Women, Development and the State: On the Theoretical Impasse

2008

The contributors to this book are from the North and South and include trainers on development issues, a filmmaker, policy-makers, advisers to large international NGOs (INGOs) and United Nations programmes, as well as academics. In acknowledgement of the frequently uneasy relationship between feminism and development, this book is an attempt to reposition feminism within development studies. Its central argument is that many development institutions function through bureaucratic structures and unequal power differentials that undermine feminist intentions. Maxine Molyneux's powerful concluding chapter challenges the myth, as she sees it, 'that gender has been so successfully mainstreamed into development policy that there is now little need for women's projects and programmes, or indeed for women's policy units' (p. 227). Certainly, there has been significant progress with female literacy, longevity, health and access to political life. [1] Yet Molyneux is concerned about the 'globalization of feminism, ' that is, a process in which 'the transformative agenda has been captured by power, co-opted and instrumentalized, and its political vision has been neutralized, where not excised' (p. 234). Many of the 18 essays explore aspects of this process of neutralization and seek to resist it. Many authors are concerned to reopen questions seen as settled. The book's subtitle, 'contradictions, contestations and challenges' is a testament to the contributors' scrutiny of assumptions concerning gender and development. The editors affirm the pluralist nature of feminism, and argue also that '"development" covers a multitude of theoretical and political stances and a wide diversity of practices' (p. 1). They reflect on the fact that despite the engagement within gender and development (GAD) research and the abundant literature on gender mainstreaming, the project of social transformation that is at the height of feminists' activism and engagement

HAGAR Studies in Culture, Polity and Identities Vol.9 (1) 2009: 1-4, 2009

What does the experience of women trash collectors in contemporary Dakar tell us about the gendered politics of the Senegalese neoliberalist era? How do female ballet dancers articulate Taiwanese cultural nationalism? And do well-intentioned Israeli city planners who design a new neighborhood at the edge of an Israeli-Palestinian town improve or inhibit gender equality among the new residents?

2018

The discourse on development has traditionally constructed women as beneficiaries and not as key players in creating an equitable society. The deep rooted patriarchal structures coupled with the hegemonic tendencies of the neo liberal state have further pushed them to the margins. However, women constitute half of the humanity and any discursive space would offer only a partial account of progress if it fails to take note of their vast potential. It is imperative, therefore, that any development agenda must evolve a nuanced approach that factors in the differentials – whether it be caste, class, race, sexuality and religion or a combination of all three. The writings in this book cover a wide spectrum of issues from a gendered perspective, critically scrutinizing existing policies and attempting to signal towards the alternative models. Among the themes discussed are: • Deconstructing development from a gendered perspective :Ideological debates • The discourse on rights and resisting inequalities • Reviewing and recasting initiatives: Policies and programmes • Women and media • Viewing women as beneficiaries or determinants? With its interdisciplinary character related to the development discourse in the context of women, this collection of papers will be of great interest to sociologists, historians, political scientists, educationists, home scientists, and those interested in gender studies and policy making.

During the last three decades, sociologists have studied the increasing presence of women in both developmental studies, and practice. At the same time, most international organizations, especially the United Nations development fund for women, have emphasized the empowerment of women, alongside gender mainstreaming in developmental initiatives (World Conferences on Women). The international organizations have focused on the integration of women as a means to increase gender equality in development projects, but have experienced several challenges (Tinker, 2002). The escalations of feminism through debates, protests, intellectual pursuits, and contributions to revolutions, have paved the way for the integration of women in development thinking (Epstein, 2001).

Studies in Comparative International Development, 2017

Briefly reviewing the evolution of the field of women development, the author argues that the field has lost the dynamism characteristic of earlier periods of constructive tension between theory and practice that led to the adoption of the gender and development framework and the incorporation of issues of multiculturalism, human rights, and political participation into a field that had largely been defined in economic terms. Today, however, critical theory is caught in an Banti-neoliberal^position that is increasingly outdated and that has interpreted women's work, individual agency, and the role of the state in ways that hinder rather than facilitate new thinking and better outcomes for women participants in WID/GAD projects and programs. Keywords Women/gender and development. Liberalism. Neoliberalism. Feminist theory Marking the fortieth anniversary of the creation of the Women in Development Office at USAID (in 2014), the twentieth anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action (in 2015), and the continued commitment to gender equality in the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, this essay reflects on the origin, evolution, and future of the field of Women/Gender and Development. I draw on my personal experiences as a scholar, bureaucrat, and activist to argue that the sometimes contentious exchanges between feminist theorists and those

Ids Bulletin-institute of Development Studies, 2004

Politics and Gender, 2019

What is the end game of gender mainstreaming in institutional and institutionalized forms of "development" in neoliberal times? Can empowerment, gender justice, and inclusion of women in developing countries be planned, particularly when directed by state institutions, Western/international agencies, and corporations? The four books under review here each engage in their own way with these questions, which outline certain contours of and interrogate how gender programs and policies are conceived in contemporary neoliberal developmental times. Gillian Fletcher examines the potentials for and limitations of

1984

emergence of the women in development effort * competing theoretical foundations of women in development, i.e., different explanations of the problem * analysis of the failure of the women in development effort * strategies for a feminist approach to women in development * attempt to declare feminism irrelevant to WID * dialogue primarily outside of development industry * a shift in power, that is, extension of people's control * objectives consistent with the long-term goals for a new society and based on critical analysis of the present system * reform raising people's consciousness about the need for a new society

Higher Education of Social Science, 2011

Today, the worldwide development concern is going through a new awareness of the importance of women issues in development policies and process which become crucial issue, but most of the time women's are not actual beneficiaries of development policies especially in the Third World countries women. Women are the almost fifty percent of total population in the world, so we have to priority them to development. Otherwise in terms of socio, economic development we can not go far. In this context most of the feminist have criticized the development processes and suggests for an alternative model of development, which should be development from women's point of view and human development. So the main objective of this paper is goes to analyze feminist debate and thoughts about third world women and development process. To discus this issue here I also discuss women and development in the third world and the situation of women in the third world process from South Asian (Bangladesh) and Sub Saharan Africa (Uganda) perspective.

Professor Naila Kabeer on "Gender, Poverty, and Inequality: a brief history of feminist contributions in the field of international development".