Reversed Realities

Naila Kabeer uncovers the deeply entrenched biases which underpin mainstream development theory and account for the marginal status given to women's needs in current development policy. The emergence of "women" as a specific category in development thought is traced and alternative frameworks for analyzing gender hierarchies examined. The household is identified as a primary site for the construction of power relations and compares the extent to which gender inequalities are revealed in different approaches to the family unit. The book assesses the inequalities of the poverty line as a measuring tool and provides a critical overview of an issue fiercely contested by feminists: population control.