1 / 12

What did gender and development ever do for o lder women?

What did gender and development ever do for o lder women?. Dr Valerie Lipman DSA Birmingham November 2013.

marvin
Download Presentation

What did gender and development ever do for o lder women?

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. What did gender and development ever do for older women? Dr Valerie Lipman DSA Birmingham November 2013

  2. “She had never dreamt that as soon as her husband died her own sons would become her enemies...It was unbearable to her proud nature to live like an orphan, eating what she was given, in a house where she had no status and counted for nothing” • Premchand‘Widow with Sons’

  3. Ageing, development and gender • Demographics: 66% of today’s older people live in LDCs - 80% by 2050; 80+ years population growing fastest; more older women* • Neo-liberalism: industrialisation, rural/urban migration, out-migration • Changing environment for older people: values and traditions changing, older people isolated *HAI/UNFPA 2012

  4. Ageing, development and women

  5. Ageing, development and women • Older women exist • Ageing is gendered – women experience poorer education, domestic abuse and violence, childbirth and caring responsibilities: they reach old age poorer than men, and will often live alone • Older women contribute to society in both the private and public spheres

  6. The study

  7. Findings ‘A study of 151 countries unequivocally rejected the idea of older persons as “dependent retirees”...Hence, approaching elderly women as a “development asset” reconceptualises them as active contributors and highlights their value to polity, economy and society’ (UN, 1999). • High visibility in CSW and UN General Assembly • Mixed messages from the UN Summits • Absence of old age awareness in the frameworks • Capabilities and rights agendas reflect mainstream

  8. Conclusions Older women are invisible Stereotypes replicated of women in development Neo-liberalism dominates Building a constituency

  9. Where next? • Acknowledge the gap • Adapt and develop new frameworks • Monitor silence • Research older women issues • Gather data in new ways • Support networks for older women

  10. Thank you Questions/discussion valerielipman2003@yahoo.co.uk

  11. References • Fraser N. & Honneth A. (2003), Redistribution or Recognition?: A Political Philosophical Exchange, (Verso, London). • Green M. (2002), 'Social Development: Issues and Approaches', in U. Kothari and M. Minogue (eds.), Development Theory and Practice, (Basingstoke: Palgrave). • Kabeer N. (1994), Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought, (Verso, London). • Lloyd-Sherlock P. (2004), 'Ageing, development and social protection - generalisations, myths and stereotypes’ in P. Lloyd-Sherlock (ed.), Living Longer: Ageing, Development and Social Protection, (London: Zed Books). • March, C, Smyth, I & Mukhopadhyay (1999) A Guide to Gender Analysis Frameworks (Oxfam). • Moser C. (1993), Gender Planning and Development: Theory, Practice, and Training (Routledge, London). • Nussbaum M. (2000), Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge). • Vera-Sanso P. & Sweetman C. (2009), Introduction, Gender and Development (Oxfam)

More Related