Skip to main content

What a Gender Lens Brings to Development Studies

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Building Development Studies for the New Millennium

Part of the book series: EADI Global Development Series ((EADI))

Abstract

The chapter explores the challenges of gender for Development Studies in the new Millennium. It looks at the implications of applying a gender lens to the complex economic, social and cultural processes shaping development processes. The underlying premise of the chapter is that development itself is powerfully gendered. It argues that applying a gender lens to Development Studies helps to reveal important insights into how power and knowledge operate in development practice. It presents some of the latest contributions of gender analysis to Development Studies in a discussion of gender and diversity; body politics; post development, feminist political ecology and sustainable development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Agostino, A. (2015). Climate Justice and Women’s Agency: Voicing Other Ways of Doing Things. In R. Baksh & W. Harcourt (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook on Transnational Feminist Movements (pp. 815–836). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed, S. (2012). On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Alverez, S., de Lima Costa, C., Feliu, V., Hester, R. J., Klahn, N., & Thayer, M. (Eds.). (2014). Translocalities/Translocalidades: Feminist Politics of Translation in the Latin/A Américas. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antrobus, P. (2004). The Global Women’s Movement: Origins, Issues, Strategies. London: Zed Books.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Baksh, R., & Harcourt, W. (Eds.). (2015). The Oxford Handbook on Transnational Feminist Movements. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batliwala, S. (2007). Taking the Power Out of Empowerment—An Experiential Account. Development in Practice, 17(4–5), 557–565. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520701469559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergeron, S. (2006). Fragments of Development: Nation, Gender, and the Space of Modernity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biekart, K., & Fowler, A. (2012). Transforming Activisms 2010 + Exploring Ways and Waves. Development and Change Forum 2013, 44(3), 527–546. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi.org/10.1111/dech.12032/pdf.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, J. (1993). Bodies That Matter. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carty, L. E., & Mohanty, C. T. (2015). Mapping Transnational Feminist Engagements: Neoliberalism and the Politics of Solidarity. In R. Baksh & W. Harcourt (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook on Transnational Feminist Movements (pp. 82–115). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chakrapani, V. (2010). Hijras/Transgender Women in India: HIV, Human Rights and Social Exclusion. New Delhi: UNDP India. http://www.undp.org/content/dam/india/docs/hijras_transgender_in_india_hiv_human_rights_and_social_exclusion.pdf. Accessed 18 February 2018.

  • Collins, P. H. (2000). Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. W. (1987). Gender and Power. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. W. (2005). Masculinities (2nd ed.). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. W. (2009). Gender in World Perspectives. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. (2012). Transsexual Women and Feminist Thought: Toward New Understanding and New Politics. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 37(4), 857–881. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/664478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. (2014). Rethinking Gender from the South. Feminist Studies, 40(3), 518–539. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.15767/feministstudies.40.3.518.

  • Connell, R., & Pearse, R. (2015). Gender: In World Perspective. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornwall, A. (2009). Revisiting the Gender Agenda. IDS Bulletin, 38(2), 69–78. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi.org/10.1111/j.1759-5436.2007.tb00353.x/full.

  • Cornwall, A., & Eade, D. (2010). Deconstructing Development Discourse: Buzzwords and Fuzzwords. Bourton: Practical Action.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cornwall, A., & Edwards, J. (2014). Feminisms, Empowerment and Development: Changing Women’s Lives. London: Zed Books.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cornwall, A., Harrison, E., & Whitehead, A. (Eds.). (2006). Feminisms in Development: Contradictions, Contestations and Challenges. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornwall, A., Jolly, S., & Correa, S. (2008). Development with a Body: Sexuality, Human Rights and Development. London: Zed Books.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crenshaw, K. (1994). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color. In M. Fineman & R. Mykitiuk (Eds.), The Public Nature of Private Violence (pp. 93–118). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jong, S. (2016). Mainstream(ing) Has Never Run Clean, Perhaps Never Can: Gender in the Main/Stream of Development. In W. Harcourt (Ed.), Palgrave Handbook on Gender and Development. London: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, K. (2008). Intersectionality as Buzzword: A Sociology of Science Perspective on What Makes a Feminist Theory Successful. Feminist Theory, 9(1), 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464700108086364, http://fty.sagepub.com.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Escobar, A. (1995 [2011]). Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Escobar, A. (2007a). Post-development as Concept and Social Practice. In A. Ziai (Ed.), Exploring Post-development: Theory and Practice, Problems and Perspectives (pp. 18–32). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Escobar, A. (2007b). Towards Post-development: Searching for Signposts, a New Language and New Paradigms. In M. Rahnema & V. Bawtree (Eds.), The Post Development Reader (pp. 377–403). London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, L. (2015). “This Is Our Gender Person”. The Messy Business of Working as a Gender Expert in International Development. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 17(3), 380–397. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14616742.2014.918787.

  • Gibson-Graham, J. K. (1996). The End of Capitalism as We Knew It: A Feminist Critique of Political Economy. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson-Graham, J. K. (2006). A Post-capitalist Politics. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grosz, L. (1994). Volatile Bodies: Towards Corporeal Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hankivsky, O., et al. (2014). An Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis Framework: Critical Reflections on a Methodology for Advancing Equity. International Journal for Equity in Health, 13(119), 1–16. https://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12939-014-0119-x.

  • Haraway, D. (1988). Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=00463663%28198823%2914%3A3%3C575%3ASKTSQI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, W. (2009). Body Politics in Development: Critical Debates in Gender and Development. London: Zed Books.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, W. (2014). The Future of Capitalism: A Consideration of Alternatives. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 38(6), 1307–1328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, W. (2016a). Introduction: Dilemmas, Dialogues, Debates. In W. Harcourt (Ed.), The Palgrave Handbook on Gender and Development: Critical Engagements in Feminist Theory and Practice (pp. 1–12). London: Palgrave.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, W. (2016b). Gender Dilemmas in International DS. European Journal of Development Research, 28(2), 1–8 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2016.6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, W. (2016c). Introduction. In W. Harcourt (Ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Development (pp. 62–76). London: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, W. (2017). Another Hotel Room, Another City, Another Training: Reflections on Co-optation of Feminism by Development. International Journal of Feminist Politics, 19(2), 249–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2017.1291224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, W., & Nelson, I. L. (Eds.). (2015). Practicing Feminist Political Ecology: Moving Beyond the Green Economy. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, W., Icaza Garza, R. A., & Vargas, V. (2016). Exploring Embodiment and Intersectionality in Transnational Feminist Activist Research. In K. Biekart, W. Harcourt, & P. Knorringa (Eds.), Exploring Civic Innovation for Social and Economic Transformation (148–167). London: Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Harding, S. (1991). Whose Science? Whose Knowledge? Thinking from Women’s Live. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harding, S. (2008). Sciences from Below: Feminisms, Postcolonialities, and Modernities. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horn, J. (2013, September 30). Rethinking Social Movements. Open Democracy. https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/jessica-horn/rethinking-social-movements. Accessed 18 February 2018.

  • Icaza, R., & Vázquez, R. (2015). The Coloniality of Gender as a Radical Critique of Developmentalism. In W. Harcourt (Ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Gender and Development (pp. 62–76). London: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, C., & Pearson, R. (Eds.). (1998). Feminist Visions of Development: Gender Analysis and Policy. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jolly, S., Cornwall, A., & Hawkins, K. (Eds.). (2013). Women, Sexuality and the Political Power of Pleasure. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer, N. (1994). Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought. London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer, N. (1997). Women, Wages and Intra-Household Power Relations in Urban Bangladesh. Development and Change, 28(2), 261–302. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00043.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer, N. (2001). Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women’s Empowerment. In A. Sisak (Ed.), Discussing Women’s Empowerment: Theory and Practice (pp 17–57). Stockholm: Sida Studies. http://dmeforpeace.org/sites/default/files/SidaStudies_No3.pdf. Accessed 18 February 2018.

  • Kabeer, N., & Mahmud, S. (2004). Rags, Riches and Women Workers: Export-Oriented Garment Manufacturing in Bangladesh. In Commonwealth Secretariat (Ed.), Chains of Fortune: Linking Women Producers and Workers with Global Markets (pp. 133–162). London: Commonwealth Secretariat.

    Google Scholar 

  • Love, B. (2010). Mountain Vegetables and the Politics of Local Flavour. In S. Assmann & E. C. Rath (Eds.), Japanese Foodways, Past and Present (pp. 221–240). Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lind, A. (Ed.). (2010). Development, Sexual Rights and Global Governance. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luft, R. (2009). Intersectionality and the Risk of Flattening Difference. In M. T. Berger & K. Guidroz (Eds.), The Intersectional Approach: Transforming the Academy Through Race, Class and Gender (pp. 100–117). Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKinnon, K. (2011). Development Professionals in Northern Thailand: Hopes, Politics and Practice. Singapore: Singapore National University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendoza, B. (2016). Coloniality of Gender and Power: From Postcoloniality to Decoloniality. In L. Disch & M. Hawkesworth (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory (pp 100–121). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohanty, C. (2003). Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nash, J. (2008). Rethinking Intersectionality. Feminist Review,89, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1057/fr.2008.4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parpart, J., Rai, S., & Staudt, K. (Eds.). (2002). Rethinking Empowerment: Gender and Development in a Global/Local World. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paulson, S. (2016). Masculinities and Femininities in Latin America’s Uneven Development. New York and Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petchesky, R. (2002). Global Prescriptions: Gender Health and Human Rights. London: Zed Books in association with UNRISD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rai, S. (2008). The Gender Politics of Development. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Resurrección, B. P. (2017). Gender and Environment from ‘Women, Environment and Development’ to Feminist Political Ecology. In S. MacGregor (Ed.), Handbook of Gender and Environment (pp. 71–85). Oxford and London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, D., & Robinson, V. (Eds.). (2008). Introducing Gender and Women’s Studies. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rocheleau, D. (2015). A Situated View of Feminist Political Ecology from My Networks, Roots and Territories. In W. Harcourt & I. L. Nelson (Eds.), Practicing Feminist Political Ecology: Moving Beyond the Green Economy (pp. 29–66). London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rocheleau, D., & Nirmal, P. (2015). Feminist Political Ecologies: Grounded, Networked and Rooted on Earth. In R. Baksh & W. Harcourt (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook on Transnational Feminist Movements (pp. 793–814). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sachs, W. (1992 [2010]). The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandler, J. (2015). “Warriors Within”: How Feminists Change Bureaucracies and Bureaucracies Change Feminists. In R. Baksh & W. Harcourt (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Transnational Feminist Movements (pp. 188–214). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, J. (2009). Reflections on the Construction of Heteronormativity. Development, 52(1), 52–5. https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2008.72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spivak, G. (1999). A Critique of Postcolonial Reason: Toward a History of the Vanishing Present. Harvard: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • UN Women. (2015, December 13). The World’s Women: Trends and Statistics. New York: UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/worldswomen.html. Accessed 13 December 2015.

  • Valters, C. (2015). Theories of Change: Time for a Radical Approach in Learning for Development (ODI Working Paper). London: ODI. http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/9835.pdf. Accessed 17 December 2015.

  • Visvanathan, N., Duggan, L., Nisonoff, L., Wiegersma, N., (Eds.). (1997 [2010]). Women Gender and Development Reader. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walby, S. (2009). Globalization and Inequalities: Complexity and Contested Modernities. London: Palgrave.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, K. (2012). Race, Racism and Development: Interrogating History, Discourse and Practice. London: Zed Books.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Woodward, A. E. (2012). Building Velvet Triangles: Gender and Informal Governance. In W. L. Chew & B. Mosslemans (Eds.), Vesalius College 25 Years of Academic Excellence in Teaching and Research (pp. 145–170). Brussels: Academic & Scientific Publishers.VUB-Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yuval-Davis, N. (2006). Intersectionality and Feminist Politics. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 13(3), 193–209. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1350506806065752.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziai, A. (Ed.). (2007). Exploring Post-development: Theory and Practice, Problems and Perspectives. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Harcourt, W. (2019). What a Gender Lens Brings to Development Studies. In: Baud, I., Basile, E., Kontinen, T., von Itter, S. (eds) Building Development Studies for the New Millennium. EADI Global Development Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04052-9_16

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics