The economic and political empowerment of women continues to be a central focus for development agencies worldwide; access to medical care, education and employment, as well as women's reproductive rights remain key factors effecting women's autonomy. Feminisms, Empowerment and Development explores what women are doing to change their own personal circumstances whilst providing an in-depth analysis of collective action and institutionalized mechanisms aimed at changing structural relations.
Drawing on unique, original research and approaching empowerment as a complex process of negotiation, rather than a linear sequence of inputs and outcomes, this crucial collection highlights the difficulty of creating common agendas for the advancement of women's power and rights, and argues for a more nuanced, context-based approach to development theory and practice. An indispensible text for anyone interested in gender and development, this book shows that policies and approaches to development that view women as instrumental to other objectives will never promote women's empowerment as they fail to address the structures by which gender inequality is perpetuated over time.
Andrea Cornwall is the director of the Pathways of Women's Empowerment programme and professor of anthropology and development in the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex. She has written widely on gender issues in development, sexuality and development and participatory governance. Her publications include Women, Sexuality and the Politics of Pleasure (Zed 2013), Men and Development: Politicising Masculinities (Zed 2012) and The Politics of Rights: Dilemmas for Feminist Praxis (2009).
Jenny Edwards has been the programme officer for the Pathways of Women's Empowerment programme at the Institute of Development Studies since 2006. She studied cultures and communities at the University of Sussex and her dissertation was on the politics of stepmothering as portrayed in children's literature. Her interests are in the issues of gender stereotyping, particularly in popular culture, and women's political representation.
Andrea Cornwall is the director of the Pathways of Women's Empowerment programme and professor of anthropology and development in the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex. She has written widely on gender issues in development, sexuality and development and participatory governance. Her publications include Women, Sexuality and the Politics of Pleasure (Zed 2013), Men and Development: Politicising Masculinities (Zed 2012) and The Politics of Rights: Dilemmas for Feminist Praxis (2009).
Jenny Edwards has been the programme officer for the Pathways of Women's Empowerment programme at the Institute of Development Studies since 2006. She studied cultures and communities at the University of Sussex and her dissertation was on the politics of stepmothering as portrayed in children's literature. Her interests are in the issues of gender stereotyping, particularly in popular culture, and women's political representation.
