Development

Citation:

Cronin, Aidan A., Pradeep K. Mehta, and Anjal Prakash, eds. 2015. Gender Issues in Water and Sanitation Programmes : Lessons from India. New Delhi, IND: Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd. 

Authors: Aidan A. Cronin, Pradeep K. Mehta, Anjal Prakash

Annotation:

This book fills the gaps in conceptual knowledge related to gender outcomes in water and sanitation issues. It illustrates how to get the desired gender outcomes in WASH programs by providing real-life case studies from different regions of India. The first section focuses on the Gender and WASH problem, forming a background for the case studies in India. Ways of incorporating gender dimensions in water management and in water and sanitation agendas in India are heavily explored here. The second section provides a contextual understanding of gender and WASH in India through basic facts, statistics, and anecdotes. The final section discusses women’s participation in the sanitation sector with a focus on developing innovative ways in which women’s role and participation can be up scaled. Through the case studies, the authors argue that the identification of vulnerable households can help in devising systems to reduce the hardships faced by women. Water governance was found to be limiting for women when the existing social dynamics of the region were not addressed. Current training programs of the Government of India were found to lack in having an approach to gender and equity in WASH. The book concludes by offering further thoughts on the “gender how?” question, while providing suggestions for further policy initiatives on gender in WASH. Such suggestions are highly centered on further research in the gender and hygiene field. 

Topics: Development, Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Gender Analysis, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Hierarchies, Gender Equality/Inequality, Gender Equity, Health, Households, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: India

Year: 2015

Citation:

Joshi, Deepa. 2014. “Feminist Solidarity? Women’s Engagement in Politics and the Implications for Water Management in the Darjeeling Himalaya.” Mountain Research and Development 34 (3): 243–54. doi: 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D13-00097.1. 

Author: Deepa Joshi

Abstract:

This article explores the motivations of a diverse group of women in the Himalayan region of Darjeeling district in India to engage (or not) in politics, and discusses how women, like men, are vulnerable to power and politics. In Darjeeling, class, ethnicity, and other divides are accentuated by unresolved, decades-long identity based political conflicts that also obscure practical everyday needs and challenges. This defines which women engage in the political domain and, in the dominantly patriarchal political space, how these women relate to the region’s enduring water challenges. In such a setting, it would be ideal to wish for solidarity among women that would overcome class and ethnic divisions and individual political aspirations, making space for gendering political causes and practical challenges. Such solidarity would be especially pertinent in the Eastern Himalaya, given the region’s projected climate vulnerability and fragile democracy. However, reality is far removed from development discourse and policy which suggests an assumed camaraderie among mountain women: an imagined empathy and solidarity in relation both to environmental causes and concerns and the practice of equitable power and politics. In looking at how a diverse group of women in varying positions of power and powerlessness in Darjeeling District are unable, reluctant, or simply uninterested in addressing critical water injustices experienced by some, this paper calls for retrospection on both gender-environment myths and gender-politics fictions. 

Keywords: Gender, women, identity, environment, water, politics, feminism, solidarity, Darjeeling

Annotation:

This article explores the realities surrounding women, political conflicts, and injustices in the Darjeeling district of the Eastern Himalaya. It explores the two stereotypes placed on women: that they are more egalitarian and support policies promoting equality, and that women have an inherent link and concern for nature. The author studied a diverse group of women who chose to engage in political discussion formally and informally. Joshi found contrary to popular belief that most women were unwilling to address the complexity of water injustices, having been affected by the same political constraints as men. The stereotype of women as sharing an inherent relationship with the environment is still prominent in policy that marginalizes women. The case study of the Himalayas demonstrates that women are not passive victims of change, especially in the case of climate change adaptation. The issue of water scarcity in the Darjeeling district is due to hydrogeological, financial, and sociopolitical constraints. Women in positions of power were found to not prioritize gender and environmental issues over personal interests. The paper concludes with a recommendation to broaden one’s understanding and defining of gender. 

Topics: Class, Development, Environment, Climate Change, Ethnicity, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Femininity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Political Participation Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2014

Citation:

Kasente, Deborah. 2000. “Gender and Social Security Reform in Africa.” International Social Security Review 53 (3): 27-41.

Author: Deborah Kasente

Abstract:

As a result of pressures from structural adjustment policies, persistent poverty and slow economic growth in most African countries, there is widespread reform of formal social security systems in the region. The designs for reform have ignored gender concerns and non-formal social security systems, yet it is widely known that women and men have different experiences in the labour market and that non-formal systems are currently the main source of social security for most women and men, especially in rural communities. The paper points out the efficiency and equity costs of ignoring gender and non-formal social security systems and proposes action for policymakers.

Keywords: social security reform, development

Topics: Development, Economies, Gender, Governance, Livelihoods Regions: Africa

Year: 2000

Citation:

Soh, Chung-Hee Sarah. 1993. "Sexual Equality, Male Superiority, and Korean Women in Politics: Changing Gender Relations in a "Patriarchal Democracy." Sex Roles 28 (1-2): 73-90.

Author: Chung-Hee Sarah Soh

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Development, Gender, Women, Men, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Hierarchies Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: South Korea

Year: 1993

Citation:

Williams, Suzanne. 2001. “Contested Terrain: Oxfam, Gender, and the Aftermath of War.” Gender and Development 9 (3): 19-28.

Author: Suzanne Williams

Abstract:

In this paper I explore the terrain of the international NGO (INGO) - in this case Oxfam GB - and some of its difficulties in integrating gender equity goals in the institutional structures and policies which govern its activities in conflict and its aftermath. I look at terrain that is divided into areas that are treated very differently. These are, on one hand, the field of humanitarian interventions in the throes of an emergency, and on the other, the 'non-conflict' field of reconstruction and development. Historically, these two fields of activity have been governed by very different ways of thinking and acting, often in conflict with each other. Gender analysis and gender-sensitive programming are central to these differences, and essential tools in the attempts to overcome them. In Oxfam GB at present, the differences in approaches to gender equity in these two territories are acknowledged, if not routinely addressed; but the importance of addressing gender equity in order to overcome some of these differences, is more complicated and controversial.

Topics: Development, Gender, Women, Men, Gender Analysis, Gender Balance, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Health, Humanitarian Assistance, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, NGOs Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe Countries: Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, United Kingdom

Year: 2001

Citation:

Hutchings, Kimberly. 2000. "Towards a Feminist International Ethics." Review of International Studies 26 (5): 111-30.

Author: Kimberly Hutchings

Abstract:

The title of this article brings together two terms, the latter, ‘international ethics’, is instantly recognizable as referring to a distinct aspect of the academic study of international relations with its own canonic tradition and debates. The former term, ‘feminist’, is much less familiar, and for many normative theorists in international relations refers to a political movement and set of ideological positions whose relevance to international ethics is far from clear. It is therefore necessary to engage in some preliminary explanation of the term ‘feminism’ and how it has come to be linked to ‘international ethics’ in recent scholarship in order to set out the argument of this article. It is only in the last fifteen years that theoretical perspectives under the label of feminism have come to be applied to international relations, although they have a rather longer history within other social sciences and, significantly, within ethical theory. Feminism as a political movement comes in a variety of ideological forms and the same is true of feminism within the academy. The common theme which connects diverse theoretical positions under the label of ‘feminism’ is the claim that paying attention to the ways in which social reality is ‘gendered’ has a productive impact on how it is to be understood, judged and may be changed. What counts as ‘productive’ is related not simply to the goal of enriching understanding and judgment as such (by drawing attention to its gendered dimension), but to the explicitly political goal of exposing and addressing the multiple ways in which both women and men are oppressed by gendered relations of power. It is clear, from the first, therefore, that there is a powerfully normative agenda inherent in any perspective labelled as ‘feminist’.

Keywords: feminism, feminist theory, gender theory, international feminist movement, international politics, gendered policy analysis, gender and development

Topics: Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Democracy / Democratization, Development, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Hierarchies, Globalization, Governance, Political Economies

Year: 2000

Citation:

Guenther, Katja M. 2011. "The Possibilities and Pitfalls of NGO Feminism: Insights from Postsocialist Eastern Europe." Signs 36 (4): 863-87.

Author: Katja Guenther

Abstract:

This article identifies the problems and opportunities facing feminist nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Drawing on the cases of feminist organizing in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and eastern Germany, I discuss the strategic advantages and disadvantages of NGO feminism, or feminism organized largely around service provisioning for women and the receipt of funds from state agencies and private foundations. I synthesize and move beyond existing scholarly and activist critiques of NGO feminism to identify and evaluate four potentially troubling aspects of this model of organizing, namely, formalization as a path to feminist neutralization, the inhibition of feminist countercultures, the loss of movement autonomy to develop agendas and make claims, and the lack of confrontation with existing structures of power. The article demonstrates the consequences of this type of movement development.

Keywords: NGO, systematic feminism, gendered politics, non-governmental organization, power structures, feminist neutralization

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Development, Economies, Feminisms, Gendered Power Relations, NGOs, Peacebuilding, Political Economies, Political Participation, Post-Conflict Regions: Europe, Central Europe Countries: Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland

Year: 2011

Citation:

Kulczycki, Andrzej. 2011. “Abortion in Latin America: Changes in Practice, Growing Conflict, and Recent Policy Developments.” Studies in Family Planning 42 (3): 199-220.

Author: Andrezej Kulczycki

Abstract:

Latin America is undergoing profound social, economic, political, demographic, and epidemiologic change. Reproductive health indicators have generally improved over the past two decades, but most pregnancies are still unintended and more than 4 million are terminated annually. Clandestine abortions necessitated by restrictive legal and social structures cause more than 1,000 deaths and 500,000 hospitalizations per year, primarily among poor and marginalized women. Abortions are becoming safer and less frequent, however, as a consequences of increased modern contraceptive use, misoprostol adoption, emergency contraception availability, and postabortion care provision, notwithstanding many impediments to these changes. Advocacy and conflict over abortion have grown. The contested policy shifts include Mexico City's 2007 legalization of first-trimester abortion. Drawing on numerous sources of evict, this article provides a regional analysis of the rapidly changing practice and context of abortion in Latin America, and examines emerging issues, legal and policy developments, and contrasting country situations.

Topics: Development, Gender, Health, Reproductive Health, Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Americas, Central America, South America

Year: 2011

Citation:

Salo, Elaine, and Amina Mama. 2001. "Talking About Feminism in Africa."  Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity 16 (50): 58-63.

Authors: Elaine Salo, Amina Mama

Abstract:

Elaine Salo speaks to Professor Amina Mama, one of Africa's leading contemporary feminist activist scholars whose critical contribution to African feminism is drawn from her work across the academic-activist divide.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Class, Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Democracy / Democratization, Development, Displacement & Migration, Migration, Forced Migration, Refugees, Economies, Ethnicity, Feminisms, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Hierarchies, Gender Equality/Inequality, Gender Equity, Globalization, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Political Economies, Political Participation Regions: Africa

Year: 2001

Citation:

Baden, Sally, and Anne Marie Goetz. 1997. “Who Needs [Sex] When You Can Have [Gender]? Conflicting Discourses on Gender at Beijing.” Feminist Review 56: 3-25.

Authors: Sally Baden, Anne Marie Goetz

Abstract:

'Gender', understood as the social construction of sex, is a key concept for feminists working at the interface of theory and policy. This article examines challenges to the concept which emerged from different groups at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, September 1995, an important arena for struggles over feminist public policies. The first half of the article explores contradictory uses of the concept in the field of gender and development. Viewpoints from some southern activist women at the NGO Forum of the Beijing Conference are presented. Some of them argued that the way 'gender' has been deployed in development institutions has led to a depoliticization of the term, where feminist policy ambitions are sacrificed to the imperative of ease of institutionalization. 'Gender' becomes a synonym for 'women', rather than a form of shorthand for gender difference and conflict and the project of transformation in gender relations. 'Gender sensitivity' can be interpreted by non-feminists as encouragement to use gender-disaggregated statistics for development planning, but without consideration of relational aspects of gender, of power and ideology, and of how patterns of subordination are reproduced. A completely different attack on 'gender' came from right-wing groups and was battled out over the text of the Platform for Action agreed at the official conference. Six months prior to the conference, conservative groups had tried to bracket for possible removal the term 'gender' in this document, out of opposition to the notion of socially constructed, and hence mutable, gender identity. Conservative views on gender as the 'deconstruction of woman' are discussed here. The article points out certain contradictions and inconsistencies in feminist thinking on gender which are raised by the conservative backlash attack on feminism and the term 'gender'.

Keywords: sex, Gender, Beijing Conference, instrumentalism, feminism, development studies

Topics: Development, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: China

Year: 1997