Wishful Thinking: Theory and Practice of Western Donor Efforts to Raise Women's Status in Rural Africa

bibliographic database
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Book chapter

Title:	Wishful Thinking: Theory and Practice of Western Donor Efforts to Raise Women's Status in Rural Africa
Author:	Bryceson, Deborah Fahy
Book title:	Women Wielding the Hoe: Lessons from Rural Africa for Feminist Theory and Development Practice
Year:	1995
Pages:	201-222
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Subsaharan Africa
Subjects:	social inequality development cooperation private aid rural women Development and Technology Equality and Liberation Status of Women
Abstract:	This paper considers shortcomings of Western donor agency intervention in raising women's status in rural Africa and recommends alternative measures for easing rural women's work load. Western attitudes to African women's working day are schematically reviewed before examining existing types of intervention and suggesting other possible forms of donor action. The central question posed is how external donor agencies can extend beyond localized project efforts to help provide the material foundation for widespread change in women's working day of a self-determining nature. A 'homestead economics' approach is suggested as a catalyst for change. The author feels that the term 'homestead work', which encompasses work in the domestic unit and on family agricultural holdings, is more appropriate than the term 'housework', since it acknowledges the full extent of African rural women's work load. Bibliogr., notes, ref.