GDEV 5230 - Gender and Development

Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

Co-meets with GDEV 3230/FGSS 3230.

A. Sidle.

The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 5 states that countries should “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” by 2030. In this course, we unpack the different and often competing definitions of ‘empowerment’ and ‘gender equality’ deployed in development, and consider the historical lineages of feminisms and development theory that led to women and girls as an important constituency. We examine the programs and policies associated with these lineages and consider how women’s and girls’ intersectional experiences of gender, shape the outcomes of the programs and policies designed to improve their lives. This course blends practice and theory, encouraging students to evaluate the material effects of diverse approaches to reducing gender inequality through case studies, writing, and readings in gender and development.

Outcome 1: Describe at least three distinct historical movements in gender and development and the various feminist theories these movements are connected to e.g. liberal feminism, Marxist feminism, and intersectional feminisms (e.g. Third World Feminism, Black Feminism, and other decolonial feminisms).

Outcome 2: Summarize current approaches and major debates in reducing gender inequality across sectors including: economic empowerment, education, health, and agriculture.

Outcome 3: Connect case studies of gender and development practice to the SDG 5 policy framework.

Outcome 4: Assess case studies of gender and development practice evaluating the strengths and weakness success of these models for promoting gender equality.

Outcome 5: Synthesize theoretical and empirical evidence into convincing and cohesive written analytical arguments.

Outcome 6: Describe & critique key mainstream approaches to gender and development policy including gender analysis and gender mainstreaming.

Outcome 7: Critically analyze SDG 5 as a policy framework for reducing gender inequality, utilizing feminist theoretical frameworks as analytical tools.