From Feminising to Engendering Development

Feminists have been crucial in challenging the gender-blindness of development discourse and practice. In the process, they have shaped the move from the feminisation to the engendering of development over the last three decades. This article explores this broad shift, focusing on the recent transformations within gender and development discourse and feminist approaches to development relating to diversity and representation, human rights, and the incorporation of men and masculinities within the development agenda, all set within the context of a globalising era. It highlights how women from the South have been critical in reshaping contemporary feminisms to celebrate difference and plurality and challenge Western hegemony. At the same time, feminists have also emphasised the commonalities among women in the name of addressing gender inequalities, evidenced in a recent upsurge in forging transnational alliances facilitated by the contradictory processes of globalisation.