A Tool for Thought and Transformation: Gender-considerate Global Change Research in Practice

BIERI, SABIN; OTT, CORDULA; FREYTES FREY, ADA; CROSS, CECILIA; PARTENIO, FLORENCIA; FERNÁNDEZ ALVAREZ, MARÍA INÉS

Research for Sustainable Development: Foundations, Experiences, and Perspectives.

Geographica Bernensia

Lugar: Berna; Año: 2011; p. 185 - 205

This article aims to document some aspects of what has been learned about gender in the context of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South programme. The focus is on theoretical and methodological achievements, parts of which were elaborated based on fieldwork done in this programme. The article examines how gender was conceptualised in particular projects, and whether the often diagnosed ?gender ennui? in international cooperation has also affected the NCCR North- South. Results are presented in three steps. The first section on ?Counting women and men? outlines different conceptual configurations of gender in development research and feminist theory. It examines the question of what it means for the NCCR North-South to go beyond the often criticised ?add women and stir? practice (Harding 1995). Second, an overview of NCCR North-South gender-sensitive research projects is presented. A selection of papers is discussed in the third section, drawing on the gender concepts introduced in the first section. The article concludes with a number of suggestions, condensing the findings to highlight innovative uses of the gender perspective in development research but also to identify various desiderata. Questions are also raised about future gender research in development studies in general and within the NCCR North-South specifically.