Gender and

Development
Lecture No 07
Gender and development

Modernization approaches to ‘development’ often did not deal

with gender differences in the populations under consideration.
The assumption was that as economic growth took place, the
benefits of such ‘development’ would trickle down to benefit all
sectors of society. However, this did not recognize social
structures that created and exacerbated inequalities and meant
that the free-flowing ‘trickle-down’ was blocked.
What is Gender?

• One of the axes along which societies are structured is gender.

• ‘Gender’ refers to the categories of ‘male’ and ‘female’, but as well as
the biological characteristics which are associated with these
categories,
• ‘gender’ includes the norms and expectations
regarding behaviour that are associated with men and women in
particular societies at particular times.
• ‘Gender’ is therefore a socially-constructed category, and as such,
changes over time and space.
Ester Boserup and Gender in Development

• Within the ‘development process’ one of the first people to focus on the ways
in which women were affected differently from men through the
modernization project was Ester Boserup (1989 [1970]).
• She argued that as societies and economies moved from a rural, subsistence
base to an industrial urban core, women were increasingly excluded, leaving
them on the margins of capitalist development and its perceived benefits.
• This was because of the association of women with the domestic and
reproductive sphere of childcare and housework, while men’s roles in society
were constructed as involving non-domestic activities.
Ester Boserup and Gender in Development

• Ester Boserup’s work was key in highlighting how supposedly

‘neutral’ development processes did in fact have very different
influences depending on gender.
Impact of Gender Approach

• The increasing gender awareness led to development organizations and

governments implementing policies which they hoped would involve
women to a greater degree in ‘development’.
• United Nations declared 1975–85 the UN Decade for Women.
• These initiatives recognized that ‘development’ that excluded women
could not really be termed ‘development’, but in many cases the
approaches did not really address the root issues of gender inequality
and disadvantage or involve women in making decisions about their
lives.
Impact of Gender Approach

• The increasing gender awareness led to development organizations and

governments implementing policies which they hoped would involve
women to a greater degree in ‘development’.
• United Nations declared 1975–85 the UN Decade for Women.
• These initiatives recognized that ‘development’ that excluded women
could not really be termed ‘development’, but in many cases the
approaches did not really address the root issues of gender inequality
and disadvantage or involve women in making decisions about their
lives.
Practical and Strategic Needs

• Moser builds on Maxine Molyneux’s work (1987) regarding practical and

strategic gender interests.
• ‘Practical’ interests, or in Moser’s terms ‘practical needs’, refer to women’s
needs to fulfil their current socially-constructed roles. For example, if women
are responsible for housework, then practical gender needs may include
access to drinking water because this would help their current day-to-day
activities.
• In contrast, ‘strategic’ needs are those which involve a change in the present
state of gender relations. For example, changes in legislation about women’s
right to own land. Different approaches will focus on combinations of
Approaches to Gender and Development
Welfare 1950s Targeted women in their domestic role; women viewed as passive; projects
onwards addressed women’s practical gender needs, such as food aid, health and
nutrition advice
Equity 1970s Prompted by the UN Decade for Women; aimed to address strategic gender
needs by eradicating obstacles to women’s advancement in public sphere;
strong focus on legislative changes
Anti Poverty 1970s Women’s low status interpreted as being caused by income poverty; focus of
projects on income-generating opportunities for women; no consideration of
patriarchal structures of oppression
Efficiency 1980s Focus on women as channels of development; during SAPs women’s paid
work and domestic work intensified
Empowerment 1990s Aims to lead to significant shifts in gender relations; original focus on
Onwards projects devised and run by groups of women from the South; approach
increasingly adopted by Northern organizations; increased focus on
incorporating men into gender and development projects
Efficiency approach

Moser’s ‘efficiency approach’ is a

good example of how a gender
dimension was incorporated into
existing development theories. This
refers to periods of structural
adjustment under neo-liberal theories
of development. During this period,
increasing numbers of women went
into paid employment.
Few More Dimensions of
Development

• Life Stage
• Children and Young
People
• Older People