Inequality in Good Development: Participation and Power

• In Event: 248 - Section on Sociology of Development Paper Session. Inequality and Development

Abstract

This article considers the relationship between power, participation and inequality in development work, particularly in the context of women’s empowerment. Modern development is usually associated with addressing inequality, and as sociologists we are familiar with the complex inequalities development encounters (gender inequity, income disparities, racial discrimination), but what about the ones it may be creating? This article offers a brief overview of inequality and participation in development, and ultimately suggests that current constructions of power and participation employed by development scholars and practitioners are resulting in both new inequalities and, paradoxically, empowerment.
My interest in these connections stems from ethnographic research I conducted from 2006-2012 in Mexico, India and Ethiopia. During this time I explored how women-centered development projects are affecting the lives of the women such projects claim to represent, educate, and empower. I hope to contribute to a conversation in which development scholars, practitioners and participants alike consider women’s own perspectives as a crucial starting place for understanding ‘women and development’, and by extension, inequality in development.

Author

• Ariana Kalinic, University of Santa Cruz