Doctoral Dissertation Research: Women Empowerment Movements and Development

SES-1003756 Lynne Haney Poulami Roychowdhurr本论文研究“妇女赋权”的发展模式如何在公民社会中获得支持，以及它们对国家-社会关系的影响。从历史上看，女性问题的焦点一直是“阶级冲突”，因此共产党领导的印度西孟加拉邦为研究提供了一个理想的地点。这项研究研究了两个相互关联的研究问题：1)呼吁“赋予妇女权力”如何成为发展常识？2)这种发展方式如何重新构建国家与贫困男女的治理关系？这项研究使用扩展的案例研究方法来观察穷人、非政府组织、国家机构和政党之间的基层互动，这些互动塑造了西孟加拉邦的发展和治理。政治经济学、性别与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塑造的。因此，印度的自由化运动被理解为是一种新的阶级力量配置的产物，在这种情况下，女性特质的概念使妇女成为理想的增长“工具”。这项研究通过分析西孟加拉邦两个地区不同的发展轨迹，挑战了这一理论共识，这两个地区都是由农村阶级结构和传统性别关系主导的。虽然以妇女为中心的发展项目在南帕尔加纳州如雨后春笋般涌现，但国家机构、政党和穷人对巴尔达曼的“妇女赋权”概念持相对敌视的态度。这两个案例表明，社会关系可能不会自然地构成发展的结构，而可能是由其他力量调节的。因此，这项研究的学术价值在于它分析了发展成果如何取决于政治表达的过程。今天印度正在发生的发展状况在世界其他地区也同样存在：推动市场，关注妇女。随着围绕“赋予妇女权力”的讨论的强度和主流吸引力的增加，有必要批判性地审问这些运动如何帮助重塑第三世界的发展轨迹。更广泛的影响因此，这项研究的更广泛的影响在于它试图了解发展是如何发生的，是谁制定了发展议程，以及对贫困男女会产生什么后果。这些问题对基层组织等以实践为导向的社区非常重要。它们对于培养新一代学生在全球化、性别和发展方面也是至关重要的。

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.