Redai dili (Feb 2023)
The Empowerment of Rural Women through Digital Entrepreneurship: A Case of Typical Villages in Qianpai Town, Guangdong Province
Abstract
In the era of the digital economy, live-streaming of agricultural products has become a new means of rural revitalization, which not only promotes the transformation of the rural economy but also deepens the dual promotion of villagers' rights and identities. Based on the practice of rural women's participation in the live-streaming of agricultural products, this study discussed the extent to which the live-streaming economy reconstructed rural women's identities and reproduced their production and living spaces from the perspective of feminist geography. Based on a sampling of villages representative of Qianpai Town, Guangdong Province, this study unfolded the opportunities, processes, and effects of women's empowerment in rural spatial transformation through qualitative research methods, such as participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and discourse analysis. Findings of the present study included: (1) while the live-streaming economy was found in the rural area, not only were diversified resources, such as policy, education, material, and cultural support, brought to Qianpai Town, but also rural women who either originally worked in cities or engaged in agricultural production obtained their new empowerment power. (2) The empowerment of rural women was prominently manifested in the reconstruction process of women's identity during the practice of digital entrepreneurship. Owing to the development of the digital economy, rural women self-reconstructed their identity from "migrant workers" to "returning entrepreneurs" and from "knowledge receivers" to "culture communicators", showing that they could expand their way of livelihood by mastering the right of independent employment, as well as the expansion of women's social network and the prominence of their dominant position. (3) The rural reconstruction under the live-streaming economy was a complex and dynamic process in which rural production and living spaces, private spaces, and public spaces were intertwined. The "familiarization" of live-streaming places broke the boundary between women's production and living spaces and facilitated the economic transformation of home space and the socialization of private space, thus contributing to the reconstruction of production and living spaces in rural areas. Overall, the practice of women's digital entrepreneurship contributed to the enhancement of their sense of self-value and the reshaping of their roles at home and in society to raise their voice and status in the economic activities of the family. This study argued that the coupling of rural women and the "live-streaming economy" in the digitalization process of rural areas provides a new research ground for deepening the understanding of women's empowerment mechanism through digital technology and the evolving human-place relationship of rural China. The analysis presented contributes to the exploration of the rural transformation and development processes from the perspective of the interaction between "women" and "place" and provides actionable insights into rural restructuring. The results of this study help to better understand the effects and mechanisms of the live-streaming economy on rural women as well as on their production and living spaces, thereby presenting theoretical and practical insights into rural women's empowerment through digital technology.
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