Hopper Lecture 2022-23 - The Broader Story of Progress

The Broader Story of Progress - Building collective action on the margins: gender perspectives from South Asia.

How do laws and policies impact on their ability to organize collectively and what resources do they draw on to challenges laws and policies – as well as the norms and practices of their own communities?

"Research that is intellectually challenging in its own right and which constantly engages with policy and practice has been at the core of all my efforts"

— Dr. Naila Kabeer

While challenging the legal and policy architectures that perpetuate gender discrimination in societies is a critical dimension in processes of social transformation, my interest has been in how changes occur on the ground through collective action by women and their allies, and particularly by women from marginalized groups.   I want to draw on my research in the South Asian context to offer some reflections on these questions.

Guest Speaker

Dr. Naila Kabeer is Professor of Gender and International Development at the Department of International Development at London School of Economics, UK.  Kabeer has been engaged in research, teaching and advisory work on issues relating to gender, poverty, livelihoods, social protection and collective action. Kabeer has published extensively on this topics but publications relevant to her talk include ‘Organizing women in the informal economy: Beyond the weapons of the weak’ (Zed Press), ‘Empowerment, citizenship and gender justice: a contribution to locally-grounded theories of change’ (Ethics and Social Welfare), ‘Between affiliation and autonomy: navigating pathways of women’s empowerment and gender justice in Bangladesh’ (Development and Change) and ‘Group rights and gender justice: exploring tensions within the Gond community in India’ (International Institute of Inequalities, LSE).

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