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Rescuing Girls, Investing in Girls: A Critique of Development Fantasies
Author(s) -
Caron Cynthia M.,
Margolin Shelby A.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of international development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1099-1328
pISSN - 0954-1748
DOI - 10.1002/jid.3146
Subject(s) - girl , fantasy , futures contract , sociology , psychology , gender studies , public relations , political science , developmental psychology , economics , computer science , artificial intelligence , financial economics
The girl child increasingly is at the centre of development programming. We draw on Slavoj Žižek's notion of fantasy to show how and, more importantly, why girl‐centred initiatives reproduce the shortcomings of women and gender‐focused programmes before them. Through an analysis of three girl‐centred campaigns, we illustrate how experts identify and diagnose girls' problems and prescribe solutions that not only circumscribe girls' futures, but are also counterproductive. We argue that even as campaigns try to integrate lessons learned from earlier gender and development initiatives, the critical reflection that a Žižekian approach promotes would better enable development actors to reformulate campaigns and fundamental campaign assumptions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.