WID/GAD‘Gender relations do notoperate in a socialvacuum but are productsof the ways in whichinstitutions are organizedand reconstituted’(Kabeer, 1996:17)See also:Gender analysis,Gender planning,Sex and genderThe WID (or Women in Development) approach calls for greaterattention to women in development policy and practice, andemphasises the need to integrate them into the developmentprocessThe WID perspective evolved in the early 1970s from a ‘liberal’feminist framework and was particularly influential in NorthAmerica. It was a reaction to women being seen as passivebeneficiaries of development. It marked an important corrective,highlighting the fact that women need to be integrated intodevelopment processes as active agents if efficient and effectivedevelopment is to be achieved. Women’s significant productivecontribution was made visible, although their reproductive rolewas downplayed. Women’s subordination was seen in terms oftheir exclusion from the market sphere, and limited access to andcontrol over resources. Programmes informed by a WID approachaddressed women’s practical needs by, for example, creatingemployment and income-generating opportunities, improvingaccess to credit and to education. Women’s ‘problem’ wastherefore diagnosed as insufficient participation in a benigndevelopment process, through an oversight on behalf of policymakers.In contrast, the GAD (or Gender and Development) approach todevelopment policy and practice focuses on the socially
constructed basis of differences between men and women and
emphasises the need to challenge existing gender roles and
relations
GAD emerged from a frustration with the lack of progress of WID
policy, in changing women’s lives and in influencing the broader
development agenda. GAD challenged the WID focus on women
in isolation, seeing women’s ‘real’ problem as the imbalance of
power between women and men. There are different
interpretations of GAD, some of which focus primarily on the
gender division of labour and gender roles focus on gender as a
relation of power embedded in institutions (see Gender Analysis).
GAD approaches generally aim to meet both women’s practical
gender needs and more strategic gender needs (see Gender
Needs), by challenging existing divisions of labour or power
relations (see Gender Division of Labour; Gender Relations).
Although WID and GAD perspectives are theoretically distinct, in
practice it is less clear, with a programme possibly involving
elements of both. Whilst many development agencies are now
committed to a gender approach, in practice, the primary
institutional perspective remains as WID and associated ‘antipoverty’
and ‘efficiency’ policies. There is often a slippage
between GAD policy rhetoric and a WID reality where ‘gender’ is
mistakenly interpreted as ‘women’.
34
Further reading Kabeer, N., and Subrahmanian, R., 1996, ‘Institutions, relations
and outcomes: framework and tools for gender-aware planning’,
IDS Discussion Paper, No.357, Institute of Development Studies,
Brighton
Miller, C., and Razavi, S., 1995, ‘From WID to GAD: conceptual
shifts in the Women and Development discourse’, Occasional
Paper, UNRISD, Geneva
Moser, C., 1993, Gender Planning and Development: Theory,
Practice and Training, Routledge, London
Young, K., 1993, ‘Framework for analysis’, in Young, K., 1993,
Planning and Development with Women, Macmillan Press,
London
35
WOMEN’S
EMPOWERMENT
Beijing Declaration:
‘Women’s empowerment
and their full participation
on the basis of equality
in all sphere of society,
including participation in
the decision-making
process and access to
power, are fundamental
for the achievement of
equality, development
and peace (paragraph
13).’
(cited in DAC, 1998: 10)
See also:
Gender analysis,
Gender needs,
Gender training,
WID/GAD
See also: FAQ
‘How can we measure
empowerment?’
A ‘bottom-up’ process of transforming gender power relations,
through individuals or groups developing awareness of women’s
subordination and building their capacity to challenge it. The term
‘empowerment’ is now widely used in development agency policy
and programme documents, in general, but also specifically in
relation to women. However, the concept is highly political, and
its meaning contested. Thus, there are dangers in the uncritical
overuse of the term in agency rhetoric, particularly where it
becomes associated with specific activities, or used in simplistic
ways.
Central to the concept of women’s empowerment is an
understanding of power itself. Women’s empowerment does not
imply women taking over control previously held by men, but
rather the need to transform the nature of power relations. Power
may be understood as ‘power within,’ or self confidence, ‘power
with’, or the capacity to organise with others towards a common
purpose, and the ‘power to’ effect change and take decisions,
rather than ‘power over’ others.
Empowerment is sometimes described as being about the ability
to make choices, b
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