SEMINAR: GENDER RELATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
HCD495G/WS 380
Spring 2003
Instructor: Gale Summerfield Meeting Place and Time:
Office: 320 Int'l Studies Bldg. Wednesdays 1:00- 3:50 pm
910 S. Fifth Street 101 Int'l Studies Bldg.
Office Phone: 333-1977
Email: summrfld@uiuc.edu
Secretary: Kathy Martin (333-1994); kcmartin@uiuc.edu
Office Hours: Wednesday 11:00-12:30 and by appointment
WGGP webpage: http://www.ips.uiuc.edu/wggp/
This course is multidisciplinary
and policy-oriented in scope. We will focus on analysis of
the gendered dimensions of globalization and socio-economic
transformation policies, stressing the last few decades. We will examine
the
impacts on people’s lives and the agency roles of women and men as
they adopt strategies to improve conditions for themselves and their families.
The
course will address conceptual tools for evaluating development policies
based on different paradigms. Because the seminar is policy-oriented, key
topics
will change each year, influenced by current events, the themes of the
WGGP program, and the interests of the students. This year's themes stress
human
security and transnational migration; additional topics may be identified
by the enrolled students. This course satisfies the core requirement for
the graduate
level GRID minor offered by the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives
(WGGP) program in cooperation with departments and units across campus;
for more information, check the WGGP webpage. Related seminars are offered
by WGGP
on selected Mondays at noon in 101 ISB; students are encouraged to attend.
Course Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, the students will have mastered
the following competencies and have demonstrated their proficiency with the
material through both written and oral presentations:
1. Define basic concepts, list key approaches/paradigms; and locate sources
for articles and data, including performing Internet searches.
2. Summarize and explain the main theoretical and empirical methods commonly
used in the interdisciplinary study of women, gender, and international economic
development; give examples of analysis informed by different schools of thought.
3. Apply the skills and concepts to new contexts.
4. Use the theories to analyze gender aspects of socio-economic issues and
evaluate policies.
Required Readings:
Course pack: Required readings are included in a reading packet that will be
available for purchase from Up-Close Copies, 714 S. Sixth Street.
Recommended sources for data:
UNDP, Human Development Reports
Unifem (2000) Progress of the World's Women 2000 (online)Requirements and Grading:
1. Seminar research paper, 50%, due by May 7th. You may turn in a nearly final
draft of your paper by April 9th for comments; the draft should be turned in
again with the final paper on May 7th.
Graduate students, 20-25 pages double-spaced
Undergraduate students, 10-15 pages double-spaced
2. Regional context exercise, 20%, due Feb. 12th: Select a country in class.
Establish a basic context for the gender equity and globalization issues
by finding data on the country over ten to fifteen years, summary information
from one of the books recommended in class on reforms or policy changes.
Write
a two to three page summary of your information focusing on: What are the
main policy changes over the period? How have women’s lives improved over the
time period in an absolute sense? How have they changed relative to men’s?
How have women’s lives stagnated or become worse over the period in an
absolute sense? Relative to men’s?
3. Proposal for seminar paper, 10%, due Feb. March 5th, 2 pages plus preliminary
bibliography.
What is the question or hypothesis that you are examining? What is the importance/significance
of this issue? What is the method or approach that you are using?
4. Critique of readings from one week of class emphasizing the main points
of the papers and the areas of agreement and disagreement, 4-5 double-spaced
pages. For this, one or more students will apply their ideas in leading class
discussion on the topic. The paper will be due the week of the class.
OR
Design a web page to post on the WGGP site focusing on an issue in one or more
countries; provide a one page discussion of the issue and some basic material
to back it up; provide a list of references and at least five related web sites,
with brief annotation of the contributions on each site.
Either assignment is due as arranged; this assignment and class participation
throughout the semester will be worth 20%.
Week 1, Jan. 22: Introduction and Framing the Questions: Background on the
Women, Gender and Development Field (WID/GAD); What is Development: Paradigms,
Perspectives, and the Rhetoric of Development
Week 2, Jan. 29: Economic Transformation Policies , Globalization and Human
Security
Aslanbeigui and Summerfield, "Risk, Gender, and Development in the 21st
Century," in International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society,
Vol.15, No.1, September 2001: 7-26.
Beneria, Lourdes, "Shifting the Risk: New Employment Patterns, Informalization,
and Women’s Work," in International Journal of Politics, Culture,
and Society, Vol.15, No.1, September 2001: 27-53.Weeks 3 and 4, Feb. 5 & 12:
Export Processing and International Migration
Guest speaker: Cindy Ingold, Librarian, Women and Gender Resources Library.
Pyle, Jean, "Sex, Maids, and Export Processing: Gendered Global Production
Networks" in International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society,
Vol.15, No.1, September 2001: 55-76.
Espiritu, Yen Le, "Gender and Labor in Asian Immigrant Families," in
American Behavioral Scientist, Vol.42, No.4, Jan. 1999: 628-647.
Pearson, R. Nimble Fingers Revisited: Reflections on Women and Third World
Industrialization in the Late 20th Century," in Jackson, C. and R. Pearson,
Feminist Visions of Development: gender analysis and policy, Routledge, 1998:
171-188.
Lim, Linda (1990) "Women’s Work in Export Factories: the politics
of a cause," in Irene Tinker, ed, Persistent Inequalities, Oxford Univ.
Press: 101-119.
Chain of Love, film
Regional Context Exercise, due Feb. 12th.
Week 5, Feb. 19: Methodology: Capabilities and Agency
Sen, Amartya, "The Economics of Life and Death," Scientific American,
May 1993: 40-47.
Sen, Amartya, "Agency and Well-being: The Development Agenda," in
Noeleen Heyzer, ed., A Commitment to the World’s Women: Perspectives
on Development for Beijing and Beyond, Unifem, New York, 1995, pp.103-112.
Jackson, Cecile, (1998) "Rescuing Gender from the Poverty Trap," in
C. Jackson and R. Pearson, eds, Feminist Visions of Development: Gender,
Analysis and Policy, London, Routledge: 39-64.
Chant, Sylvia. "Contributions of a Gender Perspective to the Analysis
of Poverty," forthcoming.
Week 6, Feb. 26: Intrahousehold Allocation and Decision-Making
Sen, Amartya, "Gender and Cooperative Conflicts," in Tinker, I.,
ed., Persistent Inequalities, Oxford, 1990, pp.123-149.
Kabeer, Naila, "Jumping to conclusions? Struggles over meaning and method
in the study of household economics," in Jackson, C. and R. Pearson,
Feminist Visions of Development: gender analysis and policy, Routledge, 1998,
pp. 91-107.
Week 7, March 5: Democratization and Empowerment:
Political Participation, Women’s Movements and organizations, and Institutional
Reform
Montecinos, Veronica, "Women and Policy Elites in Latin America: The Challenges
of Democratization" in International Journal of Politics, Culture, and
Society, Vol.15, No.1, September 2001: 175-199.
Razavi, Shahra, "Women in Contemporary Democratization," in International
Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, Vol.15, No.1, September 2001:
201-224.
Kudva, Neema, Engineering Elections: The Experiences Of Women In Panchayati
Raj in Karnataka, India, forthcoming.
Paper Proposal DueWeek 8, March 12: Transnational Feminisms
Guest Speaker: Dr. Manisha Desai, Program Coordinator, WGGP
Basu, Amrita, "Globalization of the Local/Localization of the Global:
Mapping Transnational Women’s Movements," Meridians, Vol.1, No.1,
Autumn 2000: 68-84.
Desai, Manisha . 2002. "Transnational Solidarity: Women’s Agency,
Structural Adjustment, and Globalization," in N. Naples and M. Desai,
eds, Women’s Activism and Globalization: Linking Local Struggles and
Transnational Politics, Routledge, New York: 15-33.
Naples, Nancy. 2002."The Challenges and Possibilities of Transnational
Feminist Praxis," in N. Naples and M. Desai, eds, Women’s Activism
and Globalization: Linking Local Struggles and Transnational Politics, Routledge,
New York: 267-281.
Week 9, March 19: Gender Equity as a Global Public Good
Aslanbeigui, N. and G. Summerfield, Handout
Kaul, Inge and Ronald Mendoza. 2002. "Advancing the Concept of Global
Public Goods."
Spring Break, no class on March 26
Week 10, April 2: Property Rights: ownership and control of property
Agarwal, Bina, "Gender and Command Over Property: A Critical Gap in Economic
Analysis and Policy in South Asia," World Development, Vol.22, No.10,
1994, pp.1455-1478.
Miraftab, Faranak, "Risks and Opportunities in Gender Gaps to Access Shelter:
A Platform for Intervention," in International Journal of Politics,
Culture, and Society, Vol.15, No.1, September 2001: 143-160.
Lee-Smith, Diana and C. Trujillo, "Unequal Rights: Women and Property," forthcoming.
Week 11, April 9: Microenterprise and Microfinance
Tinker, Irene, "Ile-Ife, Nigeria," Street Foods,Oxford University
Press, 1997: 125-145.
Kabeer, Naila, (2001) "Conflicts Over Credit: Re-Evaluating the Empowerment
Potential of Loans to Women in Rural Bangladesh,: World Development, Vol.
29, No.1, pp.63-84.
Datta, Rekha, "From Development to Empowerment: the Self-Employed Women’s
Association in India," forthcoming.
Film: Beyond Credit
Week 12, April 16: The Arts and Social Change
Huang Shuqin’s film: Woman, Human, Demon
Week 13, April 23: Presentations
Week 14, April 30: Presentations
Week 15, May 7: Policies and Strategies
All papers due by May 7
