Windows on the World Course Proposal:

 

Gender and Development in Southeast Asia

Kristy E. Kelly, Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin – Madison

 

This course is designed to introduce students to issues of gender and development in Southeast Asia in comparative context. Development debates are currently in flux with important implications for the practice and analysis of gender and development.  Some argue for market-driven, neo-liberal solutions to gender equality, while others believe that equitable gender relations will only come when women (and men) are empowered to understand their predicaments and work together to find local solutions to improve their lives.  Empowerment and human rights approaches are popular among development practitioners, particularly those concerned with gender equity.  This course uses the context of development in Southeast Asia to critically engage with these debates in the belief that theoretical understandings have important implications for policy and action and therefore matter to those interested in issues of gender equity, development policy and Southeast Asia.  

 

We begin with a general overview of the historical context of development and the role and relationship of gender relations to development planning.  We also consider the role of international development organizations (such as the World Bank, United Nations, Asian Development Bank, other governments and international non-government organizations), as well as local governments and civil society actors in the Southeast Asian context.  The course then examines ongoing gender and development debates in and between countries specifically focusing on issues of labor and migration, education and health, and women’s political participation and leadership as they relate to issues of poverty alleviation and gender equity for women and men.  The course draws from experiences throughout Southeast Asia and aims to provide insight into both regional and global challenges of gender equity and development. 

 

This course does not presume any previous experience in Southeast Asian studies, development or women’s studies, although some background in one of these areas is recommended.     

 

 

Weeks 1-2       Introduction to gender and development

-        What is gender, what is development, what role does culture play in how these two intersect

-        Historical context of development in Southeast Asia

-        Historical look at Southeast Asia since 1945

 

Weeks 2-4       Labor, care work and migration

-        Consider national and regional labor statistics comparatively – what do they measure (equality?)

-        Consider mainstream assumption about appropriate gender roles for men and women, young and old and how this informs their relationship as citizens to the state, markets and family

-        Consider the biological and cultural reproduction roles of women and the household, and how the household is included or excluded from national development planning

-        Consider issues of internal and external migration, particularly considering the effects of a gendered workforce and how this informs men’s and women’s opportunities for self-sufficiency and political participation

 

Weeks 5          Education and development

-        Consider national and regional education attainment statistics comparatively – what do they measure?

-        What is the role or relationship of education to development and equality (specifically  considering the role of literacy, mass primary education and advanced secondary schooling)

-        Consider the impediments to girls and women’s schooling and how this informs their labor opportunities and political participation

 

Weeks 6          Health and development

-        Consider national and regional health and well-being statistics comparatively – what do they measure?

-        Consider issues of maternal and child health, population control and HIV/AIDS for development and equality

-        What are the gendered assumptions about men’s and women’s needs and responsibility for health in relationship to national development?

 

Week 7-8         Politics and leadership

-        Consider national and regional political participation and leadership rates for women in Southeast Asia comparatively and over time – what do these numbers measure?

-        What is the theoretical relationship between development, women’s political participation and democracy?

-        What are some of the gendered assumptions that inform these theories and how might a broader gender analysis of development (as discussed throughout this course) change how we think about this relationship?