Gender and Human Development: A Feminist Perspective

Abstract

This article identifies the different contexts in which discussions on human development have emerged, and how such contexts assign specific meanings and methodologies to promote human development. It demonstrates that there are different modes of understanding the terms ’human’ and ’development,’ and unless these differences are clearly laid out, an integration of these two terms can lead to confusion. Through a review of the debate from a feminist standpoint, it is shown that the dominant discourse on human development so far is overtly patriarchal, despite the recent attempts to include gender in its framework of analysis. The nature of patriarchal power in the human development discourse rests in its ability to maintain the social meanings attached to biological sex differences derived from male-centered conventions, and an androcentric approach to polity, which restricts the discussions to freedom and justice at the expense of care. Traces of such conventions may be found in the conception of social power and the subject, and in the conception of the economy. In this regard, a feminist engagement with the human development debate and its rhetoric on gender equality must move beyond the level of norms and institutions and tackle the symbolic structure underlying them.