Lecture Gender and Environment of Dr. Annuska Derks presented: What is Gender?, Emergence of "Women and Environment", Women and Environmental Degradation, Why "gender and environment". | Gender and Environment Dr. Annuska Derks What is Gender? Sex = biological differences between men and women. Gender = social and cultural construction of sex; meanings that a particular society gives to the physical and biological traits that differentiate males and females. When talk about gender, in effect most attention for specific position of women – also case for gender and environment studies Yet, it is about relations between male and female Emergence of "Women and Environment" 1970s: WID (women in development) 1980s: WED (women, environment and sustainable development) 1990s: WED on international agenda 2000s: MDG (millenium development goals) WID: realization that two decades of development assistance had not brought the expected economic growth throughout the underdeveloped world and had even contributed to a worsening of the position of many less powerful groups, especially women. Focus had been too much on men; idea that women are an untapped resource who can contribute to development if properly taking into account. Exp. Green revolution. Investments in farming had left women hungrier, poorer and with heavier workload. = introduction of high-yielding varieties developed in western laboratories without taking into account local conditions, requiring lots of water, pesticides and fertilizer = leading to impoverishment of women who could not afford inputs + workload – therefore need to include women in development programming WED: development did not only fail to bring promised improvements but contributed to growing economic and gender inequalities pollution and to degradation of the environment, which again diminished the means of livelihood of poor people, in particular women. Recognition of limits to development by nature and need for sustainable solutions. Connection domination of nature and of women stimulated debate about WEsustDev. International agenda: conferences underlining that women not only bear the highest costs of environmental . | Gender and Environment Dr. Annuska Derks What is Gender? Sex = biological differences between men and women. Gender = social and cultural construction of sex; meanings that a particular society gives to the physical and biological traits that differentiate males and females. When talk about gender, in effect most attention for specific position of women – also case for gender and environment studies Yet, it is about relations between male and female Emergence of "Women and Environment" 1970s: WID (women in development) 1980s: WED (women, environment and sustainable development) 1990s: WED on international agenda 2000s: MDG (millenium development goals) WID: realization that two decades of development assistance had not brought the expected economic growth throughout the underdeveloped world and had even contributed to a worsening of the position of many less powerful groups, especially women. Focus had been too much on men; idea that women are an untapped resource who can .
