Chapter 2
W O M E N A N D D E V E L O P M E N T
Development Workers in Tanzania
God has a mission for me: I want to work with a group of young people who want to change the world and make everyone equal.
Manuella, 13, f, Colombia
We’re told we’re underdeveloped, but are we? We don’t want American development or the American dream” of consumption. The model devalues women’s work as caregivers and values growth at the expense of the environment.
Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic of Guatemala values connection to nature rather than development1 Feminisms have challenged modern capitalist values that exacerbate violence against territories and bodies. Feminisms have identified the extractive development model that threatens life and nature, the logic of accumulation that commodifies all livelihoods, and subordinates and exploits working people—particularly care and reproductive work which is primarily performed by women.
13th Latin American Feminist Encounter2 There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.
Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General
Contents: Girls’ and Women’s Importance in Development, Transnational Feminism Opposes Neoliberalism, US Influence on Youth Uprisings, Post-Colonial Feminists and Development, Feminist Development Organizations
Girls and Women’s Importance in Development
“The vital importance of feminist activism as a force for positive social change is barely reflected in the international development community’s efforts to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality,” partly due to the NGO-ization and lack of linkage between inter
