) in relation to environmental issues. WIEGO is an international organisation working to increase the voice, visibility and validity of the working poor, with a special emphasis on women, with a core project that supports cooperative waste picker women in Brazil. The study was conducted through two interviews on local and international level and the analysis of 20 documents describing WIEGO and its work. The theories and concepts of gender mainstreaming, intersectionality, Feminist Political Ecology and Environmental Justice were used to analyse the results. The study showed that WIEGO was implementing gender mainstreaming in their opera-tive work, in the policy framework and in the waste picker projects in Brazil which has resulted in physical and emotional improvements for WIEGO employees internationally and waste pick-ers in Brazil.

___________________________________________________________________________ Keywords: Waste Management, Environmental Challenges, Gender Mainstreaming, Feminist Political Ecology, FPE, Environmental Justice, Intersectionality, Women’s Empowerment, Gender Equality, Waste Pickers, Waste Picking, Recycling, Informal Sector, Brazil, WIEGO, Climate Crisis, Gender

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Mailing Address Visiting Address Telephone

School of Education Gjuterigatan 5 036-101000

and Communication Box 1026

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JÖNKÖPING UNIVERSITY Högskolan för lärande och Kommunikation

Examensarbete 15 hp Internationellt arbete – Globala studier Våren 2021 SAMMANFATTNING

___________________________________________________________________________ Elin Niklasson & Victoria Nordell Antal sidor: 46 Integrering av genus och miljöproblem

En fallstudie om gender mainstreaming inom organisationen WIEGO och deras avfallshanter-ingsprojekt i Brasilien.

Världen står inför en global avfallshanteringskris där hälften av allt avfall som produceras inte insamlas, hanteras eller kasseras på ett säkert sätt. Avfall som inte hanteras säkert skapar luft- och vattenföroreningar och har negativa hälsosamma och sociala effekter för människor som lever eller arbetar nära avfallet. Trots att forskning visar att genusperspektiv förbättrar miljö-problem, och att majoriteten av avfallshanterare är kvinnor, fokuserar få organisationer som hanterar avfall på ”gender mainstreaming” i sitt arbete. Denna fallstudie undersöker ”gender mainstreaming” i organisationen Women in Informal Employment: Globalising and Organising (WIEGO) i relation till miljöproblem. WIEGO är en internationell organisation som arbetar med att öka inflytandet, synligheten och validiteten hos fattiga arbetande, med ett särskilt fokus på kvinnor, med ett kärnprogram som stöttar kooperativ av avfallshanterande kvinnor i Brasi-lien. Studien genomfördes med två intervjuer på lokal och internationell nivå och analys av 20 dokument som beskriver WIEGO och dess arbete. Teorierna och koncepten ”gender mainstrea-ming”, intersektionalitet, Feministisk Politisk Ekologi och miljörättvisa användes för att analy-sera resultaten. Studien visar att WIEGO använder sig av ”gender mainstreaming” i sitt opera-tiva arbete, i sitt policyramverk och i avfallshanteringsprojekten i Brasilien, vilket resulterat it fysiska och emotionella förbättringar för WIEGOs internationellt anställda och för de avfalls-hanterande kvinnorna i Brasilien.

___________________________________________________________________________ Sökord: Avfallshantering, Miljöfrågor, Gender Mainstreaming, Feministisk Politisk Ekologi, FPE, Miljörättvisa, Intersektionalitet, Women’s Empowerment, Jämställdhet, Avfallshante-rare, Återvinning, Den informella sektorn, Brasilien, WIEGO, Klimatkrisen, Genus

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Postadress Besöksadress Telefon

Högskolan för lärande Gjuterigatan 5 036-101000

och kommunikation Box 1026

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Table of figures

Figure 1 ... 16

Figure 2 ... 19

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1. Introduction

The world is facing a global waste crisis due to half of the world's waste not being collected, treated or safely disposed of (Lenkiewicz, 2016). Solid waste causes air and water pollution if not handled in the correct way and contributes to climate change (UN-Habitat, n.d.). The global waste pollution has negative health impacts on both people and wildlife and is adding to climate change through the methane and CO2 released from poorly managed waste (Lenkiewicz, 2016). The majority of waste pickers in the world are women who work in unsafe and unhealthy en-vironments with little or no aid from the authorities. On top of dangerous work conditions many women waste pickers face social stigma due to having a profession considered to be unclean (Kaza, Yao, Bhada-Tata & Van Woerden, 2018). While being the ones who do a lot of the groundwork women are routinely shut out of decision-making processes, despite having a lot of local knowledge of their environment and the problems surrounding it (Dalal, 2020).

The process of promoting gender equality by including gender aspects in the centre of all main-stream policy areas is known as gender mainmain-streaming (Page, 2011). It’s been argued that der mainstreaming should be more widespread in environmental policy making, as women gen-erally experience worse environmental conditions (Buckingham, Reeves & Batchelor, 2005). Due to the connection between gender equality and climate change, waste management is an important aspect of connecting sustainable development and gender equality to reach suc-cessful outcomes for both gender equality and environmental goals, which are referred to in both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement (Huyer, 2016:3).

Although there are clear connections between gender and environmental issues, and the major-ity of waste pickers are women, few organisations working with waste management are imple-menting gender mainstreaming. Women in Informal Employment: Globalising and Organising (WIEGO) is an international organisation working to increase the voice, visibility and validity of the working poor, especially women, with a core project that supports cooperative waste picker women in Brazil. Their goal is to improve the living conditions of women waste pickers by reducing stigma, stabilizing income and raising awareness of gender inequalities (WIEGO, n.d.a.).

However, women are not a homogenous group with shared experiences, perspectives or ideals, which has to be taken into account when applying a gender perspective. This gives an

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opportunity to examine how generalization of women and feminist perspectives affect environ-mental issues (Resurrección, 2013). The organisation of WIEGO is a unique case since they are one of few organisations that have a comprehensive gender approach while working with waste management through their waste picker projects. It is therefore of high relevance to apply these aspects of gender and environment in relation to WIEGO’s policy framework, operative work and waste picker projects in Brazil.

1.1 Purpose and Research questions

The purpose of this study is to examine how the organisation Women in Informal Employment:

Globalizing and organizing (WIEGO) is mainstreaming a gender perspective in relation to

en-vironmental issues.

1. How is a gender perspective mainstreamed into WIEGO’s policy framework? 2. How is WIEGO mainstreaming gender perspectives into their operative work? 3. How is a gender perspective mainstreamed in WIEGO’s Brazilian waste picker

projects?

1.2 Delimitations

Due to the time limit, there was a need to limit the study. The waste picker project in Brazil was chosen to represent WIEGO’s waste picker projects, as it’s a project that WIEGO has worked with overtime and in a comprehensive way, which enabled the authors to look at out-comes, possible changes and gender mainstreaming in relation to environmental issues within the project. In a larger study it would be beneficial to broaden the study by looking at WIEGO’s waste picker projects in other parts of the world to be able to compare these to each other. This, however, was not feasible due to the time limit of the thesis. Due to social restrictions and time sensibility, there was no possibility to conduct a survey with the waste picker women them-selves, although that would have provided interesting and relevant data.

2. Previous Research

This chapter provides an understanding of the previous research on global waste management context in relation to environmental issues. It highlights waste management as a global issue and its connection to the Sustainable goals and the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, social im-pacts of waste management are presented. Thereafter, waste pickers and women’s role in waste

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management and environmental issues is discussed. Finally the organisation of WIEGO is pre-sented.

2.1 Waste management as a global issue

Solid waste management is a universal issue that leaves no one unaffected. 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste are generated in the world annually and at least a third of these are not managed in an environmentally safe manner (Kaza, Yao, Bhada-Tata & Van Woerden, 2018). By 2050, global waste is expected to grow to 3.40 billion tonnes, with the biggest growth being in low- and middle-income countries. The way waste is managed is affecting the environment, the livelihood and well-being of vulnerable populations, the relationships between citizens and governments, and the productivity and cleanliness of communities. Waste managed in a poor way is contaminating the oceans, clogging drains and causing flooding, spreading diseases, increasing respiratory problems, harming animals, and affecting economic development. A country’s waste management situation evolves alongside the country’s economic development (Ibid).

In high-income countries and in North America waste collection rates are near 100 percent, while in lower-middle-income countries the waste collection rates are about 51 percent, and about 39 percent in low-income countries. Uncollected waste is many times managed inde-pendently by households in low-income countries, leading to uncollected waste often being openly dumped, burned or less commonly, composted. In low- and many middle-income coun-tries, inadequate waste collection and uncontrolled dumping or burning of solid waste are re-sulting in pollution of the air, water and soil. The generation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emis-sions are emerging from waste management as a result of inadequate waste collection, uncon-trolled dumping, and burning of waste and are anticipated to increase to 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2 per year if no improvements are made within the sector. A critical step to reduce pollution, and thereby improving human health, is therefore through improvement of waste collection services.

There is a significant variation of waste disposal practices depending on income level and re-gion. About 93 percent of the waste in low-income countries is burned or dumped in roads, open land, or waterways, while these practises are almost non-existent in high-income coun-tries. There is a correlation between a nation’s economic prosperity and the use of more sus-tainable waste management methods. In low-income countries, the recycling is usually done through the informal sector and in an unorganised way (Ibid).

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2.2 Gender and environment in the Sustainable goals and the Paris

Agreement

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement are both integrating gender equality and climate change. Women have a critical role in all of the SDGs, where gen-der equality and empowerment are recognized in many targets as both the objective and part of the solution. Due to their roles in core climate change sectors, women play an important role in climate change adaptation and mitigation (Huyer, 2016). Waste management is of great im-portance in accomplishing several of the goals within the SDGs such as target 3.9 Reduce

ill-nesses and death from hazardous chemicals and pollution, 6.3 Improve water quality, wastewater treatment and safe reuse, 8.8 Protect labour rights and promote safe working en-vironments, 11.6 Reduce the environmental impact of cities, 12.4 Responsible management of chemicals and waste, 12.5 Substantially reduce waste generation, & 14.1 Reduce marine pol-lution. Due to the connection between gender equality and climate change, waste management

also relates to SDG goal 5. Gender Equality (The Global Goals for sustainable development, n.d.).

2.3 Social impacts of waste management and the informal sector

The poor living in urban areas are affected by the quality of solid waste management in critical ways. It impacts their health, housing quality, service access and livelihoods. Up to two-thirds of the solid waste in urban low-income neighbourhoods is not collected. While not properly managed solid waste management is disproportionately affecting the poor, their lives can be dramatically improved through waste management improvements (Kaza, Yao, Bhada-Tata & Van Woerden, 2018).

More than 15 million people globally earn their living in the informal waste sector. Waste pick-ers are often women, children, the eldery, the unemployed, or migrants and thereby many times consists of a vulnerable demographic. In general, waste pickers' working conditions are un-healthy and they lack social security or health insurance. Furthermore, they are subject to fluc-tuations in recyclable materials prices, have little or no educational and training opportunities, and face strong social stigma, with many being treated poorly by authorities and experiencing social exclusion. The majority of waste pickers globally are women. Although waste pickers are facing many challenges, informal recycling can create employment, improve local industrial

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competitiveness, reduce poverty, and reduce municipal spending on solid waste management and social services, when properly supported and organised. In low-income countries, 50-100 percent of waste in cities is commonly collected by waste pickers, at no cost to municipalities. Formalizing informal waste pickers could result in improved waste collection and recycling as well as improve the waste pickers quality of life (Ibid).

Waste pickers' engagement with the recycling value chain is through collecting materials and selling them to middlemen, which in turn clean and aggregate materials for industry distribu-tion. The gain of formal recognition results in informal workers gaining job stability and acknowledgement for their work. Being a cooperative member rather than working inde-pendently has several benefits such as higher standard of living and improved self-esteem and self-reliance as well they allow waste pickers to gain social recognition (Ibid).

2.4 Women as agents of change

One of the most common themes in previous research regarding waste picker women is the notion that women involving themselves in local environmental issues both is the key to solving the problem and a way for the women to empower themselves (Hanson, 2016, Dalal, 2020, del Mar Alonso Almeida, 2012, Asteria, 2019, Wittmer, 2021, Bonatti, 2015). The experience and knowledge that women have gained from their interactions with the environment and its role in the community is the reason for the different reference points for men and women (Asteria, 2019). Due to traditional gender roles women’s day-to-day activities to run a household are closely integrated with their environment. This integration has led to women having insights in their local environment that tend to be overlooked when implementing clean-up projects or policies, which means that a central aspect of the issue is ignored (Dalal, 2020). Local power dynamics and gender norms are often simplified by governmental institutions and their envi-ronmental interventions tend to be focused on problems related to men and their income (Han-son, 2016). As a result, women tend to be left out in the decision-making process, policies and implementation of clean-up projects (Dalal, 2020, Hanson, 2016). When such a central aspect is left out the chances of success are largely reduced, leading to failed interventions and projects both from governmental agencies and non-profit organisations (Dalal, 2020).

Waste picking has become an important asset for women in low-income countries, both in rural and urban areas (Hanson, 2016). Projects that are driven by women are based on women’s experiences in interacting with the environment in everyday life and connecting the daily tasks

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to conservation work contributes both to strengthen society and the women’s personal life (As-teria, 2019). The influence of women can have a positive role in promoting practices designed to protect the environment and help increase the wealth of the local community if they are allowed to be “agents of change rather than [...] passive vessels of development assistance” (del Mar Alonso-Almedia 2012:350). Local waste picking cooperatives run by women can function as a driver of gendered social change and a way to contest normative gender roles, as they through their work challenge normative gender roles and shift the focus towards solutions that both increase their own influence and the welfare of the local society. As the women use their knowledge and experience of consumption and conservation, and how it affects them and their surroundings, they are able to position themselves as local professionals who understand the effects of different propositions and interventions (Hanson, 2016).

Women’s knowledge in local environmental conditions have in some cases led to a significantly better result than governmental and non-profit organisations’ waste management projects, and brought up new perspectives in struggles against toxic waste disposal practices (Bonatti, 2015, Dalal, 2020). If allowed to voice their opinions and the problems they face in their everyday lives, women tend to be able to combine aspects of traditional knowledge and beliefs into the solutions in a way that people lacking similar experiences often miss, proving that women’s local knowledge is a resource that should be taken advantage of in the struggle for greater sus-tainability (Dalal, 2020). The inclusion of women is vital in achieving sustainable development in local communities (Asteria, 2019).

2.5 Women as victims of waste management issues

Women are more likely to bear the heaviest weight of waste management issues as “basic” tasks are relegated to women on top of managing the household chores. According to previous research, men in Malang, Java, had a frame of thought that work related to cleanliness was the women’s responsibility. Women were in charge of all aspects of the waste management and household chores, and thus were also the ones who viewed waste management to be the most important. This provided opportunities for women to empower themselves through waste man-agement programs, but they were also hindered since they lacked support (Malik, Cantika Yuli & Suliswanto, 2018).

Another aspect is the dangers or harmful effects of gender inequality in waste management. Buckingham, Reeves & Batchelor (2005) argues that gender mainstreaming should be more

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widespread in environmental policy making, as women generally experience worse environ-mental conditions for several reasons; they are more likely to be poor than men, and conserva-tive gender roles of being a caretaker of family and home bring them into daily contact with pesticides and are more vulnerable to dangerous substances due to safe exposure quantities being calculated after mens’ bodies. This makes the inclusion of women in policy decision making important to women’s and society’s health.

Bonatti (2018) discusses a similar phenomenon in Italy where poor immigrant women due to both gender inequalities and xenophilia are pushed to take a heavier load of burdening recycling work for their employees. This puts the women at risk due to street harassment, late work hours and humiliation of being forced to carry out “dirtier” tasks. Bonatti (2018) connects these prac-tises to widespread gender inequalities in environmental governance.

Gender roles are the reason local women in many cases have more insight into local environ-mental issues than others (Dalal, 2020). However, gender roles also pose challenges and are found to be the main threat against effective environmental work. There are cases where work tasks divided by gender norms and notions of traditional labour roles hinder or prevent progress both in the environmental aspects and regarding the women’s social statuses. The contrasts between the women on one hand being able to provide for themselves through waste manage-ment work and at the same time being forced into stereotypical “women’s work” creates a dif-ficult situation where women have more practical knowledge about the environment than the men, and the organisation would benefit from having more female leaders, but the results are stagnant due to women’s lack of influence (Foster, Dixey, Oberlin & Nkhama, 2012).

2.6 Oversimplification of women’s roles in environmental work

Resurrección (2013) argues that there is an oversimplification of women and environmental issues that put the burden of environmental care on women and not enough focus on what men can provide. This has influenced development policies and intervention programs globally. Women are simultaneously being pointed out as climate change’s greatest victims and powerful agents of change, which is problematic as these simplifications miss a lot of important aspects. Resurrección (2013) warns about the dangers of oversimplifying the gendered aspects of cli-mate and environmental programs. Over time the view that the environment is better understood by women, as might be the response to the overview of previous research, has manifested and been used as a strategic entry point for feminist advocacy. While there are clear gender

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differences to the impacts of climate change, and waste management problems, Resurrección states that it may be more useful to address the drivers of gendered vulnerability rather than focus blindly on women’s participation in these projects. There is no one-size-fits-all solution and reducing women to environmental caretakers could be harmful in the long run. Resurreción (2013) discusses the risks of generalizing women’s positions and abilities in regard to environ-mental issues, as they are not a homogenous group with the same experiences, perspectives or ideals. Few other studies include this point of view, meaning that there is opportunity to reflect and research how generalization of women and feminist perspectives affect not only waste management but other forms of environmental projects as well. There is therefore a high rele-vance of applying this aspect not only as a general theory but to study it in relation to specific case studies, policy making and organisational strategies.

2.7 The organisation of WIEGO

Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organising is a global network aiming at empowering the working poor, and women in particular, in the informal sector and aiding them in securing their livelihoods. Their slogan is “We believe all workers should have equal

eco-nomic opportunities, rights, protection and voice”, and their key focus is to build networks and

capacity amongst informal worker organisations, promote statistics on informal workers, and influence policies at local, national and international levels (WIEGO, n.d.a).

The network was founded in 1997 by 10 specialists on the informal economy. This group con-sisted of practitioners, scholars, statisticians, and policymakers from Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), Harvard University, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the World bank among others. The founders were of the opinion that official statistics and mainstream policy makers did not properly value or comprehend the efforts of informal workers, and women workers in particular, in national economies, leading to not enough interest in how economic policies affect women. Today WIEGO is based in Manchester and has 34 institutional members consisting of organisations and networks of informal workers from 26 countries, as well as partners and activities in 70 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, and North- and South America.

The Gender and Waste Projects was launched in 2008 and has been focused on countries in Latin America. It was created with the goal of bringing gender approaches into the core

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discussion amongst waste pickers, and to enable women waste pickers with tools to challenge gender inequalities in their homes, at work and within the waste picker community. WIEGO helped co-organise the first World Conference of Waste Pickers in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2008 in order to strengthen ties between informal waste pickers in different countries, which led to the creation of the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers during the UN Climate Conference in 2009. A previous waste picker project in Bogotá led to the implementation of a payment scheme that ensured that waste pickers were paid for reclaiming recyclable materials in 2013. Their aim is to involve women in all phases and to work towards equality in the workplace, the women’s personal lives and in the organisations (WIEGO, n.d.b. & Respondent A).

3. Analytical Framework

In order to answer the research questions of the study it is relevant to present concepts that are foundational for the research. These have been used in order to interpret the empirical data and in the analysis of the data. Due to the different ways gender, race, colour, and income affect the vulnerability of environmental issues it is of great interest to apply environmental justice con-cepts, as well as gender mainstreaming, intersectionality and Feminist Political Ecology to the ways in which WIEGO are working with waste management projects. These theories are all connected to each other and create a full-circle narrative that combines gender, environment, and vulnerability which complete each other with their different perspectives.

3.1 Gender mainstreaming

The process of promoting gender equality by including gender aspects in the centre of all main-stream policy areas is known as gender mainmain-streaming. The underlying idea is that by making gendered perspectives of assumptions, processes and outcomes visible they may be addressed. Gender mainstreaming is generally focused on removing systematic inequality by providing conceptual and practical frameworks.

Gender mainstreaming has been embraced internationally as a strategy towards realising gender equality. It involves the integration of a gender perspective into the preparation, design, imple-mentation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, regulatory measures and spending pro-grammes, with a view to promoting equality between women and men, and combating discrim-ination. (UN women, n.d.).

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Activists for gender mainstreaming advocate for stronger gender legislation to combat inequal-ity (Page, 2011). The principle is that lawmakers need to take differences between the condi-tions, situations and needs of women and men into account when designing policies and actions (European Institute for Gender Equality, 2016). Through research, activism and governmental work gender perspectives are becoming more common in European politics and institutions, with the goal of gender equality being incorporated into all relevant aspects of policy making (Zalewski, 2010).

3.2 Women’s empowerment

Empowering women is a term that frequently rises when discussing gender aspects. In short it can be described as improving the ability of women to gain access to elements of development; health, education, rights, political participation, and income opportunities. There has been es-tablished a connection between women’s empowerment and economic development, where one goal furthers the other. This has led to law- and policymakers taking on the position that if poverty is reduced gender equality will rise, meaning that they do not put a focus on gender aspects. However, the World Bank and United Nations view women’s empowerment as neces-sary in order to combat poverty, as studies has shown that discrimination against women might hinder economic development. Reversely, women’s empowerment can accelerate development (Duflo, 2012).

3.3 Feminist Political Ecology

Feminist political ecology (FPE) is an analytic framework that brings feminist theory, objec-tives, and practices to political ecology. It’s taking the gendered difference in the impacts of climate change and the capacities to adapt to these into account (Sundberg, 2015). According to FPE, political economy and ecological issues must be understood and analysed in relation to each other. FPE sees gender as a crucial variable in constituting access to, control over and knowledge of natural resources in relation to class, race and other dimensions of political eco-logical life (Sundberg, 2015). It reveals the connection between resource struggles, and their consequences, and gender (Braun & Traore, 2015). FPE is articulating a gendered interest in resources and ecological processes that are rooted in material reality and division of labour (Dalal, 2020). FPE is focusing on analysing the historical, cross-cultural and material connec-tions between gendered knowledge, labour divisions, power relaconnec-tions, and everyday practices

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and is relating these to certain environments and to socio-environmental change (Hanson, 2016). Questions regarding how ecological knowledge is constituted and who counts as an en-vironmental actor in political ecologies are raised. The gendered differences in resource man-agement and land use practices are neglected and the potentially devastating consequences it has on women (Sundberg, 2015). FPE is also an intersectional approach, bringing attention to the intersection between human-environment relations and various social relationships such as class, ethnicity and gender (Braun & Traore, 2015). Gender is seen in relation to class, race and other relevant dimensions of political life as a crucial variable in shaping environmental rela-tions in FPE. The production of inequality through the neglect of women's environmental en-gagements, knowledge, and activism is identified in FPE. FPE view and engagement of women as political actors, agents of environmental change and bearers and producers of environmental knowledge has revolutionized research within political ecology. These relations are instead cre-ated through geographically contingent and power-laden practices (Sundberg, 2015).

3.4 Environmental Justice

When environmental and social issues are combined environmental justice is often a part of the policy framework. Environmental justice is focused on the fact that minority and low-income populations are more exposed to environmental damage (Buckingham, Reeves & Batchelor, 2005). Environmental justice activists consist of mainly women and people of colour (Stein, 2004:66).

According to Buckingham, Reeves and Batchelor (2005) the interest for inequalities of envi-ronmental exposure have grown, but the concept of envienvi-ronmental justice is still undeveloped and could provide interesting perspectives on the subject of gender equality, as the focus has been on environmental inequality due to poverty and race. There is evidence showing that mi-nority and low-income populations are more vulnerable to environmental damage, but the gen-dered perspective has been lacking in environmental justice contexts, both academically and practically. Women are more likely to be affected by environmental issues due to several rea-sons; they are more likely to be poor, have less political influence and their social roles bring them closer to damaging substances in cleaning- and food conservation products. Buckingham, Reeves and Batchelor (2005) argue that environmental justice is a women’s issue because pov-erty, income distribution and political power are gendered. Buckingham, Reeves and Batchelor (2005) states that gender should be a main focus for environmental justice as women in many

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cases are worsley and differently affected by waste management issues than men, and having a gendered approach is a part of the solution to the problem.

Women and people of colour view their at times alarming exposure to pollution as related to other forms of discrimination (Stein, 2004:67). Risk assessment provides a useful setting for examining the relationship between feminist theory and environmental justice and therefore plays an essential role in environmental protection. Environmental pollution and other environ-mentally connected issues affect people differently, and the likelihood of suffering the conse-quences of these are significantly greater for members of some groups, for example women and minority populations (Stein, 2004:69-70). Women and people of colour are more vulnerable to environmental threats. People of colour are more likely to live close to hazardous waste sites, to breathe dirty air in urban communities, and to be exposed to environmental harm in other ways. Due to their traditional role as primary caretakers, women are more likely to be the vul-nerabilities of their children which increase women’s fear about environmental related risks (Stein, 2004:73).

3.5 Intersectionality

Intersectionality aims to highlight specific situations of oppression created at intersections of power relations based on race, gender and class. An important starting point for inspectional analysis is that people’s experiences, identities and opportunities are given based on several different positions in society that can only be understood in relation to each other. Thus, women are never “just” women, since gender relations aren’t sufficient to explain how inequality arises and the way in which power is exercised. The same applies to class, ethnicity and sexuality. The exercise of power is based on correlated relationships of oppression that are both socially constructed and is expressed differently depending on the context. It is therefore not possible to define in advance which relationships are most important and which are of secondary im-portance. Such a perspective can be viewed as an epistemological positioning regarding the difficulties of developing analyses of power based on fixed, homogeneous and hierarchically ordered categories. An intersectional perspective opens up the possibility of dissolving the boundaries between different social categories such as gender, ethnicity, race, sexuality and class by dismissing the assumption that there are several power structures that are independent of each other. It focuses on how the social categories constitute, intervene and transform each other (de los Reyes & Mulinari 2005).

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4. Methodology

This section provides information regarding the research process of the study. In order to an-swer the research questions, the study was conducted through a case study combining two dif-ferent methods to collect data: two interviews and the analysis of 20 documents. In this chapter the research design (4.1) is described, followed by a description of the data collection, the pro-cessing of data, and the analysis of data (4.2, 4.3 & 4.4). Finally, delimitations of the thesis, ethical considerations, validity and reliability and the role of the authors during the working process is discussed (4.5 & 4.6). Lastly a critical discussion on the collection of data is pre-sented (4.7).

4.1 Research strategy and design

The study was conducted as a case study which is a useful method in studies aiming to contrib-ute to the overall knowledge of organisational phenomena (Yin, 2007) which is in line with the purpose of the study. Furthermore, it enables several methods, such as interviews and literature reviews, to be used during the collection of data (Yin, 2007) which was necessary in order to answer the research questions of the study. Even though WIEGO has an extensive virtual library with a lot of research presented, they are first and foremost a women’s organisation with a lot of different projects and approaches in all parts of the world, resulting in the information in the documents being quite broad. The interviews served to fill in gaps of more specific information regarding the local projects in Brazil and to bring out a more reflective approach from the peo-ple who are working with these issues on a daily basis.

According to Yin (2007) there are four different cases suitable to examine in a case study: a critical, unique, revealing or a typical case. The organisation WIEGO makes a unique case since they are one of few organisations that have a comprehensive gender approach while working with waste management through their waste picker projects.

The study aimed to examine three aspects: how WIEGO is implementing gender mainstreaming into the different analytical units of their policy framework, operative work and project imple-mentation in relation to environmental issues. The case was therefore divided into three units of analysis: WIEGO’s operative work, policy framework and project implementation. These were studied through the use of two methods: interviews and literature review.

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4.2 Semi-structured interviews

After an initial email correspondence and video-chat with a representative from WIEGO, two employees were contacted for semi-structured interviews. These were contacted via email providing a brief overview of the aim and subject of the thesis. A semi-structured interview guide was created connecting to the research questions and the theoretical framework (see Ap-pendix II – interview guide I). Respondent A - Mike Bird - is the operational director of WIEGO and is based in the headquarters, and thus has a wide overview of WIEGO as a whole, as well as a lot of knowledge of the organisational structure. Respondent B - Ana Carolina Ogando - is a research associate with experience working with the waste picker projects in Brazil. As these respondents have different experience of working with WIEGO they bring different aspects both from a local and international perspective. These respondents have a conclusive knowledge of WIEGO as an organisation and the local work in Brazil, which provides im-portant knowledge to fill the gaps that the documents could not fill.

The advantages of using a semi-structured interview method are many, as it allows both the interviewer and participant to be flexible and allows space for individual responses within a structured frame. The nature of the interview ensures that the interviewer is able to improvise follow-up questions based on the responses and expressions. Both participants were encouraged to speak freely about their experiences within the main themes, with follow-up questions asked in order to concretise the themes and direct the conversation towards the aspects of interest to the study (Kallio, Pietilä, Johnson & Kangasniemi, 2016). Semi-structured interviews generated the possibility to dig deeper into the proceedings, projects and policies of the organisations, and to get the representatives' thoughts on pros and cons of different implementations and ap-proaches (Kallio, Pietilä, Johnson & Kangasniemi, 2016). Before executing the interviews, a pilot test was conducted in order to test the interview guide. The reason for this was to evaluate the coverage and relevance of the questions, giving an opportunity to revise and adjust the questions if necessary. The method of the pilot test was internal testing, meaning that the au-thors of this thesis carried out the testing themselves on each other while one posed as a partic-ipant. While not as conclusive as if the pilot test would have included actual organisations, the value of an internal test is to gain insight in how the questions are experienced, if there are any sensitive issues and if the formulation of the questions are clear and not leading. Due to the time sensitivity of the thesis, an internal test was the best option (Kallio, Pietilä, Johnson & Kangasniemi, 2016).

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The interviews were conducted through video-calls due to the different geographic locations of the participants and the authors and the restrictions in connection to the COVID-19 pandemic. The interviews were recorded and transcripted with the permission of the participants. After reviewing the data collected during the initial interviews a second semi-structured interview was conducted with Ogando focusing on WIEGO’s gender mainstreaming in regard to envi-ronmental issues due to her knowledge of the effects of the local projects (see Appendix III - Interview II). Bird chose to decline participating in the second interview and referred to Ogando due to her specialised knowledge. The second interview was recorded and transcripted with the permission of the participant.

4.3 Documents

Through email contacts with representatives from WIEGO and through WIEGO’s website, the authors were given access to different documents and webpages valuable for the study. These documents consisted of WIEGO’s stance on gender and women’s economic empowerment, policies, toolkits, project description and information about WIEGO’s organisation and pro-jects. These documents were relevant for the purpose and research questions of the study (see Appendix 1 - Overview of the research design).

The documents were analysed through an ethnographic content analysis (ECA), as it is a useful method for finding patterns regarding different topics. ECA is based on qualitative data collec-tion and analysis, and allowed the authors to have an early focus of comparison and ongoing analysis in order to quickly find patterns, emphases and themes (see 4.4 Analysis of data) in the material. It is a reflexive and interactive technique where the aim is to be systematic but not rigid. While some categories and variables that guided the analysis were initial, others arose through the constant comparison of different situations, settings, meanings and nuances. It is therefore a method of constant discovery and change of categories is not only allowed but ex-pected. The data itself creates the categories and variables, rather than them being created be-forehand (Altheide & Schneider, 2017). The documents are designated as A-T in order to sim-plify the presentation of results. The entirety of titles, authors and relevance of the research questions are presented in Appendix I - Overview of the research design.

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4.4 Analysis of data

The processing and analysis of the material was done in an inductive and deductive way as qualitative research cannot be limited to only one of these two. The authors continually switched from focusing on developing themes from the starting point in the data material (Hjerm, Lindgren & Nilsson, 2018). The documents were primarily chosen based on their rel-evance to the study. The first and obvious criteria was that they processed information about informal workers, and the content used was then narrowed down to relate specifically to waste pickers. The chosen material was divided into five categories, some of which were later divided into subcategories:

Cate-gory

Roles of men and women within WIEGO Gender poli-cies Implementation of gen-der perspectives Effects of gender perspectives Environmental aspects

Subcate-gory - Gender ine-qualities

Empower-ment

Within the organisation Within the projects

On waste pickers Effects on

employ-ees

-

Figure 1

These categories make out the central aspects of the data presented in chapter 5 Results. The categories were then analysed in relation to the themes presented in chapter 3 Analytical Frame-work, which considered gender mainstreaming intersectionality, environmental justice and feminist political ecology (Hjerm, Lindgren & Nilsson, 2018). The analysis focused on reflect-ing on how WIEGO’s structure and work connected to the themes outlined in previous research.

4.5 Ethical considerations

The study applied the Swedish Research Councils recommendations on good research practice throughout the entirety of the study to ensure that the research conducted did not cause any harm to the participants. Four foundational ethical principles regarding the processing of mate-rials have been taken into consideration: the information requirement, the consent requirement, the confidentiality requirement and the purposeful use of the material (Vetenskapsrådet, n.d.). Through written and verbal communication, the respondents were informed of the terms of the study and how the material was to be used. After being given information about the study, the two respondents consented to participate in the study through interviews. Since the purpose of the study was to study the gender mainstreaming of WIEGO, the two respondents gave the authors their consent to use their names, titles and location in the study.

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4.6 Validity and reliability

One of the ways in which the validity and reliability of the study is increased is through using several sources of information in the data collection to triangulate the result. The study acquires methodological triangulation since it’s conducted through both interviews and text analysis. In order to achieve a triangular result, several sources must answer the same research question (Yin, 2007). A guide of which documents and interviews that was used to answer which re-search question can be found in Appendix I - Overview of the rere-search guide.

To strengthen the credibility of the study, it’s important to be transparent about the authors’ relationship to the organisation studied. None of the authors had previous knowledge of WIEGO or had any contact with WIEGO employees before the study was conducted. It is rather impossible for researchers to consider themselves completely objective in relation to their research. This since researcher’s values cannot be fully controlled and may be reflected and influencing everything, from the choice of research area to the analysis and interpretation of data which can disrupt the research process. It is therefore of great importance for the researcher to constantly reflect on their role in their research and that they are transparent to the readers of the study (Bryman, 2011).

In the presentation of results of the study, the authors have chosen to interpret and compile data that was relevant in order to answer the research questions. This approach entails the risk of reflecting the authors’ subjective interpretations but was chosen to summarize larger parts of the data collected and present how different sources complement each other. However, quota-tions were used with the purpose of clarifying and reinforcing the results of the interviews and the documents reviewed.

4.7 Critical discussion regarding the collection of data

The data in the thesis was as mentioned collected through the review of 14? WIEGO documents and two interviews with WIEGO employees. Although the publication date and authors in the different documents reviewed in the thesis varied, and the results found in the different docu-ments and in the two interviews were compatible, it is important to note and reflect on the possible underlying motives behind the results presented in the WIEGO documents and inter-views. As the thesis examined the gender mainstreaming within WIEGO in connection to

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environmental issues and WIEGO is stating themselves as focusing on empowering the work-ing poor, especially women, as well as them havwork-ing a waste picker project relatwork-ing to environ-mental issues, it’s not possible to exclude the fact that WIEGO might have a conscious or sub-conscious interest in the way they present themselves and that this might have affected the respondents and WIEGO’s research. The thesis is built on the research and information pro-vided by WIEGO, which limits the authors of the thesis from verifying the accuracy and relia-bility of the information and the research found. This is problematic and the authors are aware that it might be in the interest of WIEGO to present themselves and their work in a better light. However, results found WIEGO’s research and in interviews is coherent with previous research and established theories presented in the thesis. Furthermore, the result presented in the thesis may have looked different if the authors included interviews with the women affected by the waste picker project.

5. Results

This chapter addresses the gender mainstreaming within WIEGO in relation to environmental issues. 5.1 examines the gender divisions within WIEGO in order to provide an overview of the organisation’s gender structure. 5.2 explains gender mainstreaming within WIEGO’s doc-ument and policies and thus answers research question one. 5.3 focuses on the implementations of the gender policies. Additionally, 5.4 presents the effects of the gender implementations in WIEGO. Finally, WIEGO’s waste picking work and the connections between gender and en-vironmental issues is explained in 5.5. This chapter is based on information provided by WIEGO and is an exposition of their work and organisation based on the research questions.

5.1 The roles of women and men within WIEGO

Although Wiego doesn’t have an outspoken gender policy in terms of employment they state a preference for women when posting job advertisements. WIEGO was not founded out of a feminist perspective but has established the focus on women due to the data on informal work-ers’ living situations. Women are massively overrepresented among the poorest and informal workers, and thus WIEGO has chosen to have a preference for women. This does not mean that men are excluded from the work, both in the organisation and in the projects, as there are a lot of men working informally as well. However, WIEGO believes that it is important to not only include women but to let them have a central role. Respondent A doesn’t think it’s an accident that most of the applicants are women due to the organisation’s name. “It’s hard to imagine

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having an organisation called “Women in Informal Employment” with a man in charge”, he stated. There have been two leaders since WIEGO was founded, and both of them have been women. Out of the ten board members in charge of WIEGO eight are women, and that number has been approximately the same for the past ten years. One out of five program directors are a man and the rest women, and there are seven-eight men in the group of 68 team members (Re-spondent A). This is visualised in Fig. 2.

Figure 2

WIEGO puts a special emphasis on the roles and status of women workers but does not want that focus to be on the exclusion of men. Most programmes and projects are targeted towards both men and women within the informal economy, despite women being the predominating group within the areas that WIEGO functions in. Domestic workers, home-based workers, street vendors and waste pickers are the basis of the informal economy and the sectors of focus for WIEGO. These sectors are numerically dominated by women, and so workers’ associations who are operating within these fields and work with empowering women and women leaders are the ones who WIEGO is interested to work with (Document A). Understanding how laws, social protection programs and urban policies affect men and women differently and how to address it is a key aspect in the six core programs (Document G).

5.2 Gender mainstreaming in WIEGO’s policy framework

This section regards research question 1 and is divided into two parts; gender inequalities that WIEGO have identified as being of importance for waste picker women, and by extension

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WIEGO’s waste picker programs, to address, and WIEGO’s definition of women’s empower-ment where their reflections on gender equality are presented.

5.2.1 Gender inequalities concerning women waste pickers

Gender aspects and approaches can be found in many of WIEGO’s documents. WIEGO states that they “seek to support the working poor, especially women, in the informal economy” (Doc-ument A, p. 1). This is due to the fact that the majority of workers in developing countries are working within the informal economy. Furthermore, there’s a higher percentage of women working in the informal economy compared to men (ibid). There is also a marked gender gap in opportunities, earnings and resources within the informal economy. Although WIEGO is called Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing this does not exclude men in their work. Rather, WIEGO focuses on all working poor in the informal sector, both men and women in most of their programs and activities. However, WIEGO places a special emphasis on women workers' roles and statuses. WIEGO aims to support the working poor within the informal economy, with a special emphasis on working poor womens’ roles, needs, constraints, and opportunities (Document K).

Women have typically less access to property compared to men, greater social demands on their time are faced by women compared to men, and women are confronting greater social con-straints compared to men on their physical mobility. Poor women are also more likely to be self-employed than wage employed, and thus more likely to be unpaid and to work from home (Document K). The gendered segregation of productive and reproductive activities is one of the main reasons for inequalities (Document H). WIEGO presents three identities which they pre-sent as the main factors of discrimination. The first identity is the one as workers, due to their often informal status. The second identity is the women’s identity as members of poor or dis-advantaged households and communities. The last identity is their identity as women. All these sources of discrimination and they way in which they reinforce each other must, according to WIEGO, be considered when analysing and addressing discrimination against working poor women (Document K). WIEGO is also discussing the asymmetrical power relations at a house-hold level, where they claim that women's traditional role as responsible for the children and the domestic chores limit their time and energy that otherwise could be put into leadership opportunities and into participating politically. “Besides the unequal division of domestic la-bour, women are often subjected to sexual exploitation and violence within the private sphere”

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(Document H, p. 12). It’s contended by WIEGO that the almost universal responsibilities of women as providers of unpaid domestic tasks and family care is a key reason for their lower participation rates in the paid labour force and for their lower pay (Document K). Gender dif-ferences also result in women having lower education, not the same social capital, lack of mo-bility, more physical problems connected to occupational health hazards, and restricted access to property compared to men (Document H).

Informal work is defined by being unregulated and not fully understood by the authorities. As 61% of the world's work is informal WIEGO believes it to be vital to understand the effects of it, the reality of people who choose to or are forced to work informally and to have policies regulating how to deal with and help informal workers (Respondent A). There are structural barriers that prevent women informal workers from becoming a part of the formal economy, and the first step in changing that is for women workers to be organised, legally recognized and officially represented in policymaking and rule-setting processes (Document A). Waste pickers are facing several challenges connected to the handling of waste. Although waste pickers may bring environmental and economic benefits to a city, this is not always recognised by their surroundings (Document H). There is a constant threat of violence towards all waste pickers that have risen from decades of civil war and unrest in Brazil, making the lives of waste pickers dangerous (Respondent A).

On a daily basis, women waste pickers are confronting numerous obstacles. Gender inequalities are demonstrated in the workplace through structures of exploitation and marginalization. These structures also cut across race and class lines and can result in a lack of authority and recognition. Women waste pickers experience forms of oppression at their workplace in at least three different ways (Document H). Firstly, despite 55% of the Brazilian waste pickers em-ployed by associations or cooperatives are women they are systematically denied access to the recyclables of highest value, and men waste pickers in all age groups earn more than women (Document E). There are also trends of activities in accordance with a sexual division of labour where more women are involved in the sorting processes, while materials on the streets or at large generators are usually picked up by men. Secondly, it is of importance to recognise that both women and men are exposed to several health risks through their work with waste mate-rials. Some women also face the risk of sexual harassment when they attempt to negotiate and acquire materials. Finally, positions of authority may not be occupied by women or they may not be respected fully when holding those positions. “Despite the increased attention given to

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studies on waste picking and solid waste management, there is still a lack of understanding on the gender dynamics and sexual division of labour involved in waste picking activities.” (Doc-ument H, p.1).

It is therefore important to have a gendered and feminist approach in order to shed light on the following aspects: the multiple dimensions of subordination that women face both at home and at work, threats and opportunities that men and women experience in their jobs, and how the social division of labour and differentiation of job positions manifests through gender divisions. There is also a lack of research on how the marginalization of, especially women, waste pickers affect the access to economic independence. WIEGO concludes that gender stereotypes often are used as a way of discouraging women’s participation, and that the higher you go in the hierarchy the more common this notion is (Document I). WIEGO themselves visualise this with the pyramid in Fig. 3 (Document K). Women informal workers are at the base of the informal worker pyramid. They many times have much lower earnings compared to their male counter-parts and are facing greater inequalities and vulnerabilities. The unequal gender division of resources and power have negative consequences on the environment, meanwhile capacity building courses and the access to information can create the opportunity of women waste pick-ers to involve in discussion that directly affect their lives and the environment (Respondent B).

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Figure 3

5.2.2 WIEGO’s definition of empowerment

WIEGO seeks to provide women waste pickers with the tools needed in order to enhance their role as economic and political actors through a deeper understanding of the gender dynamics involved in waste picking. Although a gender perspective looks at how traditional gender roles for both men and women inform the dynamic of social interactions, it’s problematic to see “women” as a homogenous group. Since other identities than gender also influence the ways in which women experience oppression in society such as race, class, sexuality, and age, amongst others, it’s important to have an intersectionality understanding of the intertwined dimensions of power relations. The intersectional approach is important in understanding how “women’s locations within various structures have different meanings and political implications depend-ing on the local and socio-historical context.” (Document H, p. 6). WIEGO promotes a nested analysis of three interacting variables in all of its work: poverty or class, employment status and gender (Document K). Although there are clear connections between being a woman and facing disadvantages, WIEGO states that they need to integrate the gender analysis with an analysis of other relationships and sources of disadvantage in order to fully understand the re-lationship between women’s employment and their poverty status. “Class, religion, race/eth-nicity, and geography all intersect with gender to position many (but not all) women in

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vulnerable informal forms of work.” (Document K, p. 16). Globally certain communities of people are over-represented among the poor, in particular religious, racial, or ethnic minorities and rural communities. Women living in these communities are even further disadvantaged due to the fact that they are women (Document K).

WIEGO states that for them “[...] empowerment refers to the process of change that gives work-ing poor women - as individual workers and as members of worker organisations - the ability to access the resources they need while also gaining the ability to influence the wider policy, regulatory, and institutional environment.” (Document H, p. vii). According to WIEGO, it is crucial to strive for women’s empowerment on all levels (economic, symbolic, and political) in order to ensure mutual respect and improve female and male waste pickers’ lives. “Ultimately, ‘women’s economic empowerment initiatives need to engage directly in reducing the dispro-portionate share of domestic and care-related work carried out by women, which prevents their effective engagement in paid work’” (Document H, p.11). Women’s economic empowerment consisting of the dimensions: resources, agency, and achievement, are critical to working poor women’s wellbeing, dignity, and livelihood opportunities (Document K).

In WIEGO’s gender analysis they ask following: where women and men are situated within the workforce, where women and men are situated within specific sectors and employment statuses in informal employment, what consequences there are for women and men due to the gender segmentation within the workforce, both in the informal employment as a whole but also in specific sectors and employment statuses, what disadvantages or constraints that specific pop-ulation group face due to their class, race, ethnicity or caste within these various categories and types of work, and what specific disadvantages or constraint are faced by women due to gender norms and relationships and age-gender dynamics within these various categories, types of work or within the household (Document K). The most important reason given in the document for why gender approaches are needed in recycling (according to WIEGO) is that WIEGO has been asked to help women leaders in Latin America to address gender issues as it is an invisible issue at their national movements. Three goals for what WIEGO aims to do is set up: to provide the tools needed for women in order to work towards equality in the workplace as well as their personal lives to strengthen their capacities and voices, to increase the leadership roles of women within their organisations, and to “contribute to the economic, political and symbolic empowerment of women waste pickers.” (Document B p. 6).

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5.3 Implementation of gender policies in WIEGO and the waste picker

projects

This section presents gender mainstreaming within WIEGO’s organisation, operative work and in their waste picker projects in Brazil (research question 2 & 3). In 5.3.1 WIEGO’s six core programs are presented and in 5.3.2 important aspects of gender implementations in WIEGO’s projects are outlined.

5.3.1 Gender mainstreaming in WIEGO’s organisation

The priority of WIEGO is to be a part in removing institutional policy barriers that prevent people, with a special focus on women, in informal work from being included in the legal econ-omy and to advocate for inclusive trade policies that can further this process. WIEGO has, as previously mentioned, six core programs with different focuses on the informal economy. While the Urban Policies Program with the Gender and Waste projects is the focus of this thesis, it is important to understand how the different programs implement gender mainstreaming and are connected to each other.

· The Urban Policies Program focuses on how urban policies affect home-based

work-ers, street vendors, and waste pickers as groups. As men and women have different roles, constraints and opportunities these differences need to be identified and analysed.

· The Global Trade Program explores how informal workers connect to or are excluded

from global value chains and export markets, and what consequences that brings. The aim is to help women informal workers (as they are the most common) insert themselves into the global market on ethical terms.

· The Social Protection Program is providing social security to all informal workers

with regard to what roles, responsibilities and risks different groups, such as men and women, are subjected to.

· The Organisation and Representation Program focuses on building and strengthening

organisations of informal workers regardless of gender. Aiding women in gaining lead-ership roles is a vital part of this program.

· The Statistics Program aims to provide statistics and information on the informal

economy. There is less information regarding women informal workers and a need to develop more accurate concepts and strategies to measure women’s work as it is more likely to be unvalued and unrecognized (Document K).

Integrating gender and environmental issues : A case study on gender mainstreaming within the organisation of WIEGO and their waste management projects in Brazil