TY - JOUR

T1 - What is the Problem of Gender Inequality Represented to be in Inter-National Development Policy in Burkina Faso?

AU - Karambiri, Mawa

AU - Ville, Alizée H.G.

AU - Wong, Grace Y.

AU - Jimenez-Aceituno, Amanda

AU - Downing, Andrea

AU - Brockhaus, Maria

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - This article contributes to critical policy analysis scholarship from a post-structuralism perspective. Employing the ‘What’s the problem represented to be’ (WPR) framework, a Foucault-influenced post-structural approach, we investigate what is the problem of Gender Inequality (GI) represented to be in development in Burkina Faso. Based on systematic analysis of selected (inter)national development policy documents and in-depth stakeholder interviews, our results show two main categories of problem representations: a) local culture/ informal structures that strengthen and are strengthened by patriarchy, and b) women’s weak agency that undermine their effective participation. These problem representations are framed from two different but overlapping standpoints: rights and development. Furthermore, the informal structures are presented as the source of the problem of GI while formal structures are portrayed as the solution. The underlying assumptions ignore the gendered impacts of history, colonial legacies, the interconnectedness and often-conflicting state policies and globalisation. Consequently, the problem of GI is depoliticised, rendered local, technical, and static. This deflects responsibility in solving the problem, limits local agency and the exploration of effective cultural and bottom-up policy responses. Alternatively, GI could be represented as a problem of structural unequal power relations–rather than a simplistic blame of local culture.

AB - This article contributes to critical policy analysis scholarship from a post-structuralism perspective. Employing the ‘What’s the problem represented to be’ (WPR) framework, a Foucault-influenced post-structural approach, we investigate what is the problem of Gender Inequality (GI) represented to be in development in Burkina Faso. Based on systematic analysis of selected (inter)national development policy documents and in-depth stakeholder interviews, our results show two main categories of problem representations: a) local culture/ informal structures that strengthen and are strengthened by patriarchy, and b) women’s weak agency that undermine their effective participation. These problem representations are framed from two different but overlapping standpoints: rights and development. Furthermore, the informal structures are presented as the source of the problem of GI while formal structures are portrayed as the solution. The underlying assumptions ignore the gendered impacts of history, colonial legacies, the interconnectedness and often-conflicting state policies and globalisation. Consequently, the problem of GI is depoliticised, rendered local, technical, and static. This deflects responsibility in solving the problem, limits local agency and the exploration of effective cultural and bottom-up policy responses. Alternatively, GI could be represented as a problem of structural unequal power relations–rather than a simplistic blame of local culture.

KW - critical policy analysis

KW - decolonisation

KW - development

KW - feminist foreign policy

KW - gender inequality

KW - WPR approach

KW - Sustainability education

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85183420498&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/cb412cfa-82b5-3f53-a3b5-147187ed094d/

U2 - 10.1080/08039410.2024.2303004

DO - 10.1080/08039410.2024.2303004

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85183420498

VL - 51

SP - 71

EP - 100

JO - Forum for Development Studies

JF - Forum for Development Studies

SN - 0803-9410

IS - 1

ER -