Development interventions, gender and social change in rural China : a case study of three villages in Shaanxi

Abstract

In the last two decades in China, large international donor agencies and domestic women's non-governmental organizations have become significant actors in improving the lives of rural women. Many development agencies have put the empowerment of women on the agenda of all their development projects and organizational institutions rather than focusing on women-specific projects. Development agencies, activists and practitioners have also emphasized the need for incorporating the participation of local communities, especially women, in development practice.

This dissertation aims to examine 'gender mainstreaming', participation and empowerment in overseas donor-funded community development interventions in China and to understand the impact that different village socioeconomic circumstances and power relations have on development project design, implementation and outcomes. In order to address these aims, the dissertation draws on ethnographic research into one community development project, conducted in three villages in Pingxi county, Shaanxi province.{u00B9} It compares project practice and outcomes, and the relationship between the project, local gender and other power relations, and social change, in the three villages.

Drawing on this comparative case study, the dissertation argues that patterns of local power relations in Chinese villages are much more complex than development agencies have acknowledged. Development outcomes are not only determined by project models, but also shaped by local institutions and power relations. And the relationship between development interventions and social change is complex and obscure. The Pingxi project demonstrates that, for these reasons, development workers' application of what they consider to be 'participatory' and empowering approaches does not automatically empower local women or increase their effective participation in decision-making processes.

This dissertation suggests that achieving these goals requires an improvement of women's awareness of the power relations that shape their lives; a strengthening of women's access to and control of resources including land; and an enhancement of women's ability and self-confidence to create new development opportunities with these resources. In the long run, participatory approaches should be scaled up from individual development projects to government policy. In this process, the state government should strengthen processes of citizen participation, through which poor, rural women are able to have a voice. And the government and the All China Women's Federation should introduce new forms of consultation and strengthen the accountability and responsiveness of local government, in order to ensure more effective and genuine participation.

{u00B9} 'Pingxi' is a pseudonym. Show more