Changes, continuities, and gender norms: exploring the household division of labour in Medellín, Colombia

Legros, Sophie (2025) Changes, continuities, and gender norms: exploring the household division of labour in Medellín, Colombia. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

The thesis explores how gender norms change in the context of Medellín, Colombia. It focuses on why men’s participation in unpaid household responsibilities appears resistant to change despite women’s increasing involvement in paid work. Based on 16 months of fieldwork, it critically examines the World Values Survey (WVS), commonly used to measure social norms by aggregating individual gender attitudes. The thesis argues that the design of the WVS, influenced by theories assuming linear development towards gender equality, oversimplifies the complexities of gender norm change. Using a multilevel feminist institutionalist framework, the research reveals that gender transformations have resulted in the co-existence of normative models, with more varied alternatives in Medellín’s society in flux, rather than straightforward and rapid shifts from old to new norms. A nested mixed-methods approach follows WVS variables across three levels of analysis (micro, meso, and macro), combining locally driven household surveys, qualitative interviews with survey respondents, and participant observation, to uncover the varied interpretations and responses to gender norms among socially situated actors. This approach challenges the presumed consensus reflected in survey data, revealing ambiguities and multiple meanings in how gender norms are understood and negotiated. Through its core focus, the thesis emphasises the potential of individuals and marginalised groups to transform gender norms, while also recognising the constraints these norms impose on their actions and strategies for change. This creates a tension in what forms of change are possible, highlighting both the agency and the limits of those working to shift deep-seated gender norms. The thesis further investigates men’s changing roles and the contextual factors, such as violence and informality, that shape trajectories of stability and change. It offers an intergenerational perspective that moves beyond traditional intra-household bargaining frameworks, providing a nuanced understanding of how gender norms are reproduced and contested in everyday life amidst rapid urbanisation and economic liberalisation. By linking micro-level interactions and negotiations within the family and community to meso-level changing institutions and gender norms at the macro-level, the thesis reconsiders gender norm change as a dynamic process filled with ambiguity and diversity. It underscores the need for context-specific interpretations of research tools like the WVS, informed by local realities and perspectives. It raises caution about carrying out cross-national comparisons based on these tools. These findings contribute to debates on rising female labour force participation in Latin America and the malleability of gender norms, attitudes, and social expectations at critical junctures.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 2025 Sophie Legros
Library of Congress subject classification:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Sets:	Departments > International Development
Supervisor:	Kabeer, Naila and Sigle-Rushton, Wendy
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/4879

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