The Role of Rural Women in the Creation of Green Jobs: A Case Study of Two Villages in Golestan Esmail Alizad , Sara Bahrami

Abstract

Abstract In the recent decades, some villages of Iran have had a feminine texture, the reason for this is immigration of men. Immigration of men from rural areas to metropolises mainly increased by virtue of various economic factors such as unemployment in villages, low income, seasonal unemployment and small size of farmlands. In this regard, the role of social policy making has been highlighted in order to create jobs and support key manufacturers in rural areas. In this research, we explored the role of women in two villages (Ghale Ghafe Bala and Kafsh Mahalle) located in the Golestan Region. These women succeeded in creating green jobs in their villages and eventually achieved sustainable livelihood after an empowerment process and improving human capabilities, recognizing geographical and environmental resources, and application of indigenous knowledge. In this study, we adopted the approach of Amartia Sen in human capabilities in order to solve the poverty and unemployment issue in the villages. The research methodology is case study, involving exploiting participant observation and in-depth interview techniques. The research results indicated that rural women could change the villages by grouping, increasing social participation, improving their capabilities, increasing agency capacity change and creating small and local community banks among rural groups. They could achieve sustainable livelihood and play an important part decreasing unemployment and poverty. Keywords: Green Jobs, Unemployment and Poverty, the Human Capability Approach, Rural Women, Social Policy Making, Participation