| Women's access to productive resources such as land has been identified as one of the most important issues facing women in general at the regional Middle Eastern level and at the Syrian national level in particular. This case study examines the nature and extent of women's access to agricultural land in livestock crop production systems in a community in the North-Western region of Syria. The study, first determines the degree of women's involvement and contribution to agricultural production. Particular attention is paid to women's access to land through paternal inheritance and the motives behind women not inheriting land and the ensuing implications for vulnerable women, such as widows and divorcees, in terms of livelihood security.;The version of Chamber's model of "Components of a Livelihood" adapted for the context of this study helped conceptualize the link between women customarily desisting from their share of land (tangible asset) and the ensuing claim (intangible asset) that is put on kinship support. Traditionally, "gold dower" and the "deferred dower" consist, in addition to "potential kinship support", other tangible assets that women keep as economic insurance against the vagaries of life. (Abstract shortened by UMI.). |
