Abstract

In this thesis I explore the gendered nature of community politics in a rural town in Northeast Brazil. Through individual stories, contextualized in local and global power relations I aim to broaden the understanding of the practical experiences of women juggling a participatory democracy and clientelist traditions. The emphasis is on women's experiences of agency and constraints and the implications such experiences have for the politicization of women and the democratization process. Specifically, I explore the experiences of marginal women. I argue that in their rejection of the dominant ideas regarding local community politics and gender norms they challenge the idea that poor women are only concerned with practical needs and material survival.