Institute of Development Studies

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2004: Volume 35

Repositioning Feminisms in Development

Volume 35 Number 4 October 2004 Edited by: Andrea Cornwall, Elizabeth Harrison and Ann Whitehead

This IDS Bulletin reflects on the contested relationship between feminism and development, and the challenges for reasserting feminist engagement with development as a political project. It arises from the ‘Gender Myths and Feminist Fables: Repositioning Gender in Development Policy and Practice’ workshop held at the Institute of Development Studies and the University of Sussex in July 2003. Centred on how to “reposition” gender and development, debates pointed to the politics of discourse as a key element in social transformation. Participants explored how, after initial struggles to develop new concepts and languages for understanding women’s position in developing societies, feminist phrases came to be filled with new meanings as they were taken up into development policy and practice. Gender’s generalities have been both a success and a hindrance. Reflecting on years of effort, articles critique understandings and outcomes of discourse, as well as different views of the pitfalls and compromises of political engagement.

Feminist engagement with development has required the embrace of simplifications, and as a result, vigilance and struggle to avoid women being represented as cardboard victims or heroines, in order to capture instead nuances, ambiguities and complexities in their lives and choices.

Climate Change and Development

Volume 35 Number 3 July 2004 Edited by: Farhana Yamin

Climate change is a relatively “young” international issue with significant social, economic and political ramifications. Although there is a wealth of policy-relevant research in the environment community, examination of climate and developmental concerns is in its early days. Evidence of significant consequences for all (sea level rise, changes in agricultural yields, forest cover and water resources; increases of extreme weather events), impacts especially the most vulnerable, and jeopardises achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Climate policies will have to be “development-led” if they are to have any chance of achieving the political support necessary for implementation. The scientific and local evidence of climate change consistent impacts is now overwhelming. The calculus of monetised costs has shifted from centre stage in climate policy as human impacts – loss of life and livelihoods, local migration and the prospect of social unrest – begin to enter policy-making radars. This Bulletin aims to generate awareness and catalyse discussion. It is intended to provide development and climate practitioners with an opportunity for mutual learning and to explore connections, conflicts, and to think “out of the box”. Researchers suggest that “top down” climate negotiations should be accompanied by a range of actions – formal and informal, to engage a broader constituency of policy-makers and publics in future climate policy – bringing together climate and development communities. Multi-disciplinary research will advance specific mainstreaming challenges facing the climate regime, and contribute to the broader challenge of rethinking development.

New Democratic Spaces?

Volume 35 Number 2 April 2004 Edited by: Andrea Cornwall

Across the world, as new democratic experiments meet with and transform older forms of governance, political space for public engagement in governance appears to be widening. A renewed concern with rights, power and difference in debates about participation in development has focused greater attention on the institutions at the interface between publics, providers and policy-makers. Some see in them exciting prospects for the practice of more vibrant and deliberative democracy; others raise concerns about them as forms of co-option, and as absorbing, neutralising and deflecting social energy from other forms of political participation, whether campaigning, organising or protest. The title of this Bulletin reflects some of their ambiguities as arenas that may be neither new nor democratic, but at the same time appear to hold promise for renewing and deepening democracy. Through a series of case studies from a range of political and cultural contexts – Brazil, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, South Africa, England and the United States of America, contributors to this Bulletin explore the interfaces between different forms of public engagement. Their studies engage with questions about representation, inclusion and voice, about the political efficacy of citizen engagement as well as the viability of these new arenas as political institutions. Read together, they serve to emphasise the historical, cultural and political embeddedness of the institutions and actors that constitute spaces for participation.

Globalisation and Poverty

Volume 35 Number 1 January 2004 Edited by: John Humphrey

This IDS Bulletin explores various aspects of the globalisation processes “as they exist”, in specific country and institutional contexts, in order to contribute to a better understanding of these processes and identify specific policy interventions. Three principal areas are covered: production and trade, finance and foreign direct investment (FDI), and the institutions of global governance. The focus is on the flexibility and reality of the globalisation process; how the characteristics of different countries can lead to different outcomes from the same processes; and the significance of management. The full programme of research on globalisation and poverty is only a minute part of the global research effort on the topic in the past few years. The result is a set of findings that contribute to narrowing the gulf that exists between “globophobes” and “globophiles” by providing explanations of why globalisation outcomes vary so much and suggesting ways in which globalisation processes can be managed so as to enhance the livelihoods of poor people. This volume of the Bulletin brings together some of the results of research funded by the Department for International Development in a three-year programme of research on globalisation and poverty.

2003: Volume 34

Microfinance, Poverty and Social Performance

Volume 34 Number 4 October 2003 Edited by: Alyson Brody, James Copestake, Martin Greeley, Naila Kabeer and Anton Simanowitz

The nature and extent of the impact of microfinance, particularly on poverty, continues to promote debate. The articles presented in this Bulletin reflect the ideas and practice of the Imp-Act action-research programme. The work emphasises the necessity to judge the performance of microfinance organisations (MFOs) in both social as well as financial terms. One important aspect of the debate is the potential contribution of microfinance to the Millennium Development Goals. But the potential impact of microfinance goes beyond these definitions of poverty. For example, impacts on gender inequality may relate to women above as well as below the poverty line.

This Bulletin presents wide-ranging contributions from the three-year Imp-Act programme of action research, a partnership of 30 MFOs in 20 countries and three UK universities. Experiences are compared between rural India, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bangladesh, South Africa, and the Philippines. Covering methodological and organisational processes, as well as wider social impacts, this issue is a practical in-depth review of microfinance impact.