Western NGOs representation of“Third World women” : - A comparative study of Kvinna till Kvinna (Sweden) and Women for Women International (USA)

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this descriptive study is to examine how two Western women‟s NGOs represent women in the “Third World”. The examined cases are the progressive NGOs Kvinna till Kvinna (Sweden) and the American counterpart Women for Women International (US).Qualitative research methodology has been utilized throughout this study. This thesis is also based on the social theory of constructivism and its ontological assumptions. Since both Sweden and USA are said to be strong promoters of gender equality- a comparative study design, examining two progressive NGOs is one suitable way to analyze the specified research questions. The analysis is based upon the article “Under Western Eyes” (1986) in which Chandra Mohanty discusses Western feminists‟ representation of “Third World women”, summarized in six main stereotypes. Mohanty‟s six claims regarding Western representation of “Third World women” designed the framework that has been used to analyze the collected data, which consists of the two organization‟s own material that is available on their individual websites. The formulated research questions asks whether Kvinna till Kvinna and Women for Women International represent “Third World women” as a homogeneous group sharing a similar experience of oppression in the ways described by Mohanty and if there are any differences in the ways of representation when comparing Kvinna till Kvinna and Women for Women International.