This collection of essays by leading feminist thinkers from North and South constitutes a major new attempt to reposition feminism within development studies.Feminisms emphasis on social transformation makes it fundamental to development studies. Yet the relationship between the two disciplines has frequently been a troubled one. At present, the way in which many development institutions function often undermines feminist intent through bureaucratic structures and unequal power quotients. Moreover, the seeming intractability of inequalities and injustice in developing countries have presented feminists with some enormous challenges. Here, emphasizing the importance of a plurality of approaches, the authors argue for the importance of what feminisms have to say to development.Confronting the enormous challenges for feminisms in development studies, this book provides real hope for dialogue and exchange between feminisms and development.

Andrea Cornwall is Fellow of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. She is co-editor of Dislocating Masculinity: Comparative Ethnographies (1994), Realizing Rights: Transforming Sexual and Reproductive Wellbeing (Zed 2002) and editor of Readings in Gender in Africa (2004).Ann Whitehead is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Sussex. A contributor to foundational debates on feminist engagement with development and on theorising gender, she has had a wide engagement with national and international feminist politics. Elizabeth Harrison is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Sussex. She is the co-author of Whose Development? An Ethnography of Aid (Zed 1998).

Introduction: Feminisms in Development: Contradictions, Contestations and Challenges - Andrea Cornwall, Elizabeth Harrison and Ann WhiteheadPart I: The Struggle Over Interpretation1. Gender Myths that Instrumentalise Women: A View from the Indian Frontline - Srilatha Batliwala and Deepa Dhanraj2. Dangerous Equations? How Female-headed Households Became the Poorest of the Poor: Causes, Consequences and Cautions - Sylvia Chant3. Back to Women? Translations, Re-Significations, and Myths of Gender in Policy and Practice in Brazil - Cecilia Sardenberg4. Battles Over Booklets: Gender Myths in the British Aid Programme - Rosalind Eyben5. Not Very Poor, Powerless or Pregnant. The African Woman Forgotten by Development - Everjoice Win6. 'Streetwalkers Show the Way': Reframing the Debate on Trafficking from Sex Workers' Perspective - Nandinee Bandyopadhyay, Swapna Gayen, Rama Debnath, Kajol Bose, Sikha Das, Geeta Das, M. Das, Manju Biswas, Pushpa Sarkar, Putul Singh, Rashoba Bibi, Rekha Mitra and Sudipta BiswasPart II: Institutonalising Gender in Development7. Gender, Myth and Fable: The Perils of Mainstreaming in Sector Bureaucracies - Hilary Standing8. Making Sense of Gender in Shifting Institutional Contexts: Some Reflections on Gender Mainstreaming - Ramya Subrahmanian9. Gender Mainstreaming: What is it (About) and Should We Continue Doing it? - Prudence Woodford-Berger10. Mainstreaming Gender or 'Streaming' Gender Away: Feminists Marooned in the Development Business - Maitrayee Mukhopadhay11. Critical Connections: Feminist Studies in African Contexts - Amina Mama12.  SWAPping Gender: From Cross-Cutting Obscurity to Sectoral Security? - Anne Marie Goetz and Joanne SandlerPart III: Looking to the Future: Challenges for Feminist Engagement13. The NGO-ization of Arab Women's Movements - Islah Jad14. Political Fiction Meets Gender Myth: Post-conflict Reconstruction, 'Democratisation' and Women's Rights - Deniz Kandiyoti15. Re-assessing Paid Work and Women's Empowerment: Lessons from the Global Economy - Ruth Pearson16. Announcing a New Dawn Prematurely? Human Rights Feminists and the Rights Based Approaches to Development.- Dzodzi Tsikata17. The Chimera of Success: Gender Ennui and the Changed International Policy Environment - Maxine MolyneuxNotes on ContributorsIndex