T
HE GREAT DIVIDE?
T
HE“R
ATAV
IRUWO”
LABOUR MARKET REINTEGRATION PROGRAMME THROUGH THE EYES OF RETURNEE DOMESTIC WORKERS ANDGOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN
S
RIL
ANKAMaster Thesis in the Master Programme:
International Migration and Intercultural Relations (IMIB): Erasmus Mundus Master in
International Migration and Social Cohesion (MISOCO)
University of Osnabrück
By
Chandima Arambepola
Supervised by:
University of Osnabrück: Prof. Helen Schwenken (helen.schwenken@uni-osnabrueck.de) University of Amsterdam: Prof. Gerben Moerman (G.Moerman@uva.nl)
University of Deusto: Prof. Dolores Morondo (dolores.morondo@deusto.es) Osnabrück
Declaration in line with the Master Thesis Regulations for the Master Program International Migration and Social Cohesion (MISOCO)
and the Examination Regulations for the Master Program International Migration and Intercultural Relations (IMIB) (Art. 19 (6))
I hereby declare that I have developed and written this thesis on my own and without the use of any other than the cited sources and aids. I have also been informed of the completion and assessment rules of the MISOCO programme.
02-05-16
Acknowledgements
Professors Helen Schewenken, Dolores Morondo and Gerben Moerman, thank you for
your guidance and feedback which helped shape this research in many ways.
To Jovana, Jessica and Jana, a big hug and a big, big thank you for being there for me
through an extremely difficult time.
Petra, my “go-to-person”, I cannot thank you enough for all you did for me. How I
would have survived the last few weeks without your help, I do not know.
Christine, thank you so much for your gentle guidance and very helpful feedback.
To Ammi and Babi, thank you, a thousand times over, for keeping my spirits up and
lifting the burden of worry from my shoulders.
But most of all, my heartfelt grattitude to all the women who opened their homes to me
and shared both joyous and sad tales of life in Sri Lanka and, to every government
official who went out of their way to open doors for me and thus, paved the way for me
to conduct this study.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
1. Background to Labour Migration in Sri Lanka: The Role of the State 8
1.1 Political and administrative structure 8
1.2 Policy formulation 10
1.3 Labour migration and state strucures 11
1.4 Rata Viruwo programme 14
2. Locating Migrant Women, the State and Reintegration in the Literature 17
2.1 The early phase of labour migration 17
2.2 Socio-economic dynamics of women’s migration 18
2.3 The return home 20
2.4 The role of the state 22
2.5 Women, the state and the reintegration process 23 3. Beyond the Lens of Western Feminism: The Relevance of Postcolonial Feminism 27
3.1. Discourse and reflexivity 27
3.2. Social agency, resistance and identity 29
3.3. The postcolonial state and women 30
3.4. Theory in practice 31
4. Locating and Accessing the Programme on the Ground 33
4.1. Access to and location of the programme 33
4.2. Selection of interviewees 34
4.3. Data analysis 36
4.4. Ethical considerations 37
5. The View from the Ground: Returnee Women’s Perspectives 39
5.1. An a/typical profile 39
5.2. Reasons to migrate 41
5.3. The return home 45
5.4. Not just another loan programme? 49
5.5. (Un)intended use of the credit facility 51
5.6. Repayment and fear of debt 55
5.7. Relationship to “Miss” 58
5.8. Views on the state 61
6. The View from the Top: Government Officials Voice their Thoughts 66
6.1 Doomed for failure 66
6.2 Passive recipients or shrewd calculators? 68
6.3. Political influence 70
6.4. Centre versus periphery? 72
Conclusion 75
Abbreviations
DS Divisional Secretariat GoSL Government of Sri Lanka
ILO International Labour Organization IMF International Monetary Fund MoFE Ministry of Foreign Employment
1 Introduction
For decades, Sri Lankan women have been held up as the success story of women’s “progress” in South Asia, (Herath, 2015, p. 2), far surpassing her South Asian counterparts in education, health and political engagement. This claim is not
ill-founded, even as the country experienced nearly three decades of a civil war
(Ruwanpura, 2008, p. 326). At the heart of such progress has been the Sri Lankan state and its education and health policies (Gunawardena, 2015, p. 2-3), which have
successfully reached out to the grassroots and helped reduce illiteracy, increase maternal health and improve life expectancy. Thus, Sri Lankan women’s life chances, are
inextricably linked to the state and its policies.
This becomes clearer in looking at women’s labour force participation, where none of the successive post-independent governments has made any serious attempt to intervene to ensure women have equal access to formal employment. While women’s labour force participation has remained relatively weak but stable, their participation persists in under-paid, highly volatile areas of work, mainly in the tea estates, the garment factories and of late, as foreign domestic workers (Gunawardena, 2015, p. 2; Hancock, 2006). Of these, the latter receives the most media and public attention given that the women who migrate, mostly tend to be married women with children. By the mid-1990s, women constituted 75 percent of the total migrant population (Attanapola, 2013, p. 220). Although this trend has now reversed, at the peak of women’s migration, their remittances alone supported approximately 20 percent of the country’s population (Gamburd, 2009, p. 62). At the centre of this outflow of women as domestic workers, is the Government of Sri Lanka.
2 The role of the Government of Sri Lanka
At present, Sri Lanka is among the leading labour-sending countries to the Gulf Cooperation Countries (Shah, 2004, p. 183) and at the helm of promoting labour
migration is the GoSL. Given Sri Lanka’s checkered economic and political instability - mostly due to a protracted civil conflict (Ruwanpura, 2008, p. 326), - the reliance on migrant labour for much-needed foreign currency earnings has become critical. This is evident in the increased attention awarded to the pre-migration phase by the state.
Through the years, existing state structures have been strengthened and new entities established in order to facilitate the migration of low and semi-skilled workers. The most important of these entities is the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) – a quasi-independent government authority overseeing the labour migration process. The importance of encouraging labour migration is underscored by a rare show of coordination across different arms of the state administration. Immigration offices established regionally, facilitate the issuance of passports within two weeks and centres to enable prospective female migrants to be trained were also established regionally (Ireland, 2015). The notoriously bureaucratic state banks facilitated the easy
transference of remittances, creating outreach programmes to reach the villages (Kageyama, 2008, p. 96).
Such attention however, tends to become less once the migrants leave Sri Lanka. The government’s haphazard response to migrant workers’ needs has been identified as more reactive than proactive (Collyer et al., 2009). If the time abroad receives little attention from the GoSL, the return receives even less. To the question of “what
happens to those who return?”, there is no clear answer. There is no state mechanism in place to collect data on those who return - either prematurely or upon successful
3 of government entities until they leave the country, are rendered invisible as they return home.
Of late however, the government has taken more concrete, constructive steps towards change. A national policy on labour migration was formulated with technical support from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and was introduced in October 2008 (International Labour Organization, (ILO), 2016). Its basis is the “migration for development” paradigm, which recognises the importance of labour migration for the development of the global south (Cassarino, 2004). In its aftermath, the SLBFE has taken a keen interest on changing the public perception of labour migrants. Borrowing heavily from the Philippines model (Guevarra, 2010), the SLBFE has proactively attempted to frame the role of labour migrants as “heroes of the nation” (Rata Viruwo) - as principal and critical actors in the post-war development process in Sri Lanka. The only activity targeted at returnee migrants is a “loans for livelihoods” project. Implemented through the government’s principal poverty alleviation
programme Samurdhi, it was piloted in the Badulla district in 2014, the electorate of the then Minister of Foreign Employment.
It is not clear why returnees were included in the programme. Since it was implemented only in Badulla, the reasons may have been more political than strategic. At the same time, the loan scheme may have been launched in order to support those who return find some form of stable income generation activity. But why the GoSL targeted only the economic integration of returnees and not necessarily the re-integration into the socio-cultural fabric of their respective communities, remains unclear. Given the predominant economics discourse surrounding the encouragement of labour migration as a key element in the development of the country, was such a project adding undue pressure on returnee workers to “fall in line” and remain active in the
4 labour market? And how did the recipients themselves feel about such a government-initiated programme? In the absence of information regarding the programme in the public domain, these questions remain largely unanswered.
What the literature says
Attempting to find some answers through the existing studies offer mixed results. For, almost mirroring the government’s own lacklustre attitude towards return, reintegration receives little attention in the literature. While some (Gamburd, 2000; Handapangoda, 2014; Pinnawala, 2009) have focused on the reintegration of the women into their communities and families, this has not been the primary focus of the research. A key finding running across the studies was that the women re-assumed their gendered identity as primary caretaker and as a dependent in the family setup. Their economic role upon return, is not very clear. The return therefore remains understudied and not well understood.
With regard to the state, its absence in the return process has been blamed for pushing an already vulnerable group of workers into engaging in circular migration (Collyer et al, 2009). The most recent studies (Jayaratne et al, 2014; ILO, 2013) notably, bring together the return process and the role of the state together. A strong economic discourse underlies the studies, as the emphasis is on the reintegration of returnees to the domestic labour market because they have a key role to play in the post-war development agenda. The role of the GoSL therefore, is to facilitate the re-entry of returnees to the domestic labour market. In general, absent in many of these studies is the perspective of GoSL officials, particularly those actively involved in formulating or implementing policies related to labour migration.
In this context, studying the GoSL’s “loans for livelihood” scheme targeted at returnee migrant workers is timely and appropriate. It is especially important because
5 the number of women returning from work abroad is targeted to increase in the coming years and this in turn, brings to the fore, the question of both their psychosocial and economic reintegration. The women on one hand have been rendered visible by this programme but how they respond to it and whether they ‘fall in line’ with the state’s attempt to help them reintegrate to the labour market needs to be explored. At the same time, examining the position of the GoSL, through the views expressed by local
officials who implemented the programme, helps gauge their understanding of their own role in facilitating the women’s return to the labour market. But how this complex process is viewed, requires a context-sensitive lens.
Theoretical orientation
The research therefore, primarily draws from postcolonial feminist theory. Its emphasis on the postcolonial condition of the state and the ways in which the role of women have been framed and changed due to the intervention of the state help locate the women within these political processes. Furthermore, the emphasis on subtle forms of resistance and the complex ways in which women exercise their agency all lend well to the examination of the perspectives of both the women and the state with regard to this particular reintegration programme. Such an approach allows for the researcher to place the narratives of the women in a specific context and analyse their experiences from an intersectional rather than a unidimensional approach to women’s identity.
Research question and methods
Therefore, informed by postcolonial feminism, the gap in the literature regarding the labour market reintegration of returnee domestic workers and, the rather ambitious launch of the Rata Viruwo programme, this study sought to answer this question: how do the implementers of the labour market re-integration programme (state
6 representatives) and the recipients of the programme (returnee domestic workers) view their role and each other’s within the programme?
In order to answer this question, the research relied on qualitative methods: with the aid of a semi-structured interview guide, 10 women recipients of the loan
programme and six government representatives were interviewed. The study was carried out in early February 2016, in the Soranathota Divisional Secretariat division in the Badulla district.
The general aim of the study was to bring attention to how the returnee women on one hand, and GoSL officials on the other, view the introduction of the “loans for livelihoods” programme. In doing so however, the more implicit aim was to gauge an understanding of the ways in which the government continues to determine the life chances of the returnee women and how women navigate such state-led interventions. Hence, the scope of the study is limited, in both analysis and ability to generalise. But in the absence of any analysis of this particular programme and the reintegration of women migrant workers, the study helps towards filling a gap in knowledge.
Structure of the thesis
As the study deals with a specific government programme, implemented in a specific geographical location, the next chapter provides an overview of the
administrative and political structures in post-independent Sri Lanka. It also sets the backdrop to the study, by outlining the evolution of the migration policy in Sri Lanka and the introduction of the Rata Viruwo programme.
This is followed by reviewing the existing literature on the topic, tracing the changes that have taken place in migration patterns from Sri Lanka and the evolving role of the state with regard to labour migrants. The review concludes by assessing the current interest in reintegration of migrant workers to the labour market and the strong
7 economic undertones that accompany such narratives. This is followed by the
presentation of the theoretical framework. The relevance of postcolonial feminism to the researcher and the study are explained through a description of some of its principal arguments.
The next chapter provides a description of the methods used in the study and provides more detail on the location of the study and the choice of study participants. The steps taken in order to complete the analysis are also explained. Ethical
considerations are also discussed.
The next two chapters deal with the research question and show the two opposing viewpoints presented by the women as recipients of the programme, and the government representatives, as the implementers of the programme on the ground.
Concluding remarks follow and attempts to answer the questions of ‘so what’? and ‘what next’ with regard to the topic tackled through the study. The chapter also assesses the shortcomings of the study and reflects on their impact on the findings.
8 1. Background to Labour Migration in Sri Lanka: The Role of the State
Any discussion pertaining to the GoSL and its policies or lack thereof, requires an understanding of the complex yet rather concrete administrative structures upon which the state functions. With regard to the labour migration process, this becomes even more critical, as the GoSL is in the process of streamlining coordination across different administrative and political arms of the government (ILO official, personal communication, January 8, 2016), particularly in light of the launch of the sub-policy on reintegration. This chapter offers an overview of the political and administrative
structure of the GoSL and then explains in brief, the development of a national migration policy and its consequences.
1.1.Political and administrative structure
Although Sri Lanka gained independence from British rule in 1948, its legacy still persists with a top-down approach to decision making (Samaratunge and Pillay, 2011, p. 392). Despite calls for devolution of civil and political power to the regions, the state continues to be highly centralised (Samaratunge and Pillay, 2011, p. 392).
To ease the burden on civil administration however, Sri Lanka is divided into nine provinces, which comprise 25 administrative districts (Samaratunge and Pillay, 2011, p. 392). The civil administration is managed by a District Secretary who “derive their power directly from the Central Government” (Kruse, 2007, p. 8). These
administrative districts are further divided into Divisional Secretariat Divisions (DS Divisions), each headed by a Divisional Secretary. Facilitating administration, each DS division is further divided into Grama Niladhari divisions (GN divisions) which consist of villages or hamlets. The Grama Niladhari - a local level government official - acts as
9 the first government contact to any Sri Lankan citizen, verifying their identity and residential status and their inclusion in the voters’ list.
Almost parallel to these administrative structures, run the political structures. These consist of the provincial councils and the municipal councils or pradeshiya sabha (regional assembly). Elections are held separately for each local body. In addition, each district elects a designated number of representatives to the national parliament.
The tasks and responsibilities of the different administrative and political units vary and have in turn, created much confusion on the ground. Despite capacity to collect local taxes and provide a limited range of public utilities to the populace, local
governments lack decision-making power and “…are no more than subordinate offices of the central government. They suffer from limited capacity and resources and depend on central government grants” (Samaratunge and Pillay, 2011, p. 392-3).
In contrast, the administrative arm collects data, disperses social welfare benefits and implements other state-led programmes. Through its hierarchical structure, it also acts as the primary connecting link between the central government and the people. It has no authority to collect taxes and are dependent solely on funding allocated to their respective administrative areas by the central government. But what makes local governance more challenging and creates confusion, is the absence of coordination and the tensions that exist between these two competing structures and its representatives - the elected officials and civil servants (Kruse, 2007, p. 11).
Although as many have pointed out, the decision making power still remains with the central government, such tensions between the two conflicting governance models and lack of information among people on who does what, has the potential to derail any policies that are handed down from the centre to the local level for
10 1.2. Policy formulation
In this context. formulation of policy remains strictly within the boundaries of the central government. Policy formulation, particularly since the introduction of the liberalisation of the economy in 1978, is greatly influenced by the political party in power and the existing socio-political conditions in the country. Successive post-independence governments therefore, have struggled to juggle “its neoliberal
foundations and its attempts to claim popular legitimacy” (Gunawardana, 2015, p. 56). These two contradictory dynamics also represent the divide between the urban and the rural respectively (Gunawardana, 2015, p. 56). Elected officials have to pander to both the electorate and other stakeholders in Sri Lanka’s development, particularly global stakeholders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This struggle has been further exacerbated by ‘patronage politics’, thus creating tensions between elected officials and civil administrators and resulting in the erosion of a once vibrant civil service (Root, Hodgson & Vaughan-Jones, 2001, p. 1358-9).
When at constant play, these dynamics have also made it difficult for any government to institute a consistent position on any policy. As Kodikara noted as early as 1980 (with regard to changes in foreign policy), each successive government has been quick to suspend the development programmes implemented by the previous regime and to either re-launch the same programmes with new labelling or abort the existing plans and strategies altogether. These trends have frustrated mostly economists, as pandering to populism is seen as detrimental for any long term plan to lead Sri Lanka out of debt and into a path of sustainable development (Athukorala, 2012). With regard to labour migration, which continues to remain critical for the ‘health’ of the domestic economy, such changing notations in policy could spell more adversity than good.
11 In some ways, the labour migration process best illustrates the complex manner in which the political and the administrative structures both clash and coordinate in facilitating and controlling the migration of workers. And at the same time, is an example of how policy, formulated at the centre, is translated on the ground. 1.3.Labour migration and state structures
Until 2008, Sri Lanka lacked a comprehensive labour migration policy (ILO, 2016). This is in spite of the fact that labour migration has played a critical role in stabilising the weak domestic economy, channelling in much needed foreign currency to the country. In 2014, inward remittances totalled seven billion US Dollars (Siriwardana, 2015) - 8.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (The World Bank, 2016), making labour migrants a rather profitable exportable commodity.
Labour migration itself is not a new phenomenon. The initial waves of migration resulted in a brain drain and this in turn, led the government to become heavily involved in controlling the outflow of its skilled workforce. These rules, which were in force up to the late 1970s, included strict passport control and signing of a surety bond by the migrant “with the government, undertaking to return and serve the country for a specific period, as stipulated by the employer” (Pinnawala, 2009, p. 68).
While labour migration received an initial boost with the oil boom in the Gulf region (Institute of Policy Studies, 2013, p. 2-3), this coincided with a rather volatile political context at home: a youth insurgency in the late 1970s concentrated exclusively around the low-caste, unemployed youth of the Sinhala majority ethnic group. This triggered the government to look for employment opportunities for the youth overseas (Gunawardana, 2014, p. 5). What was not anticipated, was that women would quickly begin to outpace their male counterparts as the demand for ‘housemaids’ in the Middle East rose sharply. The government took a lead in determining the outflow of women by
12 engaging in negotiations and establishing bi-lateral agreements with labour receiving countries which in turn, determined the terms and conditions of employment.
As these demographic changes took root, the administrative structures that governed the migration process also underwent changes. In the 1980s, new laws regulated the activities of the licensed agencies and their agents (Pinnawala, 2009, p. 68), with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Act no. 21 of 1985 bringing about some major changes to the management of labour migration. This led to the founding of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, a quasi-independent
government institution, working as a “regulator within the administrative jurisdiction of the Department of Labour” (Pinnawala, 2009, p. 69).
The Act looked beyond the promotion of labour migration from Sri Lanka and encompassed other facets such as the welfare of the migrant workers. Pinnawala (2009) traces these developments to the media’s coverage of stories of women migrant workers being abused at their workplace. The government’s active role therefore “emanates partly from its strong commitment to protect women migrants and partly from the fact that it was becoming a politically sensitive issue that could be damaging if not correctly handled” (Pinnawala, 2009, p. 71).
The national labour migration policy formulated with technical support from the ILO, provided some coherence with regard to how the government would address three particular aspects: “[the] governance of the migration process, protection and
empowerment of migrant workers and their families, and linking migration and
development processes” which, in turn “articulates the State's commitment to ensuring a labour migration process that adheres to principles, and guidelines enshrined in
13 Perhaps, as a result of this, a more stable and transparent structure has emerged involving government and semi-government agencies and the employment agents. Training programmes have been introduced to “improve” the domestic work related skills of the prospective female workers and insurance schemes have been introduced to provide some form of security for the women and their families, (Ireland, 2015, p. 17-18). In addition, all labour migrants are required by law to register with the SLBFE prior to their departure – failure to do so leaves them with no recourse to state assistance in an emergency while overseas. In theory, the law applies to all labour migrants, but in practice, applies only to semi- and unskilled workers and not the professionals working in the same countries (ILO official, personal communication, January 8, 2016).
A more recent addition has been the introduction of the Family Background report. Aimed at controlling the migration of “mothers”, prospective women migrants have to be “cleared” by the Development Officer of the respective DS office, in order to migrate. The officer collects data on the woman’s family background and disallows women from migrating on conditions such as, the lack of consent by the husband, absence of a proper guardian for the children and the presence of children under the age of five (Ministry of Foreign Employment (MoFE), 2015). As the then Minister for Foreign Employment pointed out:
It is within the value system of our society, upheld by families of all races, religions and language groups in our country, that the central focus of attention of a family is on the baby, in which the mother-baby linkage is sacred…There was a reduction in remittances [following the law] but this was borne with acceptance, since retaining the primary value of a mother-baby bond was sacred (MoFE, 2014).
14 Such sentiments appear to come at a time when public scrutiny on women’s migration has been high and is a step back from the GoSL’s consideration of imposing a blanket ban on women’s labour migration as domestic workers (Ukwatte, 2010).
1.4.Rata Viruwo programme
The most significant recent change has been the attempt by the SLBFE and the MoFE to change the narrative on how labour migrants are viewed. Borrowing heavily from the Philippines model (Guaverra, 2010), labour migrants are termed Rata Viruwo (heroes of the nation1). The then -Minister articulates this change thus. “Like our military heroes who saved Sri Lanka, being called Rana viruwos, our foreign employment economic heroes are now called Rata viruwos, a proud name to bear” (MoFE, 2014).
Despite the Minister’s argument that the primary aim “[…] was to shift from the commodity view of foreign employment, to treating short term migrant workers as human beings, [and] not merely as income earning assets”, the migration policy itself is articulated on the migration for development paradigm which situates migrant workers primarily as economic actors. The most visible element of this programme has been the reality talent shows telecast on state-run media to highlight the musical talents of the labour migrants. Other initiatives have included housing loans and loans for livelihood programmes.
Recognising the reason for many to migrate abroad, the Ministry launched the housing loan initiative targeting labour migrants who were currently working or were scheduled to leave for work abroad. Implemented through the government’s poverty
1 ‘Rata’ in this context could also mean other countries, which instantly then connotes that the new heroes work in another country, for the betterment of Sri Lanka.
15 alleviation programme ‘Samurdhi’, the applicants were offered a loan of up to 300,000 Sri Lankan rupees2 at low interest rate. The Samurdhi Authority gained temporary ownership of the property as surety. The migrant was to send money directly to an agreed upon bank account from which, the monthly installment would be deducted (MoFE, 2013). Under this scheme, introduced in 2012, over 5,000 houses have been built and at least 4,000 more applications were pending at the end of 2014 (MoFE, 2014).
The latter was targeted specifically at returnees. A loan of 50,000 rupees was offered at low interest rate by the Samurdhi Authority, to be paid back in regular
installments over a 24-month period. At the peak of the programme in 2014, 1,749 loans were disbursed. In 2015, only five loans were approved (MoFE, 2014/15).
These tangible aspects were accompanied by a more ambitious over-arching element: the creation of Rata Viruwo committees at the DS level. Comprising returned labour migrants, the committees would advocate on behalf of returnees and thus, act as a mediator between returnees and the GoSL. It was launched,
…to [ensure] policy coherence at the vertical level and policy coherence at the horizontal level, linking the health, education, social service, women and children, and public administration functions [and to constitute] a unique new institution in rural administration (MoFE, 2014).
To date, very little information is available on the committees and their work. The same is true for the other projects that were launched. The lack of information has been precipitated by the unexpected change in government in January 2015 which in turn, has led to the Rata Viruwo programme being suspended.
16 The major highlight so far, has been the launch of the sub-policy on
reintegration, again formulated with technical support from the ILO and funded partly by SwissAID (ILO, 2015). Little is known regarding any new plans, but the possibility of a revamped programme bearing a different name being launched has been alluded to, by the Deputy Minister of policy planning:
I really didn’t like the word ‘Rata Viruwo’ the past government used - like Rana Viruwo - like they were giving them some honour -but using them to make ends meet. They’re not Rata Viruwo. If they’re Rata Viruwo, somebody should look after these people (Wettasinghe, July 2015).
The particular background in which the labour migration policy is situated and the current political context, provide an entry point for the study. As the only element focused on the return, the loans for livelihood project provides a starting point to examine the reintegration process as envisioned by the GoSL.
17 2. Locating Migrant Women, the State and Reintegration in the Literature
As discussed in the previous chapter, the GoSL assumes a proactive role in facilitating labour migration. But the return, continues to be largely ignored. The main focus of this chapter therefore, is to review the existing literature with regard to both female domestic workers and the GoSL, particularly with regard to the latter part of the migration process: the return.
2.1. The early phase of labour migration
Women’s presence in early studies is inconsequential. This is because the first waves of migrants were overwhelmingly from urban areas and comprised married, unemployed, unskilled men, with primary or secondary education (Hettige, 1988, p. 80). But among the few who did opt to migrate, women living in urban shanties were the ‘pioneers’, as “those who advocate traditional cultural prescriptions are either a minority or non-existent” (Hettige, 1988, p. 81) in such communities. Thus, values and
patriarchal norms steeped in Sri Lankan culture prevented women from the rural areas from migrating. The few rural women who did opt to migrate manipulated these same cultural values and beliefs, through the performance of religious rituals, to show that migration “does not necessarily involve a violation of culturally and socially sanctioned behavioural norms particularly those related to social and family life” (Hettige, 1988, p. 81). These findings constitute the earliest signs of how women broke away from the cultural norms that determined their role in a traditionally patriarchal society.
With regard to remittances, a gendered pattern emerges. Men were found to remit a considerable proportion of their wages home whereas women would remit approximately 96 per cent of their wages (Athukorala 1990; Hettige 1988). This particular feature continues to persist, particularly with regard to female migrants
18 (Gunawardena, 2015; Ullah, 2014, p. 58). On return however, men found it difficult to find fruitful, long-term employment. Athukorala’s assessment of an existing loan programme made available to men by two state-owned banks, found that such
programmes were unable to prevent returning abroad, as the participants lacked both the technical knowhow and adequate savings to engage in a self-employment enterprise (1990, p. 333-34).
Soon however, as women begin to outpace male migration, the focus on men reduces. By 1998, women outnumbered men and continued to do so until 2007.
(SLBFE, 2016). In the wake of this change in the demographic pattern, studies focusing on the women become the norm in migration literature and continues to be so, with strong overtones on the role of the women as primary caregivers and as the sole bread winner of their families.
2.2. Socio-economic dynamics of women’s migration
In general, studies which focus or refer to Sri Lankan foreign domestic workers point to the myriad forms of abuse and harassment the women encounter and the difficult working conditions they endure. Focus has been on the role of women as workers with limited or no rights (Abu-Habib, 1998; Deshingkar et al., 2014; Huang & Yeoh, 2007; Jureidini & Moukarbel, 2004, Yeoh & Huang 1998; Yeoh, Huang & Devasahayam, 2004,), the subtle yet powerful ways in which the women exercise agency in restrictive socio-cultural spaces (Frantz, 2008; Pande 2012) and the racial and gendered ideologies underpinning the treatment of domestic workers as an “othered” group (De Regt, 2008 ; Spyrou, 2009; Varia, 2011). A closer review of particular studies however, reveal a few salient features.
While the GoSL actively sought to encourage labour migration among men, another policy introduced by the government, at the behest of the IMF, is attributed in
19 pushing women to opt for migration. The introduction of structural adjustment policies effectively displaced women’s roles in traditionally-associated artisanal and agriculture based livelihoods. At the same time, the state’s retreat from offering safety nets, further pushed their families to abject poverty (Jayaweera & Dias, 2009, p. 37; Samarasinghe, 1998, p. 317). This claim has been substantiated by many other authors who claim that poverty pushed women to overlook the stigma attached to “housemaids” and migrate in search of better economic opportunities (Handapangoda, 2014; Gamburd, 2008): migration overseas was seen as “the only available economic alternative” for these women (Gamburd, 2008, 12).
This is further articulated in the typical profile of a female domestic worker. She is generally between the ages of 25-39 (Ireland, 2015, p. 14), married and with at least two children (Jureidini & Moukarbel, 2004, p. 586; Mareck, 1998, p. 70). The women also represent the majority ethnic group -Sinhala - and identify themselves as Buddhist (Gamburd, 2000; Handapangoda, 2014; Pinnawala, 2009). These features are important, in order to understand the cultural and social contexts which shape their decision
making. A more telling sign is that many of the women are also from the most poverty-stricken regions of the country and thus are representative of the population living below or just above the poverty line (Dias & Jayasundere, 2004, p. 158).
Reflecting the near-hysteria pervading any discussion on female migrant workers in the media, a significant portion of the more recent studies concerns itself with the central question of family life, with the primary focus on the children left behind and mothering from a distance (Athauda et al, 2000; Gamburd, 2008;
Kuruppuarachchi et al, 2013; Pinnawala, 2009; Senaratna, 2012; Siriwardhana et al, 2015; Ukawatte, 2010). Because Sri Lankan women are first and foremost seen as mothers and primary caregivers, both by society and the government, the preoccupation
20 on the impact on the family in the public and the media is understandable. But in
following the same path, these studies fail to address a more pertinent question. What of the women themselves and their life chances and their choices upon return? Researchers seem to grapple with this dilemma of how to separate the women from the static role of mother and wife, especially because the women’s migration “project” is to a large extent, fuelled by familial obligations and not necessarily individual ones.
2.3. The return home
Writing at the turn of the century, Gamburd (2000), attempts to give more of a voice to the women themselves, and in doing so, finds them fighting battles on several fronts, on their return. Women have to overcome the stigma attached to being a “loose woman” – a preconceived notion that the women had to overcome in order to migrate in the first place (Hettige, 1988). They also fight to ensure they have a voice within the family and have some control over the remittances (p. 149-150). The women also work towards ridding the low caste identity of their families by resettling away from their traditional village. They are also found to engage in small scale business enterprises and acting as informants for prospective female migrants. Notably, Gamburd rejects the notion of them being cast as either victims or heroes, as their stories reflect "neither full-fledged resistance nor complete acquiescence to hegemony"(200, p. 121). A more recent study echoed similar sentiments, indicating to the myriad complexities associated with the return home.
The women Handapangoda (2014) interviewed tended to view migration as an empowering experience, but such perspectives were also greatly determined by the status of the family and the household economy on her return. Although reintegration was not the primary focus of the study, she found that some of the women had
21 However, such “success” was achieved only in partnership with what Handapangoda terms as the “ideal” husband: ‘supportive, caring and committed towards family well-being in harmony with his breadwinner wife’ (p. 365). Where such ideal conditions were non-existent, some of the women anticipated a return to labour migration as a solution to mitigating the conditions they found at home.
Both Handapangoda (2014) and Gamburd (2000) found a more alarming pattern: upon return, women were quick to fall back in to their gendered identities of mother and caretaker thus, at times, undermining the powerful role they had played previously as the sole bread winner. Acceptance of such deeply ingrained ideas meant that they do not question these preconceived notions nor attempt to redefine their roles radically within the family. It appears then, that “…in Sri Lanka 30+ years of women’s transnational labour migration has not yet been capable of overthrowing the traditional gender ideologies entrenched in the society” (Handapangoda, 2014, p. 373).
While Pinnawala (2009) found similar, visible signs of women ascribing to their roles of caretaker, the returnees were also transformed as a result of the migration experience. They asserted their superiority to their husband in subtle manners such as changing the terms of address which pointed to a more equal, rather than subservient relationship. Furthermore, they performed upward mobility by showcasing their newly purchased commodities and through changes to dress code and language (p. 168-170). Thus for Pinnawala, the return is characterised not merely by changes in identity and image for the woman, but also by changes in the bargaining process within the household. The latter, Pinnawala argues, is “not because she controls resources, but because she used to. The potential conflicts that could arise in this situation are managed by negotiations and this gives rise to a new domestic order” (p. 181).
22 None of these studies, except to some degree Handapangoda (2014), looked at the return in terms of the women’s economic role. This could be attributed to the fact that the women were found to fit into their pre-migration role as the mother and caregiver. Thus, it remains unclear what motivates women into taking a back seat or deciding to either engage or not engage in some form of income generating activity upon return. As the GoSL played little to no role in the return process, women’s relationship to the state in this phase remains unexplored.
2.4. The role of the state
That the state has a key role to play in improving the migratory and work experiences of the female labour migrants has been established by both researchers and the labour migrants themselves. Hence, the role of the state with regard to protecting the rights of female domestic workers has come under much scrutiny. Interestingly, there is a strong correlation between when women began to outpace men in labour migration and the number of studies that had a strong a focus on the state with regard to protecting labour migrants.
Among these, Oishi (2005) offers a comprehensive examination of how state structures have evolved in order to facilitate the out-migration of women. The study problematises the role of the GoSL because of the complex ways in which the women are framed, on one hand, as the national embodiment of a good migrant worker but also as victims that need to be rescued. Oishi contends that the state engages in symbolic gender politics, “practices whereby women are used as symbolic tools of the state to serve its interests” (2005, p. 100). This is evident in how the GoSL now controls women’s migration citing the primacy of the mother/child bonding. Ukwatte (2010) also critiques the power play the state engages in, by criticising the “blanket ban” on female migration that the GoSL was considering at the time of the study. Such a ban
23 does not address the issue of poverty and therefore, only forces women to use illegal means to migrate, which in turn, increases the risks of trafficking and abuse (2010, p. 127).
Juxtaposing the proactive role of the state in the pre-migration phase against the time abroad, more recent studies continue to view the role of the GoSL as failing labour migrants, especially in providing support to female domestic workers. These studies view the role of the state through a particular lens: that of a protector (Collyer et al., 2009; Ireland, 2015; Kottegoda, 2006). The authors advocate for a more transparent and proactive role on the part of the government towards protection and safeguarding the rights of the women. Where these authors have expressed their own positions in terms of policy alternatives, Gamburd (2005), asserts the voices of the returnee women, who notably, do not advocate for a radical upheaval of the existing structures but rather, a strengthening of the existing policies on migration. (p. 107). At the same time, with the exception of Gamburd and Oishi (2005), many authors assess the role of the state through an analysis of the existing policies or its absence. The perspective of
government representatives, either SLBFE officials or policymakers are conspicuous by their absence.
While the focus on the pre-migration and migration process are important and the focus on the role of the GoSL is understandable, this raises the question of return. Should the government “intervene” upon the return of the workers and extend services and/or social support to the returnees? If so, in what capacity and what particular service?
2.5. Women, the state and the reintegration process
Collyer et al (2009), argue that the government’s preoccupation with the out-migration has resulted in the re-integration process being understudied and unexplored.
24 Writing before the launch of the sub-policy on reintegration, the authors cite the lack of a comprehensive policy as exacerbating the difficult conditions migrants in general face upon their return, which in turn, gives rise to circular migration patterns (p. 8).
Furthermore, the state’s response is viewed as being more reactive than proactive, leading to no long term solutions being offered to the social and economic needs of returnees (p. 8-9).
In contrast, the most recent studies generating from Sri Lanka, frame the role of the GoSL in a particular light - that of ensuring the returnees’ reintegration into the domestic labour market. These studies tend to be using the more popular “migration for development” paradigm and specifically look at the contribution or lack thereof, of returnee migrants to the domestic economy.
A study commissioned by the ILO surveyed returnee migrant workers to gauge an understanding of the hurdles encountered in re-integrating to one’s community and also the labour market (ILO, 2013). In a similar vein, another study also raised concerns about how best to re-integrate returnees to the local labour market in order to gain the best outcomes for the economy (Jayaratne et al, 2014). Although neither completely dismisses the importance of psycho-social support the government must provide to returnees, the government’s role is framed within an economics discourse, with access to the labour market seen as a panacea for the problems migrants encounter on return.
More critically, absent in these studies is a gendered perspective. Female migrant domestic workers embody the idea of a labour migrant in Sri Lanka. But both studies fail to examine how the women themselves are framed by the dominant economic discourse, to the degree that they continue to remain invisible and passive recipients of support – a far cry from the narrative of the “heroes of the nation”. There is also a failure to see the inherent paradox in their argument: the reason women leave for
25 work overseas is the lack of opportunities in the domestic labour market. Hence, in many cases, there is no re-entry to the labour market, as much as their introduction to the domestic labour market.
This preoccupation with the labour market reintegration of returnee workers as purely an economic problem is not unique to just Sri Lanka (Dustman & Kirchkamp, 2001; McCormick and Whaba, 2002; Piracha & Vadean, 2010). Such a top-down approach to analysing the return phase of labour migration has been critiqued (Cassarino, 2008) and more specifically, the preoccupation with economics, to the degree of overshadowing all other conditions migrants encounter on returning home (Cassarino, 2004). That the case is similar in Sri Lanka, a developing country grappling with economic instability, should not be surprising. However, the framing of the women in a particular light begs investigation, particularly within the Sri Lankan
socio-economic and political context.
The literature has highlighted some key issues central to this study. While it has helped establish the complex social dynamics the women encounter on return, the studies do not focus on the women as individuals. In many ways, while criticising the framing of women primarily as mothers and wives, the studies also find it difficult to disentangle the role of the women as primary caregivers. Furthermore, many aspects of their post-migration lives remain unclear. This disturbingly perpetuates the state’s own position with regard to the women: that they do not deserve the same level of attention as before. Another key feature that underpins many of the studies is the central role the GoSL plays in either facilitating or controlling the lives of the women as migrant workers. The role of the state is viewed as a facilitator and a protector, without whose protection, the women remain vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. In this light, the
26 most recent studies on the return and on the role of the state indicates a reframing of the role of both actors within a predominant economic discourse.
The lack of understanding on women’s lives on return, and the particular ways in which the role of the state and the returnee migrants are becoming reframed
therefore, require understanding, particularly in the light of the GoSL’s attempt at the re-integration of the women in to the economic sphere. But which approach would best suit and aid in understanding the role of the state and of the returnee domestic workers in such a programme, requires clarity.
27 3. Beyond the Lens of Western Feminism: The Relevance of Postcolonial
Feminism
To understand how returnee women navigate the complex socio economic and political structures of present-day Sri Lanka and in a context where state policies play a significant role in determining women’s life chances, one requires a lens that is
sensitive to this particular context. Relying mostly on the writings of Chandra Talpade Mohanty, the key features of postcolonial feminism, as pertaining to this particular study, are described.
3.1. Discourse and reflexivity
Existing studies on foreign domestic workers to a large degree, have framed the women as “a homogeneous, “powerless” group often located as implicit victims of particular socioeconomic systems” (Mohanty, 1991, p. 57). While such an
understanding cannot be easily dismissed, given the difficult working and living conditions the women endure and their social status back home, Mohanty would argue that such a reading is also influenced by the west’s understanding of feminism:
Besides being normed on a white, Western (read progressive/modern)/non-Western (read backward/traditional) hierarchy, these analyses freeze third world women in time, space and history (Mohanty, 1991, p. 6).
Evaluating third world women’s “condition” through western standards of liberal democracy and the separation of public and private spheres, runs the risk of not doing justice to the lived experiences of women living in different socio-political and economic contexts. The recognition of this flawed discourse has led to fundamental changes in how so-called traditional symbols of women’s oppression, the veil and arranged marriages are viewed (Odeh, 1993; Pande, 2015). Such realizations also help understand how women, for generations, have navigated such cultural norms. Women
28 are thus found to be in constant negotiation - be it a patriarchal family structure or the community or polity at large.
Challenging these western notions also involves looking beyond the simple analytical tools utilised when speaking of women from the region. While indicators such as “life expectancy, sex ratio, nutrition, fertility, income-generating activities, education and the new international division of labor” (Mohanty, 1991, p. 6) are important, over reliance on such data misses out on highlighting “[t]he everyday, fluid, fundamentally historical and dynamic nature of the lives of third world women” (Mohanty, 19991, p. 6). This applies to the case in hand: Sri Lankan women’s lack of progress in the labour market has baffled experts mostly because the measurable indicators tell a different story. By attempting to look beyond these strict indicators, what is being challenged is not only a top-down discourse on women in the third world, but also the ways in which the researchers themselves fall into the trap of trying to fit the women into strict categories that were devised within a western hegemonic discourse.
Such rethinking also derives from the idea that the middle class, English-educated elite of postcolonial countries, have been greatly influenced by the values of western feminism. The elites utilise the west’s yardstick of women’s emancipation and progress, to measure their own counterparts’ lack of progress. Hence, at the core of the approach is also an acknowledgement of the role of the researcher and the ways in which s/he needs to “unlearn the dominant paradigm that all...had culturally grown in” (Chadha, 1997, p. 791). Researchers like Ruwanpura (2008) and Attanapola (2013) have tackled this concern and recognised the importance of reflexivity and the process of unlearning involved in their research related to gender studies in Sri Lanka.
29 3.2. Social agency, resistance and identity
A few more arguments are relevant. The agency of the women, either as individuals or as a collective, is given primacy. But its understanding is more subtle. “Agency is […] figured in the minute, day-to-day practices and struggles of third world women” (Mohanty, 1991, p. 33) and therefore, may not be evident in the first instance. This also means that power is viewed as more fluid and “not reducible to binary
oppositions of oppressor/oppressed relations” (Mohanty, 1991, p. 13). This realignment of women’s agency and power, helps recast the relationship between the state and the women: at times, the Sri Lankan state, through its policies or an absence of it acts as an oppressor, but at other times, the very actions of the state has enabled women to pursue different goals.
Because resistance is understood as accompanying all forms of domination, it does not always take the form of an organised, visible movement against oppression. Rather, “[r]esistance inheres in the very gaps, fissures, and silences of hegemonic narratives” and is “encoded in the practices of remembering, and of writing” (Mohanty, 1991, p. 33). This notion of resistance has been used effectively by authors like de Alwis (2012), who argue that Sri Lankan women’s attempts at self-harm are not merely cries for help but constitutes “a form of protest against the everyday social strictures and pressures they face” (p. 48).
Postcolonial feminism also rejects the notion of one identity or category defining the women and adheres to the notions of intersectionality. This stems from the rejection of “universal and fixed notions of “woman” and “gender,” and instead point[s] to divergences and cleavages due to social, cultural, and historical conditions”
(Manalansan, 2006, p. 228). This attention on more than one category of identity and the fluidity existent among different identity categories (Walby, Armstrong & Strid,
30 2012, p. 228), helps understand the ways in which the returnee women’s experiences are not merely reducible to their gendered identity. The women are also from poverty-stricken communities, they are both mothers and wives and former migrant workers. By acknowledging that women have intersecting identities, the risk of casting the women’s experience through a single lens is lessened.
3.3. The postcolonial state and women
The state itself is brought back into focus by placing it within larger, global political and economic drivers. The state is mired in contradictions, as it struggles to balance the needs of its populace with those of a neoliberal agenda being forced by global stakeholders (Comaroff & Comaroff, 2005, p. 132). This in turn, has severely restricted the scope of policy formulation, as the state has acquiesced policy decision making to global actors, rather than local experts. In such a context, marketing its citizens overseas as cheap labour has become a critical survival strategy for the postcolonial state (Hansen & Stepputat, 2005, p. 33).
These dynamics in turn, are viewed as affecting the women, as their everyday experiences do not take place in a vacuum. While the notion of patriarchal social structures and institutions subverting women’s lives is not rejected, the state figures largely in determining women’s life chances. The essentialising of a women’s role as a mother and wife is placed within the historical context of the struggle for independence (Mohanty, 1991). This is found to be the case in Sri Lanka as well, where women came to be held up as a symbol of cultural purity – untouchable and sacred – and therefore, beyond the incorruptible reach of the colonists (Hewamanne, 2008, p. 37-38). The state’s subsequent responses to determining the women’s role in the postcolonial socio-economic and political spheres can be understood by taking into consideration this particular historical context. This also allows researchers to trace the evolving role the
31 state has played with regard to shaping the experiences of women, either through gender sensitive or neutral policies.
Such considerations also call for a rethinking of the public and private spheres as separate entities and the notion that women are located strictly within the latter and struggle for recognition and respect in the former. Viewed as an ideology that is more attuned to the struggle for women’s rights in the west, the public is understood as “personally political” (Mohanty, 1991, p. 9), as women have “not had the benefit of economic conditions that underlie the public/private distinction” (Mohanty, 1991, p. 9). This rejection of a public/private dichotomy casts the role of the state and the women in a new light. While government policies have benefited women, the adverse effects are also keenly felt by women living in under-developed, resource-poor parts of Sri Lanka. They continue to work in underpaid, dangerous jobs; their lives are under constant scrutiny, through poverty-alleviation programmes and other state-led initiatives. But the women have also reacted against the state, especially using their “glorified” role of a mother to put pressure on the government to act against the forced disappearances of youth (Ruwanpura, 2008). By such actions, Sri Lankan women have displayed the fluidity of the public/private boundaries, and challenged the notion of women being best left to manage the household.
3.4. Theory in practice
While postcolonial feminism offers a nuanced lens to understanding the role of the state and the women in a postcolonial setting, the challenge lies in putting theory into practice. One of the strengths in the approach, lies in being wary of generalisations.
The assumption of women as an already constituted, coherent group with identical interests and desires, regardless of class, ethnic or racial location, or contradictions, implies a notion of gender or sexual difference or even
32 patriarchy, which can be applied universally and cross-culturally (Mohanty, 1991, p. 55).
This helps place the study in question within its unique local context. The women represent a particular, localised social and economic setting and whether the same findings could be applied elsewhere, across ethnic and geographic boundaries is doubtful. But locating the intersecting identities is more challenging. For, while entangled identities of gender, poverty and caste, may be easier to conceptualise and “read” in literary texts, locating these in lived experiences of the women is far more problematic. However, when respondents do not raise the linkages between the intersecting identities, the researcher must make these implicit experiences of intersectionality explicit, in the interpretation of the data (Bowleg, 2008, p. 322).
In conclusion, postcolonial feminism continues to grapple with the condition of third world women and posits ways in which the experiences of the women can be examined beyond the lens offered by first world feminism. Although not directly addressing migration per se, the approach signals an awareness of “situatedness” and the ways in which “identities and political positions are worked out within the postcolonial context” and helps “bring visibility to the diversity of postcolonial subjects’ experiences and material conditions under which they live” (Ozkazanc-Pan, 2012, p. 574).
33 4. Locating and Accessing the Programme on the Ground
The theoretical orientation and the nature of the research question was found to be more applicable to qualitative methods. Furthermore, because the study was looking at a specific programme implemented by the GoSL, certain basic details were already settled upon prior to the conduct of the study. However, many of the decisions that were made with regard to the method of data collection, the number of interviews conducted and the scope of the study were determined by the time factor: the study was conducted within a 4 to 6-week period in January and February of 2016.
4.1. Access to and location of the programme
As mentioned earlier, very little information exists in the public domain
regarding the Rata Viruwo programme. Since the only available information pointed to a pilot project implemented by the ILO Sri Lanka office, an ILO representative was contacted. It transpired that the pilot project could not be implemented as planned, as the Samurdhi Authority refused to provide credit facilities to returnee migrant workers because they were not Samurdhi beneficiaries. However, she pointed out that the MoFE had initiated its own “loans for livelihood” programme in Badulla. Situated in the poorest province of the country, and one of the poorest districts in Sri Lanka, Badulla is also the electorate of the former minister for foreign employment, Dilan Perera.
Gaining access to GoSL officials during a time of political upheaval proved to be very difficult and was only managed after several attempts through personal contacts. Given the disparate ways in which the loans for livelihoods scheme was implemented, the study had to be based in the Soranathota DS division. In order to gain access to the DS office in Soranathota, a government official of the Badulla District Secretariat office acted as a mediator.
34 The selection of Soranathota was determined by two practical reasons. The DS division had issued the largest number of loan facilities to returned migrants (28 in total) and was also easily accessible. Other DS divisions had not issued as many loan facilities and were also difficult to access, due to lack of infrastructure facilities and an unreliable, sporadic transport system.
Very little background information is available about Soranathota. The third smallest DS division of the Badulla district, with a land extent of 79 hectares, Soranathota consists of 103 villages and a total population of 22,754. Of this, 2,591 individuals receive Samurdhi benefits (social benefits), which in turn supports 7,499 family members (Department of Census and Statistics, 2016). While the region is scattered with former tea plantations, the more recent livelihood option has been working in limestone kilns. While data regarding livelihood options are difficult to access, 18 percent are self-employed and 12 percent of the total land is used towards cultivation (Soranathota Divisional Secretariat, 2011) pointing towards agriculture as a livelihood option.
In order to speak to the beneficiaries of the programme, written permission from the Divisional Secretary was secured. This was to ensure he was aware of an “outsider” asking questions in his DS division. Although this approach appears top-down, in Sri Lanka, it is generally considered good practice to keep the administrative officer (in-charge of the local area) informed, especially since the study was about a government-initiated programme.
4.2. Selection of interviewees
Given that the programme was directly implemented through the Samurdhi Authority and the selection of beneficiaries was at the discretion of the relevant government officials, there was little leeway in creating criteria by which to
35 eliminate/select interviewees. The only two criterion used were, that the interviewees be women and that they have a prior work experience as domestic workers. Of the 28 loans provided, a majority of the beneficiaries was women, among whom, many had migrated overseas as domestic workers. The first elimination of potential interviewees was done by the Samurdhi field officer, since some of the beneficiaries had opted to go back abroad.
The selection of the interviewees was random, mainly because of the issue of access. A majority of the women were introduced to me at the Samurdhi General Assembly. The women shared their information with me and also set up appointments for me to meet them at their homes. Because I was new to the area, the women decided among themselves how the interviews should be scheduled to ensure that I would not have to move from one locality to another during the same day. This in turn, facilitated the collection of data in a short period of time.
Informed consent was gained prior to the interviews being conducted. The reason for recording the interview had to be explained in detail and was used only if the interviewee felt comfortable with the recording.
Six government officials were interviewed for the purposes of this study. These included three Development officers, two officials in the Samurdhi Authority and an officer of the district secretariat office of Badulla. All of these officials were, at some point, involved in the implementation of the programme. The interviews, shorter in duration, were not recorded as they were all conducted during office hours and in the respective offices. Instead, note taking was allowed.
In order to gather information, a semi-structured interview guide was utilised. This lent well to the type of information and detail that was required to answer the research question. While an exploration of the women’s work and personal lives would
36 have been enriched by in-depth interviews, the choice was due to the limited scope and timeframe of the study. The questions were pre-tested to ensure they “made sense” and had a logical flow.
4.3. Data analysis
Transcribing of the interviews could not be done in a simultaneous fashion, mainly due to the arrangement of accommodation in Badulla. However, until such time, field notes and observations were used to note some of the more common patterns emerging from the interviews (Atkinson and Hammersley, 2007, p. 163). This initial engagement in many ways, helped in directing where the analysis would lead.
As the interviews with the government officials were not recorded, the notes from the interviews were used for the analysis. Some of the interviews were directly translated to English when taking notes but certain figures of speech were noted in Sinhalese.
The transcription of the interviews with the women was dealt with sensitivity as the ways in which the women articulated their thoughts were different: the government officials often used technical “jargon” to refer to the programme and its impact on the beneficiaries. The women on the other hand, were more explicit in voicing their
thoughts in colloquial terms. To maintain the anonymity of the interviewees, the women were given pseudonyms at the time of transcription. In the text, government officials are identified by a simple code.
One of the challenges in translating Sinhalese is the existent gap between colloquial, spoken Sinhalese and the written, more formal version which pays close attention to grammar. But the fact that I am proficient in Sinhalese, have carried out such tasks in the past, and also have an ‘intimate’ knowledge of the culture (Birbill, 2000) helped in minimising any misleading translations.
37 Special attention was paid to colloquial terms of expressions to ensure the meaning was not lost in translation. For example, speakers of Sinhalese end most sentences with the sound “ney” which can be construed as a question or as a confirmation of what the speaker just stated. This peculiar inflection has now been carried into the English language by ending sentences with a “no”. This peculiarity was included in the translations, to highlight the ways in which the women express
themselves. In other instances, where Sinhalese words are left intact, this is made explicit in the text.
The choices made regarding how to collect data from the interviews made the use of grounded theory problematic. Furthermore, my approach to the research question was informed through the particular lens of postcolonial feminism. Therefore, content analysis was used in order to analyse the data. The coding was informed both by the theoretical orientation as well as the questions raised. Hence, both inductive and deductive approaches to creating the codes were utilised (Cho & Lee, 2014, p. 10). Thereafter, in order to ensure the categories were mutually exclusive, the texts were examined several times so that both the latent and manifest ideas expressed by the interviewees were included. Subsequent to the refinement of the categories, specific themes were arrived at. Although time consuming, the coding and analysis was done manually as the number of interviews was relatively small and I had prior experience doing this and none in using a software.
4.4. Ethical considerations
As the topic of the research involved a state-sponsored programme, the only way to gain access to the programme was through the respective government officials. This carried its own risks as the women may have felt compelled to speak. This, to a large extent, was reduced by reiterating that I was acting in my capacity as a student and
