The International Handbook of Gender and Poverty: Concepts, Research, Policy

Citation

Scheyvens, R. (2011), "The International Handbook of Gender and Poverty: Concepts, Research, Policy", Gender in Management, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 251-253. https://doi.org/10.1108/17542411111131007

As someone who has been interested in gender and development since commencing a PhD on women's empowerment in the Solomon Islands 20 years ago, I picked up this hefty tome with considerable interest and anticipation. As it is edited by one of the foremost authorities on the topic, Slyvia Chant, I also had high expectations. I was not disappointed.

In the introduction to The International Handbook of Gender and Poverty, Chant points out that “gender is not just about women, and poverty is not just about income” (p. 2). Many of the book's authors demonstrate this latter point ably by showing the importance to women of living with dignity and without violence, and having decision‐making power and rights to resources. While not all of the authors address gender concerns for men and women, there is good recognition of this in places and some stimulating writing on masculinities, such as the Chapter 41 which explores Asian‐Muslim young men in the UK in the context of the “war on terror”, and the concluding chapter by Jane Parpart which examines “Masculinity, poverty and the ‘new wars’” (i.e. the rise in violent conflicts from the 1990s onwards).

With a list of 121 authors, this book draws on an extensive range of expertise both in terms of thematic areas and geographical coverage (even though Chant apologises that the South Pacific and Middle East are not as well represented as she had originally planned). Considering this range of authors, it is impressive that it only took 13 months from conception to completion of the manuscript, which Chant refers to as “a personally unprecedented feat of international cooperation” through which she “learned a phenomenal amount” (p. xxv).

Many of the authors are renowned in the gender and development field, including Caroline Moser, Ruth Pearson, Gita Sen, and Diane Elson, but there are also many newer scholars who have often contributed “hot off the press” research findings.

While it could be suggested that 121 authors contributing to almost 700 pages of text presents an overwhelming array of ideas, the neat layout and the brief but informative discussions that make up the 104 chapters of the book actually make it relatively easy to navigate. This is aided by the organisation of the book into 10 parts, and cross‐references provided within chapters where relevant, e.g. when reading Chapter 46 by Kaplana Wilson on how women have been somewhat exploited due to being positioned as “agents” of development, we are referred to Chapter 87 by Kate Maclean, who demonstrates how this is played out in microfinance projects in Bolivia.

While few would read this book cover to cover, many would find large sections of it useful. The first part of the book focuses on “Concepts and methodologies for gendered poverty”, which includes some interesting discussions of different tools to measure gender inequality. This may be particularly useful for development practitioners and for postgraduate students planning their research. Part II is focused on “Debates on the ‘feminisation of poverty’ and female headed households”, a field which Chant has contributed to significantly. Interestingly, in addition to many developing country examples, this section includes cases of lone mothers in the UK and The Netherlands. In other parts of the book the geographical terrain covered extends to the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Latvia, Albania, and Europe generally.

Not all of the sections of the book are particularly cohesive. Part III on “Gender, family and lifecourse” is quite eclectic, but is notable for a cluster of four chapters discussing gender and poverty among the aged, a subject which has received little attention until recently in the development studies literature. Similarly, Part IV, tilted “Gender, ‘race’ and migration”, includes some chapters which focus on ethnic issues and some on migration, while others cover both, e.g. “Latino immigrants, gender and poverty in the USA”. It is unclear, however, why the general topic “Picturing gender and poverty: from ‘victimhood’ to ‘agency’” – an interesting piece on the use of images of women in campaigns by development agencies and fair trade retailers – was inserted at the end of this section.

The following sections are more coherent, and provide good coverage of relevant issues. They include Part V on “Gender, health and poverty”, Part VI on “Gender, poverty and assets” (which includes discussion of conventional assets such as land and finance, as well as social capital), and Part VII on “Gender, poverty and work”.

Readers of this journal may be particularly interested in Part IX which covers “Microfinance and women's empowerment”, a focus of development initiatives by many international agencies and local NGOs, but one which is still much debated. In addition, Part VIII provides a practical perspective by examining “Gendered poverty and policy interventions”, including PRSPs and the implications of aid architecture for addressing gender and poverty. The authors show that there are some distinct problems with the way in which gender issues have been brought into development policy and discourse. They also analyse some development initiatives backed by corporates with, for example, Lisa Ann Richey in Chapter 77 making a gendered assessment of “Product Red™”, an initiative promoted by celebrities and involving businesses providing a proportion of their profits from the sale of certain products to the global fund to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Another section which I would particularly recommend to readers wishing to update themselves on relevant gender and development issues is Part X, on “New frontiers in gendered poverty research and analysis”. This contains some fascinating research on gender and poverty with relation to issues such as religion, decentralisation, disasters, post‐neoliberalism, citizenship, and sexuality.

I commend Sylvia Chant for bringing together the diverse voices which make up this book, and for the originality of much of the research. There are, for example, some intriguing chapter titles which really made me want to read more, including “The empowerment trap” (Kate Meagher), and “Sweden to the rescue? Fitting brown women into a poverty framework” (Katja Jassey).

With its breadth and depth, The International Handbook of Gender and Poverty certainly deserves a place on the bookshelves of university libraries and of every academic and development professional with a specific interest in gender and development. At a cost of £175, however, it is out of the range of most students and would work better as a resource book for courses on gender and/or development studies than a required text. Regardless of whether your preferred method is to beg, buy, or borrow a copy of this book, I think you will find that it provides a comprehensive and stimulating overview of gender and poverty issues globally.