Gender and Development

By: Anne-Marijn, Carolien, Liselotte and Emma

Overview

Women in the global economy

Case study: Clothing industry in Istanbul Gender, technology and livelihoods. “Whose Voices, Whose Choices?” Gender in participatory planning Video Discussion

Women in the global economy Women workers are increasing in LDC’s. Type: Light manufacturing industries Rural-urban migration of women

Are women victims or agents of change in the global economies?

Women as victims I

Why women are exploited

Maria Mies:

- Cheapest possible labour

- More easily controllable than men

- Women are cut off from social support structures.

Women as victims II

Why women are exploited

Aihwa Ong: Local bureaucrats are threatened by the new

autonomy of women.

Modern workplaces are oppressing female workers into all realms of their life.

Case Study: Female workers in the clothing industry. Istanbul

Women take up 60% of the labour force Rural-urban migrants are mainly women who

seek employment in Istanbul. Poor wages made women still dependent on

their husbands. Vicious circle: Daughters also end up in the

clothing industry, when they have reached working age.

Women transformed

Others believe that the global economy liberates women:

Delay in marriage and childbearing. Economic and social autonomy. It may enhance political awareness. Better opportunity to enhance social and political

power. Advances status of workers, but also their status

of women.

Conclusion

Female participants in the global economy is a very complex subject.

It varies among states;

- it may enhance the position of women

- it may have a negative impact on women

Gender, Technology and Livelihoods

Andrew Scott and Margaret Foster

Introduction

Most of the world’s poor are women

Women’s responsibilities

Factors that influence gender differences

Poverty

Women’s knowledge

Women’s vulnerabilities

Undervalued knowledge

Gender

Norms and values Innovating and adaptation ‘Helping out’ Development workers Lack of self- confidence

Women and Livelihoods

Women’s tasks

No time to learn new things

Health

Multitasking

Technology (1)

Technology: “the human skills, knowledge and organization as well as the tools or ‘hardware’ involved in production.”

Symbolically passed on from mother to daughter

Women’s social networks Firewood and energy

Technology (2)

Appropriate energy technologies is central to the conservation of women’s health

Energy scarcity not enough cooking fuel Women’s technological improvements based

on own priorities More security oriented Women’s technical expertise often ignored

Participation and change

Need for recognition of priorities and expertise of women

Involvement at every stage

Building on existing local knowledge

Conclusion

Gender analysis

Women and political representation

Shirin M. Rai

Women and political representation Development policy is currently constructed

without much influence from women Need for political mobilization of women Lack of representation is a problem Can ‘women’ be seen as a group? Women’s interests Women’s groups

Representation

Appropriate forms of representation Levels of government institutional

constraints Policy making Party systems gate keeping, general

interest Citizenship good governance Legitimacy and accountability

Women in political institutions Male bias

Worldwide: low percentage of women in national parliaments

Slow improvement

Feminist debates on representation State feminism seen as a force that could

positively influence women’s participation

Question of form and content

Good governance WB, SAP

Platform of Action (Beijing)

Reasons for participation

The greater the number of women in public office, the greater the disturbance in gender hierarchy in public life threshold participation

Elites Exploration of strategies that women in public

office use Success of women’s movements reflected in

political representation of women

Strategies for increasing representation Quotas at local and national level as a

compensation for social barriers that have prevented women from participating in politics

But this recognition of the role of women in society may mean that power relations don’t change because women haven’t “earned” it themselves

Conclusion

State institutions can’t be the major focus of women’s political struggles: also informal networks

But maybe ‘trickle down’ approach women’s representation

Discursive shift in teaching of politics

Article

“Whose Voices, Whose Choices?”

By Andrea Cornwall

Explores dimensions of “participation” and “gender” in development, highlighting paradoxes of “gender-aware” and participatory development interventions.

Ideas

WID (feminist) & Participatory Development GAD emerged as an alternative to liberal Women in

Development (WID) GAD & Participatory Development

Problems in getting women involved Time Official male bias Social constraints about women’s capacities

and roles The absence of “critical mass” of women (!) Lack of public speaking experience

Tension Question

…between feminist agenda of GAD and

the emphasis on participation:Women’s tendencies to let “the mother and wife in them” interfere.

IS THIS A BAD THING? CAN THEY BE EXPECTED NOT TO?

Gender in participatory planning To what extent are women included? (tokenism

- delegated control) India (KRIBP) - problems:

public location of activities timing (and also rapidity) formality marks project as men’s domain lack of female staff assumptions of fieldworkers:

overlook that the powerful take over the arena assume women’s agreement

Voice? Making space for difference: Working with

separate groups and combining their plans (Uganda)

Speaking is not the same as being listened to.

Backfired - women chastised for bringing taboos into public spaces

Sensitivity for cultural context! Method presents no challenge to existing

structure

Participation, gender and policy

Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA) incorporation of gender-related issues

depends on perspective of fieldworkers weak points in the transition from fieldwork

to PRSPs - need advocacy for gender throughout writing stage

Too narrowly focused on women as ‘gender’; men have become marginalized

Stepping towards solutions

focus on ALL marginalized groups, not only women, and not only in one dimension (e.g. gender)

strategies that incorporate local dynamics of difference

advocacy for gender at every stage of the PRSP writing process

work from the view of poverty as powerlessness politics of difference - situational identity

Video

Fiji - fishing women Empowerment of women

work trade - overcoming cultural restrictions

Disadvantages: double workload sustainability?

Discussion

How does the video relate to the subject, to what extent does it support or counterargument it?

Is structural change a desirable goal, keeping in mind the potential for backfiring on the marginalized group it has demonstrated?