Amy Kaler – författare

The adapter of the successful The Gendered Society Reader branches out on her own to explore the intersections of gender and other important aspects of Canadian society including race, inequality, sexuality, indigeneity, politics, and the economy. With brand new readings and engaging pedagogy, this new book provides a uniquely Canadian focus on the sociology of gender.

Drawing on studies from Africa, Asia and South America, this book provides empirical evidence and conceptual explorations of the gendered dimensions of food security. It investigates how food security and gender inequity are conceptualized within interventions, assesses the impacts and outcomes of gender-responsive programs on food security and gender equity and addresses diverse approaches to gender research and practice that range from descriptive and analytical to strategic and transformative. The chapters draw on diverse theoretical perspectives, including transformative learning, feminist theory, deliberative democracy and technology adoption. As a result, they add important conceptual and empirical material to a growing literature on the challenges of gender equity in agricultural production. A unique feature of this book is the integration of both analytic and transformative approaches to understanding gender and food security. The analytic material shows how food security interventions enable women and men to meet the long-term nutritional needs of their households, and to enhance their economic position. The transformative chapters also document efforts to build durable and equitable relationships between men and women, addressing underlying social, cultural and economic causes of gender inequality. Taken together, these combined approaches enable women and men to reflect on gendered divisions of labor and resources related to food, and to reshape these divisions in ways which benefit families and communities.Co-published with the International Development Research Centre.

Drawing on studies from Africa, Asia and South America, this book provides empirical evidence and conceptual explorations of the gendered dimensions of food security. It investigates how food security and gender inequity are conceptualized within interventions, assesses the impacts and outcomes of gender-responsive programs on food security and gender equity and addresses diverse approaches to gender research and practice that range from descriptive and analytical to strategic and transformative. The chapters draw on diverse theoretical perspectives, including transformative learning, feminist theory, deliberative democracy and technology adoption. As a result, they add important conceptual and empirical material to a growing literature on the challenges of gender equity in agricultural production. A unique feature of this book is the integration of both analytic and transformative approaches to understanding gender and food security. The analytic material shows how food security interventions enable women and men to meet the long-term nutritional needs of their households, and to enhance their economic position. The transformative chapters also document efforts to build durable and equitable relationships between men and women, addressing underlying social, cultural and economic causes of gender inequality. Taken together, these combined approaches enable women and men to reflect on gendered divisions of labor and resources related to food, and to reshape these divisions in ways which benefit families and communities.Co-published with the International Development Research Centre.

Reproduction is the most emotionally complicated human activity. It transforms lives but it also creates fears and anxieties about women whose childbearing doesn’t conform to the norm.Baby Trouble in the Last Best West explores the ways that women’s childbearing became understood as a social problem in early twentieth-century Alberta. Kaler utilizes censuses, newspaper reports, social work case files, and personal letters to illuminate the ordeals that women, men, and babies were subjected to as Albertans debated childbearing. Through the lens of reproduction, Kaler offers a vivid and engaging analysis of how colonialism, racism, nationalism, medicalization, and evolving gender politics contributed to Alberta’s imaginative economy of reproduction. Kaler investigates five different episodes of "baby trouble": the emergence of obstetrics as a political issue, the drive for eugenic sterilization, unmarried childbearing and "rescue homes" for unmarried mothers, state-sponsored allowances for single mothers, and high infant mortality. Baby Trouble in the Last Best West will transport the reader to the turmoil of Alberta’s early years while examining the complexity of settler society-building and gender struggles.

Field research can consist of trekking across the globe to study peoples in exotic cultural settings. It can also mean strapping on your running shoes and observing behavior at the local market. Regardless of whether the researcher is “at home” or away, the development of research relationships is paramount to the success of the research project. In this book, the authors provide guidance to researchers on developing relationships in their field research. Using a myriad of examples from projects in a wide range of settings, Kaler and Beres offer helpful hints about how to navigate the personal side of conducting research—establishing and maintaining relationships, handling ethical dilemmas, and identifying how the personal identity of researchers help shape their projects.

Field research can consist of trekking across the globe to study peoples in exotic cultural settings. It can also mean strapping on your running shoes and observing behavior at the local market. Regardless of whether the researcher is “at home” or away, the development of research relationships is paramount to the success of the research project. In this book, the authors provide guidance to researchers on developing relationships in their field research. Using a myriad of examples from projects in a wide range of settings, Kaler and Beres offer helpful hints about how to navigate the personal side of conducting research—establishing and maintaining relationships, handling ethical dilemmas, and identifying how the personal identity of researchers help shape their projects.