Power, Gender and Social Change in AfricaRaj Bardouille, Margaret Grieco Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009 M03 26 - 359 pages Gender plays a hugely significant and too often under-considered role in predicting how accessible resources such as education, wage-based employment, physical and mental health care, adequate nutrition and housing will be to an individual or community. According to a 2001 World Bank report titled Engendering Development—Through Gender Equality in Rights, Resources, and Voice, enormous disparities exist between men and women in terms of basic rights and the power to determine the future, both in Africa and around the globe. A better understanding of the links between gender, public policy and development outcomes would allow for more effective policy formulation and implementation at many levels. This book, through its discussion of the challenges, achievements and lessons learned in efforts to attain gender equality, sheds light on these important issues. The book contains chapters from an interdisciplinary group of scholars, including sociologists, economists, political scientists, scholars of law, anthropologists, historians and others. The work includes analysis of strategic gender initiatives, case studies, research, and policies as well as conceptual and theoretical pieces. With its format of ideas, resources and recorded experiences as well as theoretical models and best practices, the book is an important contribution to academic and political discourse on the intricate links between gender, power, and social change in Africa and around the world. |
From inside the book
... norms that impede women, such as the inability to own or inherit land, coupled with polygamy and low marriage ages, must be tackled to permit participation in the private sector. While microfinance projects are important, more women ...
... norms and teaches that violence is not an acceptable way to deal with loved ones. Just as you would not want someone to hurt your mother or sister, so you should not hurt someone else's mother or sister. Any ambitious agenda for social ...
... laws, implementation and practices. This is about translating international and regional declarations of norms, treaties, covenants or protocols into positive social, economic and political changes in women's lives.4 The 28 Chapter Two.
... norms arose: norms of an American, politically liberal woman, that women are equal to men and that their rights ought to be respected, versus norms of cultural sensitivity, that an outsider supporting social and economic development ...
... norms and practices that date back centuries; customary law reflecting interpretations and colonial laws; and, more recently, norms and laws promoted by multilateral and bilateral donors. Placing primary attention on state-enacted laws ...