Contesting a Third World development category: Female-headed households in Samoa

SynopsisCurrent global orthodoxy surrounding female headed households (FHHs) in the Third World country context suggests that they are poor, isolated, marginalised, disempowered and lacking in agency. It has also been argued that FHHs in many instances are subject to neglect because of cultural perceptions of single parenting. This position of privation, marginalisation and abuse is firmly cemented within a development discourse whereby poverty alleviation and the achievement of the millennium development goals (MDGs) are the accepted development framework supported by many development institutions, non-government organisations (NGOs) and donors. Thus FHHs make an ideal target for those working to alleviate poverty and achieve the MDGs. This is a concern because acceptance of the new poverty agenda in the Pacific generally and in Samoa in particular, is a means whereby certain categories, labels and other such accompanying orthodoxies, such as FHHs as poor, neglected and marginalised may also gain acceptance and become entrenched, regardless of relevance. In light of the above, this paper explores cultural perceptions of FHHs in Samoa, and by seeking to understand some of the experiences of Samoan FHHS outside of the global rhetoric it is shown that a development approach where the nexus between FHHs and their socio-political economic and cultural context needs to be established before any conclusions about poverty, disempowerment and marginalisation can be claimed.