Gender and Development

Bareed Mista3jil: Negotiating Gender, Sexuality, and Religion in Lebanon by Amy Levin

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on Feminism and Religion project

It’s not often (enough) that I (have the time to) come across non-academic books that articulate and reflect some of... more It’s not often (enough) that I (have the time to) come across non-academic books that articulate and reflect some of the most complex intersections between religion, gender, and sexuality. Those that do are commonly produced in the Western hemisphere, often representing the voices of Euro-American cultures and religious traditions. That is why I want to give voice to Bareed Mista3jil, a book, or collection of “41 true (and personal) stories from lesbians, bisexuals, queer and questioning women, and transgender persons from all over Lebanon.” Bareed Mista3jil was published in 2009 by the organization Meem, a community of lesbian, bisexual, queer women and transgender persons (including male-to-female and female-to-male) in addition to women questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity in Lebanon. The purpose of the book is to give voice to those in Lebanon with non-conforming sexualities and identities in order to give hope to this under-represented, often silenced population. Here is a description from Meem on the origin of the book:

Uso della lingua e valorizzazione delle differenze di genere nella gestione delle risorse umane

by Cecilia Robustelli

in La rivoluzione organizzativa. Le differenze di genere nella gestione delle risorse umane, a cura di Rita Biancheri,... more in La rivoluzione organizzativa. Le differenze di genere nella gestione delle risorse umane, a cura di Rita Biancheri, Collana Studi di genere e pari opportunità, Pisa, Plus – Pisa University Press, 2012, pp. 115-123 (ISBN 978-88-8492-840-5)

Christianity, Masculinity and Gender Violence in Papua New Guinea.

by Richard Eves

SSGM Discussion Paper 2012/2.

The distribution of wages in Belarus

by Francesco Pastore

Co-authored with Alina Verashchagina.
Revised version published in: Comparative Economic Studies, 2006, 48 (3), 351-376.

This paper uncovers evidence on the distribution of wages in Belarus in the second half of the 1990s. The returns to... more This paper uncovers evidence on the distribution of wages in Belarus in the second half of the 1990s. The returns to education and work experience are high and stable. While the former is a typical finding of transition studies, the latter is not.
This might be due to the pervasive role of the state in fixing wages in the dominant budget sector, rather than to market forces coming into play. Women experience a small, though largely unexplained wage gap coupled with higher than average
returns to education. A wage curve effect is found, which is similar in size to that of other transition countries, but much higher than in market economies.

World Development Report 2012: Gender, Equality, and Men's Education?

by Frank Karioris

Published on Good Men Project and XYonline.com.

A discussion of the World Development Report 2012 discussing the way the report addresses issues of men's education.... more A discussion of the World Development Report 2012 discussing the way the report addresses issues of men's education. Published at http://goodmenproject.com/ethics-values/world-development-report-2012-gender-equality-and-mens-education/ and http://www.xyonline.net/content/look-how-men’s-education-portrayed-world-development-report-2012-gender-and-equality-and-whe.

Gender Violence and Gender Justice in Peacebuilding and Development

by Pamela Scully

Women, immigration and entrepreneurship in Spain

by Francisco Diaz Bretones

English
Published in "Women´s Studies International Forum, 34, 360-370" (2011)

Social, academic and political interest in entrepreneurship has grown over the last few years. In capitalist... more Social, academic and political interest in entrepreneurship has grown over the last few years. In capitalist societies, it is seen as a way to curb unemployment and combat exclusion among certain groups, i.e. women and immigrants, who suffer social and labour discrimination and marginalisation. Adopting a qualitative method based on semi-structured interviews, this research examines - from the psychosocial gender perspective - the entrepreneurial behaviour of 52 immigrant women living in Spain. From their testimonials, this paper reports on the broad range of reasons that lead immigrant women to set up businesses, identifying the most common self-employment profiles and strategies, while also describing the individual and social consequences of their entrepreneurial behaviour, and how the entire process is conditioned by their belonging to the female gender.

Gender Responsive Budgeting for Gender Equality in Arab States

by Simel Esim

Background Note for the UNDP Abu Dhabi and Dubai Women Establishment Workshop on Gender Responsive Budgeting in the UAE, Raffles Hotel, Dubai
18 December 2011. This note is an update of another note on the topic written in 2001.

(2005) The Postmodern Individual: Structural Determinants of Attitudes

by Cheryl Elman

The gender gap in early career in Mongolia

by Francesco Pastore

International Journal of Manpower, 31(2): 188-207 (also available as IZA DP, n. 4480, November).

Purpose of this paper
The paper studies the determinants of gender differences in early career in Mongolia, one... more Purpose of this paper
The paper studies the determinants of gender differences in early career in Mongolia, one of the fifty poorest countries of the world.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis takes advantage of an ad hoc School to Work Survey (SWTS) on young people aged 15-29 years carried out in 2006. Extended and augmented Mincerian earning equations are run and then the Juhn, Murphy and Pierce (1993) decomposition method is applied to disentangle the quantity effect, the price effect and the residual wage distribution effect.
Findings
On average, female wages are not lower than those of males. However, although not statistically significant among teenagers (15-19), the conditional gender gap becomes significant and sizeable for the 20-29 year olds. The JMP decomposition shows that most of the gap is due to differences in the way the market values the same characteristics of men and women: in fact, quantity effects tend to reduce, whereas price effects tend to increase the gap. If wages were paid equally, women should have 11.7% more for their higher education attainment and overall 22% more, a substantial gap for the low earnings of Mongolians.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should assess the impact of aspirations of young people on their labour market choices.
Practical implications
The analysis shows that gender differences emerge in concomitance with women establishing a household and giving birth, suggesting that the current interventions to help mothers cope with maternity are insufficient. Changing this outcome is important to reach the Millennium Development Goals.
What is original/value of paper
Labour market issues in Mongolia are understudied, not to mention gender differences in early career.

Sisterhood on the basis of what? An essay on Chandra Mohanty's Third World feminism

by Sigrid Bjerre Andersen

In her book „Feminism Without Borders‟ (2003), Chandra T. Mohanty re-defines feminism so as to cohere with the needs... more In her book „Feminism Without Borders‟ (2003), Chandra T. Mohanty re-defines feminism so as to cohere with the needs and demands of what she calls „Third World Women‟. In this paper, I discuss Mohanty‟s project of global feminism, and seek to understand, whether her own premises for feminism are valid, in the light of her own critique.

The dark continent of the postcolonial woman

by Sigrid Bjerre Andersen

The Martiniquean writer and activist Frantz Fanon has famously described the process of formation and being of the... more The Martiniquean writer and activist Frantz Fanon has famously described the process of formation and being of the so-called ‘colonial subject’ from a psychoanalytic perspective. One of the main objections against his view of colonialism is however its complete disregard of the female colonial subject. Ania Loomba (2005) adresses this issue from various angles, and in this essay I discuss the issue further, asking to what degree the critique of Fanon’s absence of gender sensitivity is relevant to postcolonial studies.

Discourse analysis in international development studies: Mapping some contemporary contributions

by Dimitri della Faille

This paper critically examines work conducted by discourse analysts working in
international development studies... more This paper critically examines work conducted by discourse analysts working in
international development studies (IDS). During the 1990s, a number of authors
introduced the study of speech, text and image as new paths toward understanding
the causes of underdevelopment. This article highlights the authors who
have worked on discourses on development and underdevelopment expressed by
national and international governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations,
scientific disciplines and specialized knowledge fields (including IDS).We
focus in particular on the work of Chandra Mohanty, Arturo Escobar, James
C. Scott, James Ferguson, Gilbert Rist and a selection of gender studies scholars.
Beyond their differences, these discourse analysts in IDS share a rejection of
mainstream analysis of underdevelopment. However, these authors remain
marginalized in their own field of study and their work ought to be circulated
in general discourse analysis circles.
Keywords: international development studies; discourse analysis; criticism;
theory; Marxism; liberalism

Social Relations and cognitive development: The influence of conversation types and representations of gender.

by Charis Psaltis

Psaltis, C. & Duveen, G. (2006). Social Relations and cognitive development: The influence of conversation types and representations of gender. European Journal of Social Psychology,36, 407-430

While the productive role of social interaction between peers in promoting cognitive development has been clearly... more While the productive role of social interaction between peers in promoting cognitive development has been clearly established, the communicative processes through which this is achieved have not been clearly identified. This paper reports a study in which 184 6.5 to 7.5 year old children were presented with a Piagetian task of conservation of liquid. Both male and female non-conservers worked with a conserving partner in either same or mixed-sex dyads, thus creating four different pair types. The pairs were asked to discuss their conflicting answers and agree upon a joint response. Cognitive progress was assessed by pre to post-test gains. The results indicated that the type of conversation established during the interaction was strongly related to the outcome. The results also indicate that the gender composition of the pairs influenced the type of conversation which occurred and the outcome measures. These results are discussed in relation to the general model of socio-cognitive conflict, and highlight the role of representations and expectations of gender in the way in which the conflict is expressed and resolved in conditions of aligned or conflicting knowledge and gender asymmetries.

From the Epistemic to the Social-Psychological Subject: The Missing Role of Social Identities, Asymmetries of Status, and Social Representations

by Charis Psaltis

Psaltis, C (2011) Human Development, 54:234-240 (DOI: 10.1159/000330299)
Commentary on Sorsana and Trognon

The use of symbolic resources in developmental transitions.

by Charis Psaltis

Zittoun, T., Duveen, G., Gillespie, A., Ivinson, G. & Psaltis, C. (2003). The use of symbolic resources in developmental transitions. Culture & Psychology, 9, 415-448.Commentary by LÌvia Mathias Sim’o http://cap.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/9/4/449

This paper introduces the idea of symbolic resources as the use of cultural elements to mediate the representational... more This paper introduces the idea of symbolic resources as the use of cultural elements to mediate the representational work occasioned by ruptures or discontinuities in the smooth experience of ordinary life, moments when the “taken-for-granted” meanings cease to be taken for granted. In particular we are concerned with the use of symbolic resources in moments of developmental transitions, that is, the mobilisation of symbolic elements ranging from shared bodies of knowledge or argumentative strategies to movies, magazine, or art pieces. The paper begins with a brief theoretical sketch of these ideas, and then presents three case studies, each of which involves the use of a different type of symbolic resource within a particular age group. In the first, children are observed in interaction with a peer about a conservation problem. In the second adolescents are observed negotiating the meaning of their art productions with their peers, teachers and parents. The third example looks at Western tourists searching for spirituality, adventure and freedom in Ladakh as an alternative to the materialism of modernity. In each case the analysis of the symbolic resources employed indicates the significance of the gaze of the other in the construction of meanings, and of the various constraints operating within specific situations. The analysis also reveals different modes of use, which, we suggest, are linked to psychological development. Modes of uses of symbolic resources are linked to changing forms of reflexivity, from the non-reflective use exhibited by the children, through becoming-reflective among the adolescents, to reflective uses by the adults. It is suggested that this be considered as a developmental sequence in the socio-cultural use of symbolic resources.

From drift to draft: international institutional responses to the global digital divide

by Roxana Radu

in Pande, Rekha, and Theo van der Weide (ed.), Globalization, Technology Diffusion and Gender Disparity: Social Impacts of ICTs, IGI Global, 2012

The global digital divide, denoting the patterns of uneven distribution of information and communication technologies... more The global digital divide, denoting the patterns of uneven distribution of information and communication technologies (ICTs) worldwide, emerged as a constant concern during the last two decades. Going beyond the minimal requirements of physical connectivity, it points to an underlying concern of digital inclusion differentials of citizens in developing countries, the so-called “information poor”. This chapter aims at addressing this with reference to the international institutional structures and their current efforts. After assessing the categories of people that are affected the most by the digital gap and the range of opportunities available to them in the context of globalization, special attention will be given to the overlapping concerns shaping the international agenda in regard with ICT adoption. The creation of international bodies such as Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP), Digital Opportunity Taskforce (DOT) and Information for Development Program (InfoDev) will be discussed together with the redefinition of the digital access problem as a ”universal service” and the emergence of specific endeavors for reducing the global digital inequalities.

Development of disturbing dreams during adolescence and their relation to anxiety symptoms (2000)

by Tore Nielsen

STUDY OBJECTIVES: This work assesses the prevalence and development of disturbing dreams among adolescents and the... more STUDY OBJECTIVES: This work assesses the prevalence and development of disturbing dreams among adolescents and the association of these dreams with anxiety. DESIGN: Sex differences in prevalence were analyzed with chi-square analyses. Changes over time were assessed with Wilcoxon tests and cross-tabulation tables. Associations with anxiety and DSM-III-R symptoms were assessed with ANOVA designs. SETTING: N/A PARTICIPANTS: A total of 610 boys and girls rated their recall of disturbing and normal dreams at both 13 and 16 years of age. Subgroups of subjects were evaluated for anxiety symptoms at age 13 and for DSM-III-R symptoms of separation anxiety (SA), overanxious disorder (OD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) at age 16. INTERVENTIONS: N/A MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The recall of disturbing dreams was more prevalent for girls than for boys at both ages, and increased over time for girls while it decreased for boys. The recall of normal dreams was also more prevalent for girls at both ages, but this difference could not fully account for the difference in recall of disturbing dreams. Normal dream recall increased from age 13 to 16 for both sexes. The frequent occurrence of disturbing dreams was associated with anxiety at age 13 and with GAD, SA and OD symptoms at age 16 for both sexes. Evidence of more numerous OD symptoms for girls with frequent disturbing dreams suggests that this form of anxiety may partially account for the observed sex difference in disturbing dream prevalence. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight a prevalence of disturbing dreams that is especially marked for adolescent girls. Unlike previous cross-sectional studies, which have found the same sex difference, this longitudinal design also calls attention to within-subjects changes in disturbing dream recall. The results also confirm that the frequent recall of disturbing dreams is associated with pathological symptoms of trait anxiety-apparently even as young as 13 years of age. Further study of disturbing dreams may contribute to understanding of associated pathophysiological factors which, too, vary by sex (e.g., PTSD, insomnia, depression).

Towards Addressing the Different Dimensions of Vulnerability and Resilience: Proposed Community Organizing Approach

by Chang Jordan

African Women and Power: Labor, Gender and Feminism In the Age of Globalization

by Mojubaolu Olufunke Okome

sage race relations abstracts 30 (2)