Feminists in Development Organizations : Change from the margins

Through a series of case studies written by women in development organizations this book reflects on the progress of gender mainstreaming. It shows how feminists can build effective strategies to influence development organizations and attempts to foster greater understanding and forge more effective alliances for social change.

Feminists in Development Organizations arises from a collaborative project of feminists working inside the head offices of multilateral organizations, government aid agencies and international NGOs.The personal stories in this book show that these feminists are ‘tempered radicals’ positioned on the border of the development agencies that employ them. It is a place where they are neither fully one thing nor another: neither fully paid-up, pen-pushing bureaucrats, nor full-blown feminist activists on the barricades. Nevertheless, feminist bureaucrats see their work as urgent, essential and a necessary contribution to global efforts to achieve women’s rights. This book shows how feminists can build effective strategies to influence development organizations to foster greater understanding and forge more effective alliances for social change. This book is aimed at staff of development organizations and students and researchers concerned with the politics of gender mainstreaming.