Ms Hannah Marie Warren : Anthropology : University of Sussex

In detail...

Post:	Research Student
Location:
Email:	H.Warren@sussex.ac.uk

Biography

Hannah is currently undertaking a DPhil in Social Anthropology, funded through an ESRC 1+3 Quota Award. Hannah's research, which focuses on gender, feminism and development in Ghana, aims to investigate different ‘gender' discourses, objectives and practices which proliferate in Ghana and factors influencing these.

Hannah previously worked in Ghana from 1999 - 2001, for two local NGOs, during which time she was involved in a range of work, including gender and development related activities. It was this experience and subsequent work for various development organisations in the UK that inspired her current research interests.

Role

DPhil Candidate, University of Sussex

Affilitate of the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA), University of Ghana

Qualifications

DPhil Social Anthropology - University of Sussex, October 2008 - present
MSc Comparative and Cross Cultural Research Methods (Social Anthropology) - University of Sussex, 2007 - 2008
MA Gender, Culture and Development - University of Sunderland, 2001 - 2002
BSc Development Studies - University of Derby, 1994 - 1997

Research

The ideologies and practice of gender and development work in Ghana

Hannah's DPhil research aims to investigate the gender work of local NGOs in Ghana - focusing on the policies driving such work, its implementation, and factors that influence these processes.

Gender and development work in Ghana has been a growing field since the 1970s, and now constitutes a diverse set of actors undertaking a wide range of activities aimed to ‘improve the situation of women' and/or ‘address unequal gender relations'. This proliferation and diversity reflects the global growth of gender and development practice, a growth which has been accompanied by a significant literature that examines the implementation and outcomes of gender and development work. This literature frequently sets out to investigate and explain the diversity of and challenges experienced in the implementation of this type of work, however it has a heavy emphasis on Northern based development organisations. Hannah's research aims to contribute to and build on existing research and literature by moving beyond the frequent focus on gender work principally within the ‘development sector' and ‘international organisations', by focusing on diverse ‘local' organisations active in the field of gender and development in Ghana.

The main period of fieldwork will be carried out during 2009, when Hannah will spend approximately 10 months in Ghana researching two or three local NGOs. Hannah will adopt a primarily ethnographic approach to investigate the policies behind and implementation of gender work and the range of influences which affect gender ideas and practices. During her fieldwork Hannah is affiliated to the Centre for gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA) at the University of Ghana.

Supervisors:

Ann Whitehead (Department of Anthropology) and Elizabeth Harrison (Department of Anthropology)

Publications

2009 'The Relationship Between Women's Contribution to Household Expenditures and their Participation in Conjugal Decision-making in Ghana', Radical Statistics, 98: 50-62. (This essay won 3rd prize in the student category of the Fourth Biennial Radical Statistics Critical Essay Competition)

2007 'Using Gender-Analysis Frameworks: Theoretical and Practical Reflections', Gender and Development, 15 (2): 187-198.

2007 'Organisational Capacity Building in Central Asia: Reflections from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan', with Lola Abduslayamova, Praxis Paper 15, INTRAC. Available at: www.intrac.org/docs.php/2557/PraxisPaper15.pdf

2006 'Taking Stock - A Snapshot of INGO Engagement in Civil Society Capacity Building', with Brenda Lipson, Research Report, Conference Paper and presentation for INTRAC's ‘Civil Society and Capacity Building' Conference.

2006 'Official Agency Funding of NGOs: Mechanisms, Trends and Implications', with Jerry Adams and Brian Pratt, Occasional Papers Series No. 46, INTRAC.

2006 'Drowning in the Mainstream: Some Critical Reflections on Gender Mainstreaming', in Ontrac No. 32: 7. INTRAC. Available at: www.intrac.org/docs.php/2352/Ontrac32.pdf

2005 'Assessing the Poverty Reduction Capacity of Ghana's PRSP', in Ontrac No.31: 7-8. INTRAC. Available at: www.intrac.org/docs.php/2136/Ontrac31.pdf

2005 'Monitoring the Millennium Development Goals: A Critical Review', in Ontrac No.30: 6-7. INTRAC. Available at: www.intrac.org/docs.php/2149/Ontrac30.pdf

2005 'NGO Funding Trends: A Comparison of NGO Income', in Informed No.12: 8-13. INTRAC.

2005 'Sharing Faith with Donors: Does it make a Difference?', with Oliver Bakewell, in Informed No.12: 20-25. INTRAC.

2001 'Another Look at the Creation Story', in Eve and Adam: The Gender Development Institute Quarterly Newsletter, Vol. 3: pg 4-5, Gender Development Institute, Ghana.