Economics 327, Women and Economic Development, Fall 2006 Kirsten K. Madden, Ph.D.
Tuesday, Thursday 11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Office: 379 McComsey Hall
McComsey Hall, Room 201 Office Phone: 872-3576
Office Hours M 12-2; H 12:20-2:20; F 8:50-9:50 a..m. & by appt. kirsten.madden@millersville.edu
Course Prerequisites. Econ 101 or Econ 102.
Overview of Course. This course examines the role of women in the political economy of ‘less developed’ countries (LDCs). Many thought provoking issues are raised in the context of this course. For example, what are women’s experiences with economic development? How does economic development lead to changes in women’s status, roles, workloads, and access to resources? How do women’s experiences differ from men’s experiences? What are effective tools and methods of empowerment for women undergoing contemporary economic development experiences? The course is divided into four main sections. Section I provides a general overview. We examine the concept of economic development, generally consider women’s conditions and experience in development as well as alternative perspectives for addressing development issues. We also look at the concept of empowerment and revisit this theme in Section III as it relates to women in development. Section II considers economics of gender in the domestic (household) sphere. A large amount of economic activity (production and distribution) occurs in the home in LDCs, but because this sphere is under-emphasized, women’s contributions are marginalized in economic thought. Section IV focuses on gender and the informal workplace/self-employed. We consider multiple aspects of women’s work in the ‘informal sector,’ particularly through the eyes of the founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India. This section also includes a review of micro-lending programs and other credit options to facilitate women’s informal sector activity. In each of these sections, the question of targeting gender in development is considered, particularly through grassroots efforts and non-government organizations. Major emphasis is also placed upon learning through a case study approach. Case studies will span the developing world, including Bangladesh, Honduras, India, Morocco, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
General Learning Goals/Objectives.
1. By the end of the semester, the student will be familiar with some of the major economic issues associated with women in developing countries. The student will develop the ability to think analytically about these issues.
2. This class is reading, writing, and discussion intensive. The reading list provides theoretical analysis as well as case studies concerning women in the development context. The readings will be analyzed through regular homework assignments, concept quizzes and class discussion. The theoretical material will help students to think analytically about women and development issues. Through the case study approach, the student will develop the ability to evaluate theoretical ideas and form new ideas from a “real world” perspective.
3. This course provides exposure to a variety of perspectives in economics. These include neoclassical, radical, marxist, and feminist perspectives. Through course discussion and assignments, the student will learn to evaluate (and ideally appreciate) various perspectives.
4. This course encourages creative and independent thought by requiring students to phrase questions and respond to questions about the issues raised in class. This activity will exercise skills of synthesis, interpretation and evaluation.
Readings. You are required to purchase two books:
Rowlands, Jo (1997) Questioning Empowerment: Working with Women in Honduras. UK and Ireland: Oxfam. ISBN 0-85598-362-0
Bhatt, Ela R. (2006) We are Poor but So Many: The Story of Self-Employed Women in India. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516984-0
The rest of the readings listed below are available through the Ganser Library electronic reserve service. The e reserve files may be accessed via the Internet on any computer with Adobe Acrobat software. You may access the readings in two ways.
Directly type in the address: http://reserve.millersville.edu/coursepage.asp?cid=168&page=01 and provide the password (6210) at the prompt. Alternatively, you may access the readings by following these links: from the MU homepage, click “Library”; select ‘Library Quick Links’, located at the top of the library web page and select ‘E Reserve’ from the pop-up menu; select an instructor (Madden) and click “view”; click on the highlighted link for Econ 327; type in the semester reserve course password and click “accept”. The password is 6210 (this is the CRN (course number) from the Fall Class Schedule.) You will then have access to the readings. Click on the title of the reserved articles you would like to review. Then go down to the box labeled “file name” and click on the highlighted link with the “.pdf” file name in it. The article will come up on the screen and can be saved to a disk, read or printed.
1. The outline below gives a description of the topics and required readings for this course. Specific reading assignments will be provided regularly in class. It is vital that you read the assigned material and do assigned homework before coming to class. It is essential that you attend class regularly. Any changes made to the outline (e.g., topics covered or assigned readings) will be announced in class. For interested students, I can email many more references to material on the topic that are not required reading.
2. Class Participation. Class attendance and participation matter in this course. Completion of homework assignments when they are due and regular in-class concept quizzes constitute 25% of your final grade. Because of the focus on perspectives (including but not limited to one’s own), this course relies on interaction and group work. Excessive unexplained absence will be reflected in your grade.
Homework assignments. Homework assignments will be made during class. You are responsible for keeping up with these assignments; if you are late to class or miss a class, check with me or another class member to determine if homework has been assigned and complete it before the next class meeting date. Spot-checks for completion of homework assignments will happen upon entry to class. I also reserve the right to randomly collect and grade a subset of homework from the class.
Each homework spot-check is worth a maximum of 10 points to your overall class participation grade. If you must miss a class but have completed the assignment, you may drop off or email me a copy of your answers before class to receive homework spot-check credit. Because we will cover the assigned questions during the class period in which it is due, NO CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN FOR ANY ASSIGNMENT HANDED IN AFTER CLASS ENDS, no exceptions granted.
Concept quizzes. Concept quizzes will be offered regularly over the course of the semester. Concept quizzes are intended to encourage student preparation, attentiveness and engagement in class discussion. Immediate and regular application of the material will also increase student comprehension and retention. Finally, these quizzes give the professor immediate feedback concerning student understanding of course content.
Concept quizzes may take place at any time during a given class period, and also may be offered on occasion as take-home quizzes. You will be asked questions and typically you will be provided with an index card on which to write your answers. You will be given five minutes in class to respond to the questions and then all responses will be collected.
The quizzes most typically will cover the assigned reading material and homework for that day. You will frequently be asked to provide a subset of your responses to that day's homework questions as your concept quiz. You may also be quizzed directly after exposure to new material in a given class meeting or on material covered in previous classes. Thus, to perform well on the concept quizzes, you are strongly encouraged to: (a) study newly assigned reading and complete assignments before you come to class; (b) attend class regularly; (c) arrive to class on time; (d) be attentive in class, participate in class discussion and activities, and ask questions when material is unclear; (e) review previous class notes and assignments before class; and (f) regularly contact the professor (via office visits or email) when you have questions.
Each concept quiz is worth a maximum of 10 points toward your overall class participation grade. Your lowest four (4) concept quiz grades will be dropped from your final concept quiz grade calculation. Make-up concept quizzes will not be offered, no exceptions granted. Note: if you email or drop off homework before class in anticipation of missing a class meeting, it will count toward the homework spot-check, but it will not count toward the concept quiz component of your grade for that day. Also, please note that if a concept quiz occurs the first five minutes of class and you arrive late, you will not be given additional time to take the concept quiz. It is your responsibility to make it to class on time (by 11:00, not 11:01, 11:02 or 11:03!)
All students will be encouraged to contribute to class discussion. Mutual respect is considered a pre-requisite by the instructor to create a comfortable environment for all students to voice their views. Less vocal students will be repeatedly encouraged to work on their verbal skills in being called upon by the instructor; more vocal students will be encouraged both to verbalize their ideas and to refine their listening skills so that there are opportunities for all to participate.
3. Midterm Examinations. Two midterm exams will be given during the semester. The dates are provided below. These exams each count as 25% of your course grade. Missing an exam without a VALID excuse will result in a zero. The validity of an excuse is determined by the instructor. Excuses for missing an exam must be given in writing to me with appropriate verification (from doctor, judge, etc.) and phone numbers for me to verify the reason for the excuse.
4. Final Examination. The final exam will be held during the regularly scheduled exam period: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 from 8-10 a.m. All students in this course are required to take the final at this scheduled time. This exam counts as 25% of your course grade.
Exam Schedule & Grade Distribution
Contribution to
Activity Date Course Grade^
Midterm Exam I Thursday, October 5, 2006 25%
Midterm Exam II Tuesday, November 7, 2006 25%
Class Participation Homework/Concept Quizzes regularly throughout semester 25%
Final Exam Tuesday, December 12, 8-10 a.m. . 25%
End of Semester Grade 100%
The readings which are available via electronic reserve are noted below;; the Rowlands book, Questioning Empowerment, and Bhatt's We are Poor but So Many, are available at the bookstore.
I. Overview: Women, Development, Empowerment (8/29 – 9/21)
[reserve] Sen, Amartya K. (1990), "More than 100 Million Women are Missing," The New York Review, December 20, 1990, pp. 61-64.
[purchased book] Bhatt, Ela R. (2006), Chapter 1, “Being Poor, a Woman, and Self-Employed,” in We are Poor but So Many, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 23-40.
[reserve] Chen, Martha (1995), “A Matter of Survival: Women’s Right to Employment in India and Bangladesh.” In Martha C. Nussbaum and Jonathan Glover, (eds.), Women, Culture, and Development: A Study of Human Capabilities, Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 37-57.
[reserve] Todaro, Michael and Stephen Smith (2003), “Sen’s ‘Capabilities’ Approach” in Economic Development, 8th ed. Boston: Addison-Wesley, pp. 15-24.
[reserve] Nussbaum, Martha C. (1995), “Human Capabilities, Female Human Beings.” In Martha C. Nussbaum and Jonathan Glover, (eds.), Women, Culture, and Development: A Study of Human Capabilities, Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 61-104.
[reserve] Weaver, James H., Steven H. Arnold, Paula Cruz, and Kenneth Kusterer. 1989. “Competing Paradigms of Development.” Social Education (April/May): 209-213.
[reserve] Bunch, Charlotte and Roxanna Carrillo (1990), “Feminist Perspectives on Women and Development.” In Persistent Inequalities: Women and World Development, Irene Tinker (ed.) New York: Oxford, pp. 70-82.
[purchased book] Rowlands, Jo (1997), Chapter 1, “Introduction,” and Chapter 2, “Power and Empowerment,” in Questioning Empowerment: Working with Women in Honduras, Oxford: Oxfam UK, pp. 1-28.
II. Gender and the Domestic Sphere: The Division of Family Labor, Intra-Household Resource Allocation, Domestic Paid Labor (9/26 – 10/19)
[reserve] Sen, Amartya (1990), "Gender and Cooperative Conflicts," in Irene Tinker (ed.), Persistent Inequalities: Women and World Development, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 123-150.
[reserve] Maher, Vanessa (1983), “Work, Consumption and Authority within the Household: A Moroccan Case.” In Kate Young, et al (eds.) Of Marriage and the Market: Women’s Subordination in International Perspective. London: CSE Books, pp. 69-87.
[reserve] Papanek, Hanna (1990), "To Each Less Than She Needs, From Each More Than She Can Do: Allocations, Entitlements and Value," in Irene Tinker (ed.), Persistent Inequalities: Women and World Development, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 162-181.
[reserve] Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette (2002), “Blowups and Other Unhappy Endings.” In Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild (eds.), Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy, New York: Henry Holt & Co, pp. 55-69.
[reserve] Gamburd, Michele (2002), “Breadwinner No More.” In Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild (eds.), Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy, New York: Henry Holt & Co, pp. 190-206.
III. Empowerment, Continued (10/24 – 11/2)
[purchased book] Rowlands, Jo (1997), Chapter 3, “Background Information on Honduras,” Chapter 4, “Case Study 1…” and Chapter 5, “Case Study 2…”, Chapter 6, “Analysing Empowerment: a Dynamic View” and Chapter 7, “Using the Model: Empowerment, Gender, and Development” in Questioning Empowerment: Working with Women in Honduras, Oxford: Oxfam UK.
IV. The Informal Sector & Self-Employed (11/9 – 12/7)
[reserve] Bales, Kevin (2002), “Because She Looks like a Child.” In Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild (eds.), Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy, New York: Henry Holt & Co, pp. 207-29.
[reserve] Berger, Marguerite (1989), "Giving Women Credit: The Strengths of Credit as a Tool for Alleviating Poverty," World Development, 17(7), 1017-1032.
[purchased book] Bhatt, Ela R. (2006) We are Poor but So Many: The Story of Self-Employed Women in India. New York: Oxford University Press.