Doctoral Dissertation Research: Women Empowerment Movements and Development

本文研究了“妇女赋权”的发展模式如何在公民社会中获得动力，以及它们对国家-社会关系的影响。历史上，妇女问题一直关注“阶级冲突”，因此共产党领导的印度西孟加拉邦提供了一个理想的研究场所。本研究研究了两个相互关联的研究问题：1)“妇女赋权”的呼吁如何成为发展的常识？2)这种发展方式如何重新构建国家对贫困男女的治理关系？本研究采用了一种扩展的案例研究方法来观察影响西孟加拉邦发展和治理的穷人、非政府组织、国家机构和政党之间的基层互动。政治经济学理论、性别和发展理论在很大程度上同意，发展是由预先存在的阶级和性别关系决定的。因此，印度走向自由化的运动被理解为一种新的阶级力量配置的产物，在这种配置中，女性的概念使女性成为理想的增长“工具”。本研究通过分析西孟加拉邦南24帕尔加纳斯和巴尔达曼两个地区不同的发展轨迹，挑战了这一理论共识，这两个地区都由农村阶级结构和传统性别关系主导。虽然以妇女为中心的发展项目在南24帕尔加纳斯迅速发展，但国家机构、政党和穷人对巴尔达曼的“妇女赋权”概念相对持敌对态度。这两个例子表明，社会关系可能不是自然地组织发展，而是可能受到其他力量的调节。因此，这项研究的智力价值在于它对发展结果如何取决于政治表达过程的分析。今天印度发展的条件与世界其他地区类似：推动市场，关注妇女。随着围绕“妇女赋权”的讨论越来越激烈，越来越受到主流的欢迎，我们有必要批判性地审视这些运动如何帮助第三世界重塑发展轨迹。更广泛的影响因此，这项研究的更广泛的影响在于它试图理解发展是如何发生的，谁塑造了发展议程，以及对贫穷的男性和女性造成了什么后果。这些问题对于以实践为导向的社区，如基层组织是重要的。它们对于培养新一代学生了解全球化、性别和发展也至关重要。

SES-1003756Lynne HaneyPoulami RoychowdhuryThe dissertation research studies how developmental models of "women's empowerment" gain traction within civil society, and their consequences for state-society relations. Historically women's issues have had a focus on "class conflict" so communist-led West Bengal, India provides an ideal site for a study. The research studies two inter-related research questions: 1) How do calls for "women's empowerment" become developmental common sense? 2) How does this development approach reframe the state's governance relations to poor men and women? The research uses an extended case study methodology to observe the ground-level interactions between poor people, non-governmental organizations, state agencies, and political parties that shape development and governance in West Bengal. Theories of political economy, and gender and development largely agree that development is shaped by pre-existing class and gender relations. India's movement towards liberalization is thus understood to be a product of a new configuration of class forces, where notions of femininity make women ideal "instruments" of growth. The research challenges this theoretical consensus by analyzing the disparate developmental trajectories of two districts in West Bengal, South-24 Parganas and Bardhaman, both dominated by rural class structures and traditional gender relations. While woman-centered development programs have burgeoned in South-24 Parganas, state agencies, political parties and poor people have been comparatively hostile to notions of "women's empowerment" in Bardhaman. These two cases suggest that social relations may not naturally structure development, but rather, may be mediated by other forces. The intellectual merit of the research thus lies in its analysis of how developmental outcomes are contingent on processes of political articulation. The conditions under which development is happening in India today is similarly present in other areas of the world: a push towards markets, a focus on women. As the discourse around "women's empowerment" grows in intensity and mainstream appeal, there is a need to critically interrogate how these movements help remake developmental trajectories in the third world. Broader ImpactThe broader impact of the research thus lies in its attempt to understand how development happens, who shapes developmental agendas, and with what consequences for poor men and women. These issues are important to practice-oriented communities, such as grass-roots organizations. They are also critical for training a new generation of students in globalization, gender, and development.