Boserup, Woman's Role in Economic Development (entire book)
Beneria and Sen, "Accumulation, Reproduction, and Women's Role in Economic Development: Boserup Revisited" in Signs 7(2):279-298
Moore, Feminism and Anthropology (pages 12-46)

 

A few words of advice for this week's reading:

Do the Moore reading first. In Chapter 2 (pp. 12-41), Moore provides an overview of anthropological approaches to gender relations, cultural conceptions of gender, and status. This chapter provides some follow-up to the issues we raised in reading Durkheim and Ortner, including a discussion of how women's roles/identities as mothers within households determines their status more generally. She then moves on to consider the issue of production and access to productive resources as it relates to women's social position. In the assigned selection from Chapter 3, she discusses the issue of "women's work" and Boserup in particular.

Turning to Boserup, pay particular attention to how she constructs her argument using a comparative analysis of gendered divisions of labor in the developing world. Note how she describes the relationship between culture and economic development. Finally, Beneria and Sen offer an interesting critique of Boserup's theoretical framework and underlying assumptions about economic development, culture, and women's status.

The following questions are intended to guide your reading and will form the basis for our class discussion:

1. What is Boserup's definition of economic development? What kinds of explanations does she offer for understanding the processes of economic change?

2. What connections does Boserup see between "culture" and "economic development"? How does "culture" play a role in Boserup's analysis of gendered divisions of labor in agriculture, the impact of colonialism, and contemporary patterns of women's rural and urban labor force participation? Beneria and Sen accuse Boserup of using "cultural values as filler for conceptual holes in the analysis" (p. 285). Do you agree?

3. Related to Boserup's depiction of culture is her use of the concepts "the traditional" and "the modern." How does she depict each of these, and how does she account for a transition from the former to the latter? What kinds of assumptions underlie her arguments?

4. In Boserup's view, how did colonialism transform pre-existing economic and social structures? Are there aspects and consequences of colonialism which she neglects? (It may help to think of specific examples from areas of the world with which you are familiar.)

5. What roles does Boserup ascribe to "households" at various stages of the economic development process? Paying particular attention to issues of labor allocation, decision-making, and subsistence tasks, what are the strengths and weaknesses of her approach?

 

For more information, contact:  aleshkow@holycross.edu