Women, Culture, and Development: A Study of Human Capabilities

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Women, a majority of the world’s population, receive only a small proportion of its opportunities and benefits. According to the 1993 UN Human Development Report, there is no country in the world in which women’s quality of life is equal to that of men. This examination of women’s quality of life addresses questions which have a particular urgency, and aims to describe the basic situation of all women. The contributors confront the issue of cultural relativism, criticizing the approach which, in its desire to respect different cultural traditions, can result in indifference to injustice. Gender justice and women’s equality is then proposed in various areas in which quality of life is measured. Like its predecessor, The Quality of Life, this volume encourages the reader to think critically about the central fundamental concepts used in development economics, and suggests major criticisms of current economic approaches from that fundamental viewpoint. In addition to scholars of women’sand gender studies, this work will be of interest to economists, philosophers, political scientists, and sociologists.