Ideology, rhetoric and the politics of bureaucracy: Exploring women and development.
Item
-
Title
-
Ideology, rhetoric and the politics of bureaucracy: Exploring women and development.
-
Identifier
-
AAI3037405
-
identifier
-
3037405
-
Creator
-
Isserles, Robin Gayle.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Robert R. Alford
-
Date
-
2002
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Sociology, General | Sociology, Social Structure and Development | Women's Studies
-
Abstract
-
This dissertation examines the changing rhetoric and practices in the area of Women and Development, treating development as an ideological concept operating within bureaucratic constraints. Over the decade, there has been a noticeable shift in the development discourse of the major international development institutions. There has been a growing reliance on rhetoric that is consistent with popular concerns---the environment, women and human rights. The language and stated objectives of the mainstream dominant institutions and more activist-oriented NGOs have to a large extent converged. Has this rhetorical shift signified a change in development practice or is it merely a gap between what is said and what is done? My conclusions are that it is both and neither. The shift in rhetoric has had an impact in changing or altering some practices. But for the most part, the rhetoric has not altered the basic ideological commitment to economic growth.;This investigation was carried out at three levels of analysis. At the policy level, I relied on a textual analysis of the mandates produced at the four international UN conferences on women, spanning from 1975--1995. At the institutional level, I drew heavily from six months of fieldwork I conducted at UNIFEM, the United Nations Development Fund for Women. At the program level, I examined Microcredit, critically reviewing the literature and incorporating material from interviews of development specialists involved in the creation, implementation or evaluation of Microcredit programs.;At each level I demonstrated an important dialectical relationship. As radical ideas become more visible and more legitimized, they become institutionalized and routinized, thus losing their radical thrust. This is both an imperative to affect change, and at the same time, it is a way for the mainstream institutions to hold onto their hegemony. The mainstream co-opts the radical rhetoric from outside, so that its power and dominance are maintained. Thus, the rhetoric of development interests shift, which is not entirely insignificant, but at the core, the practices of development remain basically the same. This dialectical relationship is central to understanding the politics of development thought and practices in the context of women.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
