Structural adjustment: cure or curse? Implications for Caribbean development
Antrobus, P.
Focus on Gender 1(3): 13-18
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 0968-2864 PMID: 12320724 DOI: 10.1080/09682869308519975Document Number: 338903
Applying a gender analysis to structural adjustment policies reveals why gender analysis should be viewed as a prerequisite which allows planners and development practitioners to understand the hidden biases in their policies. Structural adjustment policies seek to reduce consumption and stimulate production which is often export-oriented and fueled by foreign investment. The reallocation of governmental resources to such schemes has led to the virtual abandonment of the development goals of the 1970s. Gender analysis bridges the gap between macroeconomic analysis and micro-level policies and exposes the detrimental impact of structural adjustment policies at the household level. Gender analysis also reveals the importance of the dual role of women and how cuts in social services (reducing consumption) make women's lives harder while increases in production exploit women's cheap labor. Gender analysis exposes the dichotomies of private/public lives and exposes contradictions in policies which are derived without such analysis. Planners must recognize the essential links between women's productive and reproductive roles and avoid increasing burdens for women and, thus, undermining the effectiveness of economic and social development policies. In applying a gender perspective to analysis, planners can take advantage of the analytical tools which have been developed for the purpose. Planners can also recognize that those who use services are in the best position to determine priorities. This requires a consideration of whether it is possible to meet strategic gender needs simultaneously with meeting practical needs. The most useful purpose of gender analysis may simply be to question the fundamental principles of the development process itself in order to design projects to place more strategic power in the hands of those who will use the services.