Lecture 7.2

The Gendered Legacy of Reform

Emmanuel Teitelbaum

Economic Crises

Sri Lanka

• Swimming in the president’s pool
• Causes of the crisis
  • Years of economic mismanagement under Rajapaksas
  • Rajapaksa govt. cut taxes after it came to power in 2019
  • Banned fertilizer which decimated rice crop (staple)
  • COVID-19 killed demand for tourism and remittances
  • Then war in Ukraine led to grain shortages
  • Sri Lanka ran out of money couldn’t by fuel or medicine

Discussion

• Where is Sri Lanka now?
  • What is the IMF doing?
• What is the World Bank doing?
  
• In what ways is the Bank’s approach similar to or different from the one proposed by the Washington Consensus?

Lebanon

• When robbing a bank seems perfectly justified

• Read about the World Bank’s assistance to Lebanon

• How is the Bank’s strategy similar to or different from its strategy in Sri Lanka?

• Which strategy is better, the one being pursued in Sri Lanka or the one being pursued in Lebanon?

Women and the Washington Consensus

Discussion 1

• What does Benaría mean by the term “feminization of labor” How is it manifested in the following sectors/activities?
  • Manufacturing
  • Agriculture
  • Services
  • Migration
  • Human Trafficking

Discussion 2

• Benería identifies three potential effects of women’s employment on gender relations.
  • Liberating
  • Intensifying
  • Reconstitution of gender inequalities
• Describe each of these. Which effect do you think is the strongest?

Policy Models

Policy Models

• What policies effectively increase women’s empowerment?
• Three (that we’ll consider)
  • Empowerment through development
  • Electoral quotas
  • Empowerment through finance/microcredit
• Two things to consider
  • Effectiveness
  • Attainability

Development and Empowerment (Duflo)

• Discussion
• Development –> Empowerment
  • How does development empower women?
  • Is development the solution to discrimination and VAW?
• Empowerment –> Development
  • What does Duflo mean by “empowerment”?
    
  • Is empowering women the answer for development?

Gender Quotas (Beaman)

• Districts randomly selected for reserved seats
• Some districts selected more than once
• Basic findings
  • Districts selected twice in a row see changes in how parents view daughters and how girls perceive themselves
  • Districts selected twice in a row see improvements in educational outcomes for girls
  • No effects on labor force participation and education outcomes for older women
• Mechanisms:
  • Changing policies (which changes beliefs)
  • Providing role models

Grameen Bank

• Muhammad Yunus

  • Winner of Nobel Peace Prize (and GW President’s Medal)

• Inspired by stool makers of Jobra village

  • Earned 2 cents per day

• Set up Grameen bank to fill credit void for rural women

• Repayment based on trust

Think About

• Which Model is Most Compelling?
  • Development
  • Gender Quotas
  • Microcredit
• Why?