Chapter 3 and 8

In the chapter entitled On Loan From Home: Women's Participation in Formulating Human Settlement Policies Faranak Miraftab investigates the participation of women in organizations that formulate human settlement policies at the community, local and national level. This emphasis on women's physical presence within an organization stems from the women in development (WID) approach that I have discussed earlier and we have learned about in class. Miraftab synthesizes data collected by the Women and Habitat Programme of the UN Center for Human Settlements and published in their reports. Miraftab finds that "women constitute between 30 and 40 percent of government employees in human settlement-related government departments and organizations at the municipal, provincial, and central levels." However, there are fewer women present within higher levels of authority. The data also shows that there are fewer women enrolled in educational programs that would prepare them for employment with the field of development of human settlements (177-178).

In order to explain these institutional gender gaps Miraftab points to polices that result in gender discrimination despite the absence of gender differentiation (treating men and women equally ignores the different roles of men and women); political disadvantage faced by women because they often lack the political connections that would enable them to be appointed to positions of authority; despite having access to institutional resources women often lack the final say in decisions; stereotypes that do not allow women to escape their role as mothers and wives (women are unable to advance because work is seen as an activity that is engaged in before motherhood and cannot be done simultaneously); and the increasing vulnerability of women in governmental jobs because of neo-liberal policies (governmental downsizing makes the position of female employees very tenious) (179-187).

I found Miraftab's explanations for decreased female participation within governmental organizations very persuasive, however, the author's suggestions for addressing these gaps do not get at the causes that she presents. Rather, Miraftab advocates affirmative action programs at the university level, the establishing of mechanisms to promote gender equity in the recruitment and promotion of women in the workplace, the recognition of different needs of female employee, ect. (188). All of these suggestions seemed aimed at increasing female participation within organizations. However, it just seems unlikely that increased female participation is possible especially if women's roles remain the same. Also, these policies would be implemented within the same organizations who have resisted completely implementing gender equity policies. The success of such suggestions is unlikely because of the nature of bureaucratic resistance to the implementation of gender policies, which David Hirschmann discusses in his chapter.

In his chapter entitled From "Home Economics" to "Microfinance" Gender Rhetoric and Bureaucratic Resistance David Hirschmann shows how entrenched attitudes regarding women can affect the implementation of gender policies (especially, the types of reforms that Miraftab calls for). Hirschmann uses four anecdotes spanning a twenty year period to illustrate his argument that the rise of gender rhetoric within international institutions has not resulted in a similar rise of gender equality within bureaucracies and developmental agencies. Rather these actors have found new ways of maintaining gender inequality through organizational biases (patriarchal hierarchy), and policies. Over time, these bureaucracies have changed their strategies for resisting gender mainstreaming. While playing lip-service to the notion of gender, bureaucrats have been able to limit the scope of their activities preventing any substantial progress for women's equality.

During the 1980s, projects focused on "home economics" which maintained the "traditional and customary" roles of women within the home, despite the fact that many women work outside the home. Rather than improving the postition of women within the larger society, women's lives were only improved within the home. This strategy did little to achieve widespread equality. Then, with the advent of the neo-liberal model, which its belief in the market's ability to resolve imbalanced markets, professionals also developed a laisse faire attitude toward gender policies. By the late 1990s, gender was attached to the goal of democracy. This association did little to help women because goal of democracy susperseded that of gender equality. Rather than focusing on different social groups and actors, democratization sees society as homogenous. Because society is homogenous, there can be no gender agenda. The last example that Hirschman looks at is microfinance, which acknowledges the role of women as financial actors, however, it limits them to the small scale.

Hirschman's anecdotes reveals many of Miraftab's findings with regards to the absence of women within organizations, especially within positions of authority (many of his interactions seem to be with men). Unlike Miraftab, Hirschman calls for the integration of gender within economic policy analysis so that resources can be assigned according to gender in order to achieve gender mainstreaming (86). Rather than calling for mechanisms to ensure equality Hirschman sees the allocation of resources as the way of achieving gender mainstreaming within NGOs.