Dissertation Research: The World in a Bottle: Gender, Age, and Direct-Sales in Costa Rica

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

Under the supervision of Dr. Mary Weismantel, graduate student Theresa Preston-Werner will investigate the emerging phenomenon of direct-sales organizations (DSOs) in Costa Rica. As a new source of work and consumption, older women appear to be using these economic organizations to increase their social status in their communities and homes. She hypothesizes that these new economic activities, which are spreading throughout the world, may change the social structure of poor communities because they expand and penetrate markets quickly through their multi-level structure and sell not only consumer products but also higher status, quasi-professional jobs. The researcher will carry out an intensive, year-long case study of the effects of a single, international nutritional suplement DSO in the small, southern city of Neily, Costa Rica. She will use a multi-method research strategy, including 1) a community demographic survey; 2) observation of daily rounds; (3) sociolinguistic analysis of meetings and distributor sales pitches; (4) single-subject and focus group interviews;and (5) critical discourse and narrative analyses. This study will contribute to social science understanding of the relationship between gender, aging, and global economic practices, by showing how the influx of new work and consumption opportunities changes what it means to be old and a woman in Costa Rica. Thereby, the research will help to refine theory about the social effects of globalization. The research also will contribute significantly to the education of a graduate student.