Gender Mainstreaming in Politics, Administration and Development in South Asia

Ishtiaq Jamil, Salahuddin M. Aminuzzaman, Syeda Lasna Kabir, M. Mahfuzul Haque, Ishtiaq Jamil, Salahuddin M. Aminuzzaman, Syeda Lasna Kabir, M. Mahfuzul Haque

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9783030360115
• eBook ISBN:
  9783030360122
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Comparative Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book explores and analyzes gender mainstreaming in South Asia. Gender mainstreaming as a concept is about removing disparities between men and women – about equal access to resources, inclusion and participation in the public sphere, representation in government, and empowerment, all with the aim of achieving equal opportunities for men and women in family life, society, administration, politics, and the economy. The challenges of gender mainstreaming in South Asia are huge, especially in the contexts of patriarchal, religious, and caste-based social norms and values. Men's dominance in politics, administration, and economic activities is distinctly visible. Women have been subservient to the policy preferences of their male counterparts. However, in recent years, more women are participating in politics at the local and national levels, in administration, and in formal economic activities. Have gender equality and equity been ensured in South Asia? This book focuses on how gender-related issues are incorporated into policy formulation and governance, how they have fared, what challenges they have encountered when these policies were put into practice, and their implications and fate in the context of five South Asian countries. The authors have used varied frameworks to analyze gender mainstreaming at the micro and macro levels. Written from public administration and political science perspectives, the book provides an overview of the possibilities and constraints of gender mainstreaming in a region, which is not only diverse in ethnicity and religion, but also in economic progress, political culture, and the state of governance.

© The Author(s) 2020

I. Jamil et al. (eds.)Gender Mainstreaming in Politics, Administration and Development in South Asiahttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36012-2_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction: Gender Mainstreaming in Politics, Administration, and Development in South Asia

Ishtiaq Jamil¹ , Salahuddin M. Aminuzzaman² , Syeda Lasna Kabir³ and M. Mahfuzul Haque²

(1)

University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

(2)

South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG), North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

(3)

Department of Public Administration, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Ishtiaq Jamil (Corresponding author)

Email: [email protected]

Salahuddin M. Aminuzzaman

Syeda Lasna Kabir

M. Mahfuzul Haque

Keywords

Gender mainstreamingWomen in development (WID)Women and development (WAD)Gender and development (GAD)Gender planningGovernance challengesSouth Asia

End Abstract

Introduction

Gender mainstreaming is about removing disparities between men and women—about equal access to resources, inclusion and participation in the public sphere, representation in government, and empowerment, all with the aim of achieving equal opportunities for men and women in family life, society, administration, politics, and the economy. Gender mainstreaming does not refer only to women (Monsen, 2010, p. 2). It means that all social and development-related policies must reflect on gender and consider it as an essential element in the policy formulation process. Gender mainstreaming is also about institutionalizing gender equality in development (Mukhopadhyay, 2013), in other words, to provide equitable as well as equal opportunities for people of different genders, classes, castes, and ethnicities, and to validate their sexual diversity. Gender mainstreaming is thus closely linked with gender equality (Walby, 2005). It recognizes that men and women have different needs and priorities and therefore may requires different treatment, but that opportunities should be equal for all, so that men and women can lead equally meaningful lives (Monsen, 2010, p. 8).

The concept of gender mainstreaming was coined by feminist development practitioners in the 1970s and eventually became a prominent concept and strategy to advance the topic of gender in development discourses (Walby, 2005). The UN Fourth World Women’s Conference in Beijing (1995) was the occasion that set the agenda for gender mainstreaming through achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women (Moser & Moser, 2005). Since then, it has become a focal point in socio-economic development programs, not only in the West but also in the developing world. It has now become a “policy frame” through which gender issues, especially those related to women, are incorporated into policies and given due attention. An example is the issue of political and administrative recruitment and the selection process through which a woman can gain a decision-making position in an organization. According to Hafner-Burton and Pollack (2002, p. 2), “The concept of gender mainstreaming promises a revolutionary change in the international and domestic policy process, in which gender issues become a core consideration not simply for specific departments or ministries dealing with women, but rather for all actors across a range of issue-areas and at all stages in the policy process from conception and legislation to implementation and evaluation.”

However, along with the concept’s advancement and current center-stage position, it has also attracted much debate and controversies on how to incorporate gender issues in development policies and practices, both from theoretical and from practical standpoints (Warren, 2007). According to Walby (2005, p. 321), gender mainstreaming, being a contested concept and practice, “involves the reinvention, restructuring, and rebranding of a key part of feminism in the contemporary era.” It therefore requires theory development as a strategy and a practice, in order to promote gender equality .

The dynamic relations between gender and governance have been broadly ignored in mainstream development discourses. In most societies, women’s roles are seen as existing mostly in the “private” realm, while men’s roles are in the “public” realm (Nussbaum, Basu, Tambiah, & Niraja, 2003). Drawing on global experiences, Brody (2009) observers that women have been treated unequally in all forms of formal and informal processes. He specifically observes that (a) women are unequally treated in the institutions in which they are involved; (b) institutions, in general, fail to acknowledge the “double burden” on women; (c) institutional policies usually fail to recognize gender issues and the nature of the needs of men and women, causing inequalities in decision-making; and (d) the absence of institutional accountability breeds inequality and the violation of women’s rights.

Gender Mainstreaming and Its Origin

The concept of gender mainstreaming as a strategy and policy process has undergone several stages of development and conceptualization. Understanding these stages requires a discussion on women in development (WID), women and development (WAD), and gender and development (GAD). The different connotations of these three themes illustrate varying assumptions in the stages of conceptualization, policy agendas, and research issues relating to gender mainstreaming.

Women in Development (WID)

WID started gaining prominence in the 1970s and 1980s and was used actively by American liberal feminists. Their concern was women’s economic emancipation, which was essential for gender mainstreaming. To end discrimination against women and increase their participation in the economic sector, policies and practices needed to change. In this regard, WID came to be associated with modernization, industrialization, and urbanization—the major post-colonial policy agenda in developing countries in the 1950s. It was expected that modernization, with emphasis on education, would create a modern workforce that would benefit men and women equally. However, modernization and its promise of women’s emancipation were highly criticized in the 1970s, as modernization had not led to women’s advancement. To the contrary: women’s position was downgraded. Agriculture is a case in point: processes of mechanization ended up favoring men more than women, whereas in traditional forms of agriculture, women play a larger role. In addition to criticism associated with modernization, other critics of WID pointed to the problems of “quick” or “single fix” approaches to women’s empowerment . Examples here are to give women access to appropriate technology, offer income-generating activities, or give women access to skills and education. The problem is that such measures, in isolation, do not take into account the contexts in which women live—their class, religion, caste, race, and culture. If these contexts do not support women’s increased empowerment, then technological innovations, work, educational opportunities, and so forth are easily appropriated by other social and family actors such as male family members. Women usually have no defense against such social action (Rathgeber, 1990, pp. 491–492).

Women and Development (WAD)

Against the backdrop of criticism of WID, the concept of WAD evolved in the mid-1970s. Because it combined Marxist and feminist perspectives, it was termed as a neo-Marxist feminist approach (Rathgeber, 1990, p. 493). WAD’s major argument is that women have always been an essential part of the economy; they are not newcomers, as WID claims, and their work inside and outside the ho...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction: Gender Mainstreaming in Politics, Administration, and Development in South Asia
• 2. Gendered Electoral Financing: Two Approaches Toward Funding as an Affirmative Action Measure
• 3. How Policy Folds Back Before Implementation: A Study on Unequal Inheritance Right in Bangladesh
• 4. Gender-Based Harassment and Violence in Higher Educational Institutions: A Case from Sri Lanka
• 5. ‘Through the Glass Ceiling, over the Glass Cliff?’ Women Leaders in Bangladeshi Public Administration
• 6. Emerging Leadership Roles of Women in Rural Local Government: Experiences from Bangladesh
• 7. Gender Budgeting and Governance Challenges: A Case Study of Bangladesh
• 8. Empowering Women Through e-Governance in the Indian Province of Odisha: Capacity Building as an Enabling Measure
• 9. A Paradigm Shift in Women’s Turnout and Representation in Indian Elections
• 10. Achievements and Challenges for Gender Mainstreaming in the Employment Sector of the Maldives
• 11. Caught in the Cross-Fire of Religion, Culture, and Politics: Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Pakistan
• Back Matter