• Rebranding Old Mistakes: A comparative analysis of gender theory in international development

In 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted unanimously by the 193 member states of the United Nations. Among the seventeen goals to be achieved by 2030 is gender equality. However, as of 2021, the World Economic Forum predict that it will take 135.6 years to reach parity between the sexes. 

From the 1970’s, the approach to gender equality in international development was informed by the Women in Development (WID) framework, which operated within the existing structures of donor agencies and emphasized market-based solutions. Particularly during the rise of neoliberalism, it became clear that the WID approach, and the preoccupation with economic production which it informed, did little to benefit women in material reality. 

In response to these failings, the Gender and Development (GAD) approach gained traction in the late 1980’s. The GAD approach was grounded in socialist theory and promised a new radical approach to women’s issues in the development agenda. However, despite arising from frustration with WID, many of the same mistakes were repeated under the GAD framework. Indeed, after decades of the GAD approach, gender parity remains an ever-elusive target. 

How is it that even after such a radical shift in theory, development practice continues to fail women in the Global South? In grappling with this question, this essay analyses not only how WID and GAD differ, but identifies their common ground. In doing so, it seeks to illuminate

an essential pitfall that has plagued the pursuit of gender equality in development. Namely; the failure to embrace truly autonomous development processes in the Global South.