Interrogating ‘Gender’ in Development Policy and Practice

Abstract

International development institutions have adopted ‘gender’ as a fundamental component of any policy, programme or project. However, the meaning of this is often far from the original aims of feminists fighting for a commitment to more equal gendered power relations and social justice. This article offers a detailed study of one particular strand of development funding – tourism-based microenterprises – and outlines the ways in which ‘gender’ is constructed at three different levels: the World Bank, the Honduran government and a tourism development project in Copán. It supplements analysis of policy documents with the interpretations and perspectives of policy-makers and development workers to present a rich empirical picture of the complex and sometimes contradictory ways in which gender is understood at all stages of the development process. It then uses this analysis to demonstrate how these particular interpretations of ‘gender’ influenced the outcomes of the project and why it ultimately failed in its goals of integrating indigenous women into the process of tourism development.

Keywords:

• development policy
• Honduras
• indigenous women
• microenterprise
• tourism

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (grant number PTA–026–27–1828) and the return trip to Honduras in 2008 by the International Development Department of the University of Birmingham. I would like to thank the Politics Department at Sheffield for their support during the re-writing of this article, in particular Georgina Waylen for her insightful comments on earlier drafts. Thanks also to the anonymous reviewers and all those who participated in my research.

Notes

At the time of going to press, Honduras is in a situation of political conflict and instability caused by the overthrow of the Zelaya regime. I would like to express my solidarity with the people of the country and to affirm that in spite of the criticisms expressed in this article, I hope that funding continues to be directed towards those living in poverty and inequality in the country.

CIA World Factbook 2009, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook (accessed 12 October 2009).

According to the CIA World Factbook, Honduras is 97 per cent Catholic, 3 per cent Protestant. However, this does not take into account mixed religious practices and customs.

I have chosen to use the Spanish term artesanía in this article as I feel it better conveys the notion of an artesan, or craftsperson, which is integral to the ways in which it is understood in Honduras.