Appropriating the unspoken text: Development discourse and Hmong women in Lao People's Democratic Republic
Author(s):
Mendonca, Kimberly C.
Format:
Thesis
Degree granted:
Ed.D.
Publisher:
Ann Arbor : University of San Francisco, 2009.
Pages:
150
Language:
English
Abstract:
Development, from a broad perspective, is neither new nor uncommon. As a result of media attention, Westerners are becoming more versed on global development challenges to reduce poverty, hunger and disease. Some of the world's most famous actors have become activists and now serve as spokespeople for organizations that promote development. However, missing from these efforts is clear understanding of the unique needs and desires of various people of the world and, as a result, the best way to assist them in the fulfillment of those needs often remains unexplored. This research investigated development in Laos. More specifically, it studied the concepts of development through an interpretive approach as they affect the women in the Hmong community. This research was conducted from the perspective of interpretive anthropology with selected theories drawn from a critical hermeneutic orientation. The specific process and protocols were appropriated from Herda's (1999: 85-138) orientation to participatory hermeneutic inquiry. Ricoeur's (1984, 1985, 1988) theories of narrative identity, mimesis and action provided the framework for exploration of the research inquiry and helped to give voice a place in identity. The findings of this research focus on changing the lens from which leadership is viewed; shifting the way development from being seen as a linear process to one that is understood as an interpretative process, and refocusing on the essential goals of development. The significance of this research is the creation of a public space to give voice to Hmong women, a marginalized group both because of their ethnicity and their gender. The project broadens the dialogue about strategies and shapes new ideas of development. The stories of the Hmong women serve as a catalyst for further discourse about development as well as empowering and fundamentally improving the status of the Hmong women, their families and their communities.