Feminisms in Development
Contradictions, Contestations and Challenges
Published on 31. December 2006
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-1-84277-818-0 (ISBN)
Description
This collection of essays by leading feminist thinkers from North and South constitutes a major new attempt to reposition feminism within development studies.
Feminism's emphasis on social transformation makes it fundamental to development studies. Yet the relationship between the two disciplines has frequently been a troubled one. At present, the way in which many development institutions function often undermines feminist intent through bureaucratic structures and unequal power quotients. Moreover, the seeming intractability of inequalities and injustice in developing countries have presented feminists with some enormous challenges. Here, emphasizing the importance of a plurality of approaches, the authors argue for the importance of what 'feminisms' have to say to development.
Confronting the enormous challenges for feminisms in development studies, this book provides real hope for dialogue and exchange between feminisms and development.
Feminism's emphasis on social transformation makes it fundamental to development studies. Yet the relationship between the two disciplines has frequently been a troubled one. At present, the way in which many development institutions function often undermines feminist intent through bureaucratic structures and unequal power quotients. Moreover, the seeming intractability of inequalities and injustice in developing countries have presented feminists with some enormous challenges. Here, emphasizing the importance of a plurality of approaches, the authors argue for the importance of what 'feminisms' have to say to development.
Confronting the enormous challenges for feminisms in development studies, this book provides real hope for dialogue and exchange between feminisms and development.
Reviews / Votes
'It is honest, level-headed, yet deeply committed to core feminist values and principles. Its editors and authors must be commended for their courage and their persistence with the difficult questions.'Gita Sen
'A lively and self-critical set of essays on the perils and potentials of feminist engagements with the structures of power in the development field, by those who have been there.'
Naila Kabeer
'Using an international perspective, it provides indispensable insights for everyone working on development, activists and women's movements around the world.'
Pinar Ilkkaracan
'Highly recommended to researchers, teachers, and activists in all fields of development study and practice.'
Population and Development Review
'Their work is significant for GAD (Gender and Development) practitioners and should be a mandatory read.'
Wendy Miller, Lilith
'The book is exemplar in the field of feminist writing ... pioneering in its insights on the trajectory of gender and development debates and policy choices that have resulted from feminist engagement. The conceptual breadth of this work is impressive as it seamlessly covers multiple topics that are central to gender and development debates ... A compelling read.'
Feminist Economics
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 135 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-84277-818-0 (9781842778180)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Andrea Cornwall | Elizabeth Harrison | Ann Whitehead
Feminisms in Development
Contradictions, Contestations and Challenges
E-Book
07/2013
1st Edition
Zed Books Ltd
€35.49
Available for download
Persons
Andrea Cornwall is Fellow of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. She is co-editor of Dislocating Masculinity: Comparative Ethnographies (1994), Realizing Rights: Transforming Sexual and Reproductive Wellbeing (Zed 2002) and editor of Readings in Gender in Africa (2004).
Ann Whitehead is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Sussex. A contributor to foundational debates on feminist engagement with development and on theorising gender, she has had a wide engagement with national and international feminist politics.
Elizabeth Harrison is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Sussex. She is the co-author of Whose Development? An Ethnography of Aid (Zed 1998).
Ann Whitehead is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Sussex. A contributor to foundational debates on feminist engagement with development and on theorising gender, she has had a wide engagement with national and international feminist politics.
Elizabeth Harrison is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Sussex. She is the co-author of Whose Development? An Ethnography of Aid (Zed 1998).
Content
Introduction: Feminisms in Development: Contradictions, Contestations and Challenges - Andrea Cornwall, Elizabeth Harrison and Ann Whitehead
Part I: The Struggle Over Interpretation
1. Gender Myths that Instrumentalise Women: A View from the Indian Frontline - Srilatha Batliwala and Deepa Dhanraj
2. Dangerous Equations? How Female-headed Households Became the Poorest of the Poor: Causes, Consequences and Cautions - Sylvia Chant
3. Back to Women? Translations, Re-Significations, and Myths of Gender in Policy and Practice in Brazil - Cecilia Sardenberg
4. Battles Over Booklets: Gender Myths in the British Aid Programme - Rosalind Eyben
5. Not Very Poor, Powerless or Pregnant. The African Woman Forgotten by Development - Everjoice Win
6. 'Streetwalkers Show the Way': Reframing the Debate on Trafficking from Sex Workers' Perspective - Nandinee Bandyopadhyay, Swapna Gayen, Rama Debnath, Kajol Bose, Sikha Das, Geeta Das, M. Das, Manju Biswas, Pushpa Sarkar, Putul Singh, Rashoba Bibi, Rekha Mitra and Sudipta Biswas
Part II: Institutonalising Gender in Development
7. Gender, Myth and Fable: The Perils of Mainstreaming in Sector Bureaucracies - Hilary Standing
8. Making Sense of Gender in Shifting Institutional Contexts: Some Reflections on Gender Mainstreaming - Ramya Subrahmanian
9. Gender Mainstreaming: What is it (About) and Should We Continue Doing it? - Prudence Woodford-Berger
10. Mainstreaming Gender or 'Streaming' Gender Away: Feminists Marooned in the Development Business - Maitrayee Mukhopadhay
11. Critical Connections: Feminist Studies in African Contexts - Amina Mama
12. SWAPping Gender: From Cross-Cutting Obscurity to Sectoral Security? - Anne Marie Goetz and Joanne Sandler
Part III: Looking to the Future: Challenges for Feminist Engagement
13. The NGO-ization of Arab Women's Movements - Islah Jad
14. Political Fiction Meets Gender Myth: Post-conflict Reconstruction, 'Democratisation' and Women's Rights - Deniz Kandiyoti
15. Re-assessing Paid Work and Women's Empowerment: Lessons from the Global Economy - Ruth Pearson
16. Announcing a New Dawn Prematurely? Human Rights Feminists and the Rights Based Approaches to Development.- Dzodzi Tsikata
17. The Chimera of Success: Gender Ennui and the Changed International Policy Environment - Maxine Molyneux
Notes on Contributors
Index
Part I: The Struggle Over Interpretation
1. Gender Myths that Instrumentalise Women: A View from the Indian Frontline - Srilatha Batliwala and Deepa Dhanraj
2. Dangerous Equations? How Female-headed Households Became the Poorest of the Poor: Causes, Consequences and Cautions - Sylvia Chant
3. Back to Women? Translations, Re-Significations, and Myths of Gender in Policy and Practice in Brazil - Cecilia Sardenberg
4. Battles Over Booklets: Gender Myths in the British Aid Programme - Rosalind Eyben
5. Not Very Poor, Powerless or Pregnant. The African Woman Forgotten by Development - Everjoice Win
6. 'Streetwalkers Show the Way': Reframing the Debate on Trafficking from Sex Workers' Perspective - Nandinee Bandyopadhyay, Swapna Gayen, Rama Debnath, Kajol Bose, Sikha Das, Geeta Das, M. Das, Manju Biswas, Pushpa Sarkar, Putul Singh, Rashoba Bibi, Rekha Mitra and Sudipta Biswas
Part II: Institutonalising Gender in Development
7. Gender, Myth and Fable: The Perils of Mainstreaming in Sector Bureaucracies - Hilary Standing
8. Making Sense of Gender in Shifting Institutional Contexts: Some Reflections on Gender Mainstreaming - Ramya Subrahmanian
9. Gender Mainstreaming: What is it (About) and Should We Continue Doing it? - Prudence Woodford-Berger
10. Mainstreaming Gender or 'Streaming' Gender Away: Feminists Marooned in the Development Business - Maitrayee Mukhopadhay
11. Critical Connections: Feminist Studies in African Contexts - Amina Mama
12. SWAPping Gender: From Cross-Cutting Obscurity to Sectoral Security? - Anne Marie Goetz and Joanne Sandler
Part III: Looking to the Future: Challenges for Feminist Engagement
13. The NGO-ization of Arab Women's Movements - Islah Jad
14. Political Fiction Meets Gender Myth: Post-conflict Reconstruction, 'Democratisation' and Women's Rights - Deniz Kandiyoti
15. Re-assessing Paid Work and Women's Empowerment: Lessons from the Global Economy - Ruth Pearson
16. Announcing a New Dawn Prematurely? Human Rights Feminists and the Rights Based Approaches to Development.- Dzodzi Tsikata
17. The Chimera of Success: Gender Ennui and the Changed International Policy Environment - Maxine Molyneux
Notes on Contributors
Index