Module details Name Affiliation Subject Name Social Work - Paper Name Gender and Social Work (11) - Module Module No. 16; Gender and Development (GAD): An Introduction - Paper Coordinator Dr. Shewli Kumar and Dr. Swati Banerjee Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai E-mail: Shewli Kumar - shewli4@tiss.edu Swati Banerjee sbanerjee@tiss.edu Module Writer Dr. Neha Research Officer, National Research Study on Human Trafficking in India An UN- NHRC- TISS initiative, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai Keywords Summary Gender, Development, Gender and Development This module highlights the role of gender in development and examines the various concepts therein. Further, it traces the historical evolution of the three central critical perspectives to understand gender and development, outlined by Eva Rathgeber (1990): Women in Development (WID), Women and E-mail: nehanimble87@gmail.com - 1
Development (WAD) and Gender and Development (GAD). Content reviewer Prof. Aruna Khasgiwala Retired Professor and Head, MSU, Department of Social Work, Baroda Language editor Ms Sudha Ganapathy Manager, Publications Unit, TISS Gender and Development: An Introduction Introduction This module highlights the role of gender in development. The purpose of the module is to introduce students to the major debates in the field of gender and development. It examines various developments in the concepts of gender and development and how they have been adopted into theory and practice of feminism and development in general. Further, it traces the historical evolution of the three central critical perspectives to understand gender and development, outlined by Eva Rathgeber (1990): Women in Development (WID), Women and Development (WAD) and Gender and Development (GAD). Thus, the module fundamentally introduces students to the main critical perspectives to study and implement development issues and projects from a gender lens. Learning Outcomes The course aims to engage the students in: 1. Understanding the role of gender in development. 2. Developing a critical understanding of the basic developments in the field of women and development. 3. Learning about various perspectives within the field of gender and development from a historical perspective. 4. Developing a connecting link between theories of development and feminism. 2
5. Developing an understanding of how to engage with these approaches while studying or implementing development programs from a gender lens. Topic 1. Gender and Development: An Overview 1.1.Why gender? Gender is a development issue (Momsen, 2010) and development is a gender issue. The varied modes of and efforts at development across the society pre and post globalization and liberalization have affected women and men differently. Increasingly, with betterment in technology and modernization of agriculture, traditional livelihood forms have further exacerbated the status of women in the processes of development today. With restricted (and many times denied) access to and control over productive resources and increasing exclusion from newer modes of production, women are being left out of the positive impacts of development. Unequal gender relations are thus facing newer pressures which are playing crucial role in the results of development. Gender relations as the socially constructed form of relations between women and men are unequal and usually favor men in terms of access to power, resources and status. Scholars, for long, have been examining the ways in which development processes affect and are affected by the particular gender relations in a society. And it s been long established that there is a strong and significant relationship between women s status and the level of development in any society. UN in its Sustainable Development Goals and earlier millennium development goals also consider improvement of women s status as a top priority (See box no.1). UN WOMEN has consistently asserting why gender equality matters for social progress and development of any society (See http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/5_why-it- Matters_GenderEquality_2p.pdf). With such recognition, since many decades, to enhance women s participation in the developmental processes of the society and to achieve social justice with gender equality; various approaches have been and are being used by various stakeholders 3
of development. These include: welfare, efficiency, anti-poverty, mainstreaming, empowerment, etc. 4
Box-1. Sustainable Development Goal 5 Goal: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls Target: 1. End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere. 2. Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation. 3. Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation. 4. Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate. 5. Ensure women s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic and public life. 6. Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences. 7. Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws. 8. Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women. 9. Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels. See more: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/ http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs/sdg-5-genderequality#sthash.xycg5xzf.dpuf http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/5_why-it- Matters_GenderEquality_2p.pdf 5
1.2. Women s World Conferences: The focus on women s education, legal rights, health, economic independence and political participation in the SDGs is a result of various efforts by women activists and organizations over decades. Women s organizations, groups and conferences organized at international levels like in Mexico, Beijing, Nairobi and Copenhagen have been fairly successful in putting gender as a crucial agenda in development globally (See box 2). Development officials and professionals have been made to recognize that women and men have different needs, concerns, opportunities, vulnerabilities and aspirations with respect to their development. The development process thus must be cognizant of these differences. It has been well stressed that gender blind development causes a loss of half the human capital and potential; and does not have costs only for women but also men, ultimately hindering the development of the society as a whole. It s been well recognized that the fast economic growth is not enough. In countries of the global North as well as the South, though it has certainly reduced economic disparity among women and men, the gaps in the political and social domain continue to be wide and persistent. 6
Box-2. Women s World Conferences: Beijing and its Follow-up The Commission on the Status of Women has been responsible for organizing and following up the world conferences on women in Mexico (1975), Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985) and Beijing (1995). The last conference is being followed by five year reviews. Read more at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/intergovernmental-support/worldconferences-on-women Read full reports on the four major conferences at links below: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/mexico.html http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/copenhagen.html http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/nairobi.html http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/fwcwn.html 1.3.Current responses and status Addressing the gender-based inequities and inequalities of opportunities and resources in development processes requires addressing women s particular issues as these inequities result out of women s restricted or no access to and control over livelihood resources and various other socio-political and cultural factors that affect such restrictions. Any effort to reduce poverty; enhance employment opportunities; provide health and education access for all and ensure access to land and technology in the way of achieving development requires addressal of gender inequities (UNWOMEN, 2014). In response to various studies arguing that development is not benefitting women in their situations, the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action mandated gender mainstreaming as a smart and sensible strategy to achieve women s empowerment and gender justice at all levels of development. Read more at http://www.unwomen.org/en/digitallibrary/publications/2015/02/gender-mainstreaming-issues#sthash.qzg819gc.dpuf. Presently, 7
most state governments (India included) include gender as a crucial component while framing and implementing its mainstream development policies. However, apart from co-opting, this has meant little socio-political transformation for gender relations and roles. Topic 2. Gender and Development: Theoretical Evolution and Intersection This section outlines a number of frameworks within feminism and development; and intersection between these. Over decades, scholars have attempted to understand development and women s status through various lenses and have suggested solutions for development and women s empowerment in different ways. This section sets the historical context to understand the origin and evolution of development and feminist frameworks. It significantly explains how feminist frameworks intersected with existing development frameworks to develop newer frameworks that offer solutions to the problems of women within the totality of development paradigm. In particular, the section establishes how these intersections culminated to originate three major feminist development frameworks: WID, WAD and GAD. Going back as far as 1930s, development efforts ignored women s existence and their concerns. Soon, Western development professionals followed the tenets of the theory of modernization wherein development was thought to be a linear path to progress. According to this theory, countries and societies could become developed by adopting westernization and modernization of techniques. It was thought that traditional societies like those in the third world could surpass their historic impediments by embracing modern, Western-like values, institutions and technologies. During the 1940s, 1950s and the 1960s, modernization framework (main proponents include Walter Rostow, W.A. Lewis, Talcott Parsons, and Daniel Lerner.) was widely adopted to understand and develop societies. Many colonized countries got independence in 1940s and the new development experts of the newly independent nations primarily adopted modernization paradigm to achieve economic development. During this period, the US emerged as the hegemonic power and a model for modernization channeled development. Until this period, women were largely absent from development plans and practices of all nations. Women were visiblized for the first time in development debates with the arrival of Boserup s 1970 book. Ester Boserup in Women s Role in Development, for the first time, examined the role 8
of women in development and the impact of development projects on Third World women. Before this, very few questioned the impact of economic prosperity across classes, races and gender groups. Boserup highlighted that modern development projects undermined women s economic roles, opportunities and autonomy. New technological trainings ignored women and reduced women s access to technology and paid work. During the period, it was asserted that benefits from technology oriented modern development projects will trickle down to women and other marginalized groups of the society. The book brought to the fore that it was not happening. Women in the US also challenged this idea of trickle down and took up this gender issue in development. They started using the term women in development and tried to influence US policies. They pushed United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to make dedicated strategies to include women in national economies and development plans and processes. Simultaneously, liberal feminism emerged which called for equal opportunity and gender equality, primarily in public sphere. Liberal feminists aimed at equal access to education, jobs, equal pay and good working conditions for women. Their target was legal changes to achieve such goals of equal opportunities for women in development. The merging of the tenets of liberal feminism and modernization development theory is represented in WID approach to gender and development. The main characteristic of this period was a call for inclusion and integration of women in paid work and economies. 9
Picture 1: Picture suggesting women uprising in the United States. Source: https://www.cliohistory.org/fileadmin/files/click/politics_social_movements/1970- Bettye-Lane-BL3_04448c-web.jpg Planners were forced to plan with women in mind and to enhance women s participation in development. For the first time, there were dedicated researches done to understand women s lives. There was increased evidence for the need for improvement in women s access to training, education, productive resources and employment. To ensure such improvement, women s active integration in development designs, policies and implementation was needed. It was acknowledged that women-sensitive policies would ultimately enhance economic development. Women were seen as needed for the overall development of societies. However, soon the limitations of WID became apparent. As the approach relies on modernization theory, it ignored the potential of indigenous knowledge systems. It also ignored women s other identities and their significance in shaping women s lived experiences. Also, in most cases, women s integration was merely co-opted into development plans. Their integration was also not matched with adequate funds or political leverage. Most significantly, WID projects relied mostly on State support and saw State only as solution to women s problems. They ignored the fact that state may also be a potential problem in the advancement of women. Recognizing such role of the male dominated institution of the State, The Third World feminists 10
worked at grassroots level by organizing themselves and did not work with state sanctioned WID projects. Within a decade, grassroots work gained momentum and NGO activity also became prominent. Much of the work in women s issues began to be done in ways that were anti of liberal-feminist and WID approaches. Seeking to address the loopholes in liberal modernization theory, activists moved towards Marxism. However, this approach also had little to say about women as the focus of their attack is largely capitalist system. Still, many influential feminists adopted Marxist paradigm and examined women s lives by recognizing the role of reproductive labor, productive labor and role of class in women s lives. Simultaneously dependency theory of development was developed under the influence of Marxism and it turned the modernization theory upside down. Departing from the notion that underdevelopment is an internal issue of countries, the proponents (mainly, Paul Prebisch, Andre Gunder Frank, Samir Amin, etc) argued that the capitalist center metropolis exploited and gained from peripheral Third World and the capitalist system functioned in a manner that perpetuated this dependency. The development of dependency theory was paralleled by the development of Radical Feminism. Both these frameworks challenged the state and major sources of authority or power. They argued for alternative social institutions for development. Radical feminists separated themselves from men and pointed towards possible challenges and dangers of integrating women into patriarchal development projects. They called for and created women-only projects for women s development. Such perspective departed from WID s idea of women s integration of women and gave rise to WAD approach which primarily argues that women have always been integral part of development. It stresses on the distinctiveness of women s role, work, knowledge and responsibilities. Drawing along the similar lines as dependency theory and radical feminism, this approach argued against the integration and for woman focused organizing. WAD approach, however, also was soon criticized for being too small scale as mainstream development structures were not involved to affect women s development. With focus on woman only projects, WAD has also been criticized for treating women as a class and for ignoring differences among women. Thus, by 1980s, some feminists became unconvinced with WID and WAD and sought an approach that addresses structural factors creating and maintaining gender inequalities. GAD in the 1980s came as an answer to those concerns. This approach covered empowerment and 11
gender aware planning approaches. Originating in the experiences and writings of the Third World feminists and articulated by Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) (launched at 1985 Nairobi conference), this approach to women s development recognized the importance of gender and global inequities (Sen and Grown, 1987). This approach also has its basis in the analysis of socialist feminists (Young, 1996; Moser, 1989). Drawing from socialist feminism, GAD recognizes the role of material and the cultural, the patriarchal structures and the economic and capitalist systems that women are a part of. The distinguishing aspect of GAD is its focus on gender relations as key determinants of women s subordinate position in the society. Significantly, GAD also concerns itself with the intersection of gender, class, race, ethnicity etc in women s experiences of their cultural and economic lives. By the 1990s and later, all the approaches are being used to address women and development issues at different places, times and scales. While WID continues to be the working approach in most govt policies and programs, many NGOs are continuing with WAD approach. GAD approach is also increasingly shaping the activities of NGOs today and is being shaped by their experiences in return. However, the last approach is usually being adopted by agencies only to assure men that it is not only about women and their interests are not being ignored. Mostly, GAD is being used as a fancy label until the co-option of the term gender and to please the donors, rather than actually challenging the patriarchal structures. Thus, one can see how different frameworks of development and feminism emerged and intersected to offer three major gender and development approaches: WID, WAD and GAD. These three perspectives are separately discussed in detail in subsequent modules of the present course on Gender and Development. The strengths, relevance and weaknesses of these frameworks should be measured by their usefulness in making a better society (Connelly, et.al, 2000). By the end of 20 th century, most of the approaches to addressing women and development converged into GAD approach (Rathgeber, 1990). The labels of WID, WAD and GAD do not give a clear guide for policies and programs today. One project may use the language of one approach while be based in the ideology of another approach. The approaches are being simultaneously used for various objectives. Topic 3. Policy and Practice of Gender and Development in India 12
Following the development of debates and perspectives on women s development outside India; and in response to the push from feminist organizations, women s groups and international agencies aiming at women s empowerment; development measures for women have shifted shapes over decades. While social welfare was a significant component of India s planned development since independence, for last half century, women s development moved beyond welfaristic measures and the component of gender was recently dedicatedly adopted in the development plans and policies in India. The 6 th plan marks significant beginning for women s role in development. From this plan onwards, women secured a dedicated space in the national plans and planning processes primarily with thrusts on health, education and employment. Until the 6 th plan, segmented welfaristic efforts were made to provide better work opportunities, health facilities and education to women. N. Lalitha (1995) says that under the 6 th Five Year Plan, the programmes and policies relating to women were given a shift in approach from welfare to developmental and curative to preventive. The approach followed was essentially WID as economic development of women through income generating activities was stressed. The strategy was threefold with focus on improvement of women s education, employment and health status. The 7 TH Five Year Plan moved towards generating awareness among women about their rights. The long term objectives of developmental programmes in this plan were to raise women s economic and social status in order to bring them into the mainstream of national development. The period emphasized the need to open new avenues of work for women and recognized the importance of women in contributing to the various socio-economic, political and cultural activities. Another distinctive feature of the period was the recognition for need of organization of women. It was thought that economically self-reliant women would participate in overall development of the country. Thus, the plan reflected WID as well as WAD approach to planning for women and development. Although this approach definitely benefited some women in some manners, their social and political status in the family and society did not improve much. 13
A profound shift occurred in the 8 th Plan where women s empowerment was recognized and adopted as a distinct strategy. The concept of empowerment was introduced at the International Women s Conference at Nairobi in 1985 by women delegates from the global south. It calls for redistribution of social power and control of resources in favor of women in the development planning and action. The introduction of Women s Component Plan in the 9th Plan was another significant push towards women s empowerment and specific ministries were to specify the flow of funds to the women s programmes and schemes. This period recognized the significance of providing enabling gender sensitive environment. Gender sensitization and training programs for participants were started in development meetings in public and private sectors. From this plan onwards, planning in India reflects a convergence of WID, WAD nad GAD approaches. In the 10 th Plan, targets were set for key indicators of human development, which included reduction in gender gaps in literacy, wage rates and reduction in MMR. The 9 th Plan laid emphasis on the promotion of self-help groups. The approach was to access poor women and to guide them to help themselves. The next plan called for collectively aiming at socio-economic empowerment and gender justice. During the 10th Plan also, emphasis continued on empowerment of women through SHG organization. The 11th Plan significantly recognized and aimed at reducing disparities across regions and communities by ensuring access to basic physical, health and educational infrastructure and services. It was at this stage that gender was recognized as a cross - cutting theme across all sectors (Ministry of Women and Child Development, 2012). However, ongoing studies suggest that despite such objectives, followed by segmented efforts, women development does not go beyond providing economic opportunities for women. Gender bias persists in development policies despite the integration of gender equity component at the planning, project and academic levels. The dimensions of structural constraints and gendered power relations within families, communities, traditional and new institutions are totally missing. The development programs aimed at women are in a way based in the patriarchal society and thus only reinforce discrimination and social exclusion of women. While the plans and various policy documents reflect adoption of various critical perspectives for women s development, gender justice has mostly been co-opted into the development agenda and action. With the pervading view that development affects women and men in the same way and belief in the 14
trickle down approach, all the efforts of development have mainly been aimed at economic development. However, it is well recognized now that development affects men and women differently. Moreover, gender also interacts with the other multiple identities that people have in a society like ours. It impacts and is impacted by caste, class, ethnicity, race, age and marital status (Bhasin, 2003). Not all men are included in the process and benefits of development while not all women are excluded from them in the same manner or to the same extent. West born idea of development, with little attention to the intersections of caste, ethnicity etc, has led to the marginalization of women and men differently based on existing gender, caste and class hierarchies. Development plans and programs fail to look into these multiple identities and related problems and have failed to help women in ameliorating their problems. Topic 4. Current Debates in the Field of Development and Feminism This section specifically traces the changing economic reality of the global South and the new approaches that critique the idea of development as envisaged in Western explanations and that stress on the particular contexts and experiences of the people of the South. It highlights the specific problems faced by women of the South as a result of economic restructuring, globalization and liberalization. The era of 1990s and later is different than the era of the 1950s to 1980s which witnessed the origin of the Modernization and Dependency theories of development (Connelly et al, 2000). The 1990s was characterized by economic restructuring, globalization, spread of MNCs and liberal free market ideology in policymaking. The economic restructuring and resultant policies of free trade, structural adjustment and rapid industrialization have had differential impacts on women and men. Jobs became feminized as women got insecure, low paying jobs with little scope for advancement as the employers sought flexible and cheap labor. Few women find job in the formal sector and they form the bulk of labor force in informal sector. Contracting social security measures and services, increased prices, enhanced need to enter informal work and 15
continuation of domestic responsibilities have affected women adversely despite slight improvement in economic participation for them. Wage difference; migration of men; and restricted control of and access to productive resources with reproductive responsibilities contribute towards feminization of poverty, primarily in the South (Connelly et al., 2000). It becomes urgent to understand how people experience these changes in their particular immediate contexts. While understanding such new forms of development, it becomes important to consider the local culture and knowledge apart from the larger systems and structures that affect economic changes at broader scales across the countries. This necessitated new thinking about development and is emphasized in recent postmodernist and poststructuralist critiques of socio-economic theories of development. New perspectives, thus emerging, challenge mainstream development discourse and call for perspectives that acknowledge differences among people and brings to the fore local voices and knowledges that have been ignored in the earlier approaches to development. Alternative theories have emerged that emphasize on people s agency as creators of their own histories and not on development as a linear progression towards modernity. Rather than the great knowledges and technological sciences, the post modernists and post developmentalists acknowledge and value indigenous knowledge systems. These approaches focus on deconstructing power relations in language and discourse of development. The new visions of development emphasize on the sensitivity to differences of race, class, gender, etc. It is considered that development of one may happen at the neglect of other group. People in different places and times have different goals with specific constraints and opportunities affecting their idea of development. Each group may thus have its own forms of resistance and solutions to their problems. Their particular concerns cannot be fully and adequately addressed by development agenda created by people outside of them. The post modern perspectives (though essentially Western approach) question the evolutionary assumptions underlying the Marxist analyses and modernization theory that societies follow a linear path of progress. Third world feminists have made major contributions to these alternative theorizing on questions of power and difference. Third world feminism emerged from the experiences of feminist 16
theorists and scholars of the South and departed from the feminism of the North. It preoccupies itself with the questions of specificities of regions, race, impact of colonialism and global inequalities. They focus on poverty among women and on the global economic inequalities. They distinguish themselves by placing the solutions of women s issues in their own experiences and realities. Indian feminism flourished in the 1980s and has seen the creation of organizations like Center for Women s Development Studies. The international forum for women of the South, DAWN also originated in Bangalore. DAWN has been particularly concerned with implications of development on women. The Third world feminists, like Socialist Feminists, agree on the significance of economic and political factors, but they focus more on the issues of culture, race and ethnicity. They combine socialist feminism with these elements (Sen and Grown, 1987). Feminist scholars from the South are skeptical about Western solutions and seek solutions in the complex, diverse realities and intersecting identities of women. Thus, new approaches to feminism and development seek development policies and projects to be based in women s specific and complex realities which are usually ignored by the development approaches born and grown in the West for the South. The focus on difference and identity leads to an increased awareness of women s multiple experiences and concerns arising from the multiple axes at which they live. Therefore, Third world feminists argue for development approach that goes beyond economic development and is sensitive to women s local knowledges and multiple interacting identities. The previously silenced and ignored voices and knowledges of the women of the Third world find central position in their work. From India, the contribution of Vandana Shiva (1988) and Bina Agarwal (1991) find central significance in Third World feminism for asserting the relationship between women s environmental knowledge and sustainable development of a society. Thus, the current development debates in are concerned with changing world and give central importance to being aware of the specific historical, cultural and economic context of women in order to understand their problems, modes of resistance and possible solutions that address power local and global hierarchies. Conclusion: The various frameworks continue to develop to address new socio-economic situations and challenges. Development policies and approaches have changed over time, from a woman-less or 17
woman only focus to a focus on gender relations among women and men. Each term has been associated with certain assumptions and has led to evolution of various strategies for women s participation in processes of development (Rathgeber, 1990). While implementing any development program for women in particular and people in general, one has to be open to all the approaches and seek specific contributions to the field of implementation. Each framework has its strengths and limitations and should be carefully studied before adoption. 18