Map of countries according to their category in the Human Development Index Report for 2022-2024. Source:
Wikimedia Commons. Color codes: GREEN, very high. YELLOW, high. ORANGE, medium. RED, low. GRAY, data unavailable. Click on the image to enlarge.
Note: This is an excellent article. Gender equity is a crucial ingredient of human development. Excerpts are provided here. A link to the full article is inserted at the end.
SOME KEY POINTS
Gender equality is both a key measure of development and an important means of achieving it.
Paper traces progress in reducing gender inequality from the mid-1970 s and its limits.
Despite progress on some counts, gender inequality persists in property ownership, employment and institutional governance.
Underlying visible inequalities are hidden ones, as in social norms, social perceptions, and social legitimacy of claims.
Tackling hidden barriers will require shifts from individual to group approaches.
ABSTRACT
"Progress towards gender equality − economically, socially and politically − is a key measure of development, as well as a means of achieving it. This essay traces both the advances made (theoretical, empirical and in policy) in reducing gender inequality since the mid-1970s, when it was recognised internationally in development discourse, and the limits to that progress, given the persistence of gender inequality in most forms today. It is argued here that underlying visible measures of inequality, such as in women’s property ownership, labour market outcomes, and the governance of public institutions are hidden inequalities, embedded in biased social norms, social perceptions, and the social legitimacy of claims. Tackling these hidden barriers and their visible outcomes will require charting unconventional pathways, in particular shifting away from the dominant individualistic approaches to development to group approaches and collective action as necessary components for change."
CONCLUSION
"In conclusion, as argued here, a critical component of development is achieving equality, especially gender equality. For this, we still have a long way to go. Both visible and hidden forms of gender inequality, intersecting with other inequalities, are embedded in our social and economic institutions – the family, the community, the market and the state. To frame policies that are transformative and not just palliative, we require a less individualistic approach to development. In particular, we need an approach that recognizes the potential of groups and collective action as necessary components for change. Development itself is a collective project. Institutional collectivities could propel it forward faster and more effectively."
Equality Debate: "Hidden inequalities, visible outcomes. A gender lens",
with Bina Agarwal, World Inequality Lab, April 2025
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bina Agarwal is Professor of Development Economics and Environment, Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK. Her research interests span agrarian transformations, group farming and smallholder cooperation, environmental governance, gender gap in property, poverty and inequality, food security, community forestry, the political economy of gender, and bargaining and gender relations. She is also associated with the Institute of Economic Growth, University of Delhi, India.
