Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought - Hardcover

"This vigorous assessment of development theory and policy concludes with a comparison of different approaches to gender training and a plea for the transformation of the institutions which determine development policy. A splendid synthesis of the new feminist development economics that challenges gender bias in both theory and practice."--Nancy Folbre, University of Massachusetts "This book is an invaluable resource. It deconstructs the official discourses of social planners and development economists, creating space for a critical and practical engagement with existing power structures, with a view to enabling women to be agents of their own development."--Diane Elson, University of Manchester

This work examines the biases which underpin mainstream development thought and accounts for the marginal status given to women's needs and interests in current development policy. The author traces the emergence of awareness of gender hierarchies and examines the inadequacies of social cost-benefit analysis, the most widely-used method of evaluation of development projects. She provides a critical overview of the central issue of population control and argues for the transformation of development institutions, such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.