Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era

Development Alternatives with Women for (I New Era (DAWN) began in 1984 as a loose formation of individual women and women's groups from all over the world brought together by the Institute of Social Studies Trust in New Delhi, India. The participants sought to develop a comprehensive analysis of the conditions of the world's women, and the impact of both global crises and the development process on women. At the same time, they looked to shape a vision of a society "free of all forms of oppression by gender, class, race, and nation " and of strategies for achieving that society. The first result was a powerful book Development, Crisis and Alternative Visions: Third World Women's Perspective produced just before the July 1985 world conference of women in Nairobi.

The response to the DAWN initiative at Nairobi was enthusiastic and participants were urged to continue the process. At a follow-up meeting in February 1986, DAWN members set the following objectives: to continue to develop and articulate a feminist perspective on development for Third World women; to facilitate networking and communication among Third World women's movements; and to influence development policy through advocacy.

The following is a summary of the third chapter of DAWN's book, published by DAWN in 1985. The complete version (if the book will be republished by Monthly Review Press (New York) in December 1986.

Alternative Vision, Strategies and Methods

The experience of working in grassroots organizations and women's groups has led us to several fundamental realizations. First, our consciousness and ethics now need to be crystallized into a clear vision of what we want society to be like, and what we want for women. Second, we need the strategies that will get us from here to there, take us beyond the small and fragmented efforts of a Decade in which women have begun to understand the enormity of the task we have set ourselves, and also the depth of our strength and potential. Finally, we need methods for actualizing our vision and strategies. It has been a strong theme of the modern women's movement that objectives and methods, ends and means are closely bound together. Reflection on means and methods is vital if this principle is not to be sacrificed in the name of some "greater good."

Vision

We want a world where inequality based on class, gender and race is absent from every country, and from the relationships among countries. We want a world where basic needs become basic rights and where poverty and all forms of violence are eliminated. In such a world, each person would have the opportunity to develop her or his full potential and creativity, and women's values of nurturance and solidarity would characterize human relationships. Women's reproductive role would be redefined; childcare would be shared by men, women and society as a whole. We want a world where the massive resources now used in the production of the means of destruction are diverted to areas where they will help to relieve oppression both inside and outside the home. This technological revolution would eliminate disease and hunger, and give women safe means for the control of their fertility. We want a world where all institutions are open to participatory democratic processes, where women share in determining priorities and making decisions.

The vision we have articulated may be objectionable to few. It is often stated, however, that the world lacks the resources to meet the needs of all the pot)r. and that poor countries must increase their productive potential before mass living standards can be improved. Both these statements are. as we have argued, patently false. The massive and growing resource diversion toward militarization gives the lie to the first, while the cited examples of countries which have grown rapidly without improving mass living conditions, and others which have done the reverse, prove that there is no simple congruence between economic growth and basic needs.

What is lacking is not resources, but political will. In a world riven with differences of economic interest and political power, we cannot expect political will for systemic change to emerge voluntarily among those in power. It must be fostered by mass movements that give central focus to the basic rights of the poor, and demand a reorientation of policies and programs toward that end. Moreover, such a reorientation can only be achieved by recognizing the links between attaining those basic rights and transforming the institutions that subordinate women. This cannot be achieved without the self-empowerment of women.

Strategies

Improving women's opportunities requires long term systematic strategics aimed at challenging prevailing structures and building accountability of governments to people for their decisions. As we have seen, short-term, ameliorative approaches to improving women's life circumstances are ineffective they are combined with long-term strategies to re-establish people's — and especially women's — control over the decisions that shape their lives. Women's voices must enter the definition of development and the making of policy choices.

In the long run, we need strategies which will break down the structures of inequality between genders, classes and nations which act as barriers to development processes responsive to the needs of people. Requisites for such a fundamental change are national liberation from colonial and neocolonial domination, and national self-reliance, at least in basic requirements such as food and energy sources, health care, water provision and education. Among other things this will involve a shift from export-led strategies in agriculture and industry and greater control over the activities of multinational corporations, both necessary strategies for rediverting resources toward the provision of basic needs. Another important strategy needed to reorient development is a world-wide reduction in military expenditures and resource use. Finally, the transformation of the international system cannot be divorced from" the transformation of inequities within nations. In particular, needed changes in rural areas must be based on genuine land reform which gives equal status to women, not only for reason of equity but also in order to fulfill basic requirements such as food, fuel and water.

Proposing long term strategies for major change may lead to cynicism because of the considerable chasm between the present situation and that projected in a vision. We face powerful interests internationally and nationally — dominant countries, internal ruling classes and multinationals — opposed to our long-term vision and goals. What are the strategic points of leverage that women and other like minded groups can identify and use in the struggle toward our vision of society?

Short-term strategies must, of necessity, provide ways of responding to current crises, while building experience toward the longer vision. In the area of food production we advocate a shift toward policy packages that promote a diversified agricultural base, leading to a safer, long-term balance between export and food/subsistence crops. In the current crisis, policies should mobilize women's experience and skills in food production, processing and marketing. Toward this end government should ease restrictions and pressures on women, petty traders and vendors, while increasing the availability of credit for self-employed women in this group.

In the area of poor women's employment, the major research institutes at the national and international levels should be turning their attention to technologies that will reduce drudgery without reducing employment. Women's organizations have been active in the areas of appropriate technology, food processing and storage, water provision and fuel and these experiences can be utilized. We also need to address the relative exclusion of women agricultural laborers from farm labor unions and of women workers from industrial unions. Support for the "informal sector" is needed to help those within it to meet the need for cheap basic goods and services in the current crisis.

We do not expect these strategies to be implemented without sustained and systemic efforts by women's organizations and like minded groups. Political mobilization, legal changes, consciousness-raising and popular education are core activities in the process we envisage. At the global level, a movement of women and the oppressed can mobilize support for the common goals of a more just and equitable international order, and for disarmament. A global network of like minded women's organizations and research groups committed to these goals could exchange experiences and information, suggest action and provide support. The initiation of projects on problems at the regional level is also crucial, particularly for supporting women in countries that are politically repressive or in which the state has attacked women's social and economic status. 

In building movements at the national level, coalitions and alliances can help us to build a broad-based and influential movement. Organizations of women and poor men formed to implement specific programs and to work as pressure groups have already demonstrated their potential. Mobilization around specific laws and civil codes may also be required to complement these strategies. Here women's organizations can draw on the support of other socially conscious groups, and in return, provide support in struggles around civil liberties, political repression, and abuse.

The level of awareness about women's subordination has to be raised through popular culture, the media, and formal and informal education. Governments must be pressured to give us a greater voice in radio, television, film and other mass media, and to generate more funding for such programs. Because large segments of our people are still illiterate or unused to the printed word, we need to concentrate on techniques for popular and mass education. We must also educate lower-level planners and functionaries as well as activists, and make inroads into formal education. All this is essential if feminism and women's liberation are to be understood as relevant to the progress of all sections of the poor and oppressed in society.

Empowering Ourselves Through Organizations: Types and Methods

What methods for the empowerment of individual women and organizations can catalyze strategies and build movements for social change consonant with our vision? During the Decade, a diverse range of women's movements and groups have sprung up or expanded their pre-existing organizational base. These cover a multitude of issues and purposes but share a concern and identification with women's causes. At one end of the spectrum there are the traditional, service-oriented organizations that are of long standing in many countries. While such organizations often suffer from class biases and limited scope for participatory action, they have performed valuable functions in the areas of women's education, health and related services. They also often have significant resources and access to policymakers, as well as systematic methods for transferring skills and building leadership. At the other end of the spectrum are mass-based movements centering on issues such as militarism and sexual exploitation. These groups often lack a substantial resource base, but display strengths of high visibility and flexible, participatory organization. Between the organizations and the movements stand networks and coalitions, some of which are permanent and others temporary. Their goals range from direct political action to exchanges of research and information.

Women's organizations have developed a range of methods for reaching marginalized women and have made significant contributions during the Decade. However, in order to move forward it is necessary for us to analyze the conflicts and issues that challenge our organizations. The first is that many (but not all) women's organizations have been wary of viewing large public policy issues as within their purview. This is partly because feminism has concerned itself, among other things with aspects of life that are only partially susceptible to institutional regulation. The marginalization of women's groups from public policy may also be due to the hitherto fragmentary nature of our vision.

Another problem arises in our search for non-hierarchical and non-formal organizational structures in a world increasingly formalized and hierarchical. In some instances this has led groups to avoid clear assignment of responsibilities or delegation of authority for fear of mirroring existing hierarchies or established power structures. In turn, this has made it difficult for such groups to establish clearly delineated relationships with complex bureaucratized decision-making bodies and to successfully pressure them to implement policies in women's interests. The challenge here is to devise innovative ways of sharing responsibilities so that we do not reinforce existing relationships or domination. And we must develop structures which keep leaders accountable and responsive to the voices and needs of the membership at all levels of the organization.

A third challenge is the need to learn to ally ourselves more closely and effectively with other grassroots organizations without jeopardizing our autonomy or theirs. As a result of being used by governments, agencies or organizations for purposes not -in our interest or of our choosing, we tend to look with suspicion upon any political force or body that is not of our making. A process of dialogue and working on joint programs is the only way to begin to build mutual respect for the strengths and capacities of different groups, and trust in each other's intentions.

A final issue is our ability and willingness to share power within our own organizations. Democratization of organizations and widening of their membership base is essential as this distributes power and diffuses hierarchy. Explicit assertion of and commitment to an ethic which rejects personal aggrandizement should also be built into our organizations from the beginning. The women's movement needs to show by example that it is possible to bring this ethic into the center of public life. Our own life experiences of powerlessness, cooperation and nurturance can be enriching to our organizations and to the world in which they function.

We do not claim to know all the answers to the problems nor that there are unique solutions to them. In fact we would assert that the solutions have to be worked out at the local level by the groups themselves. This once again reaffirms what we have learned is our most precious asset: the rich diversity of our experiences, understandings, and worldviews combined with a growing recognition that we cannot propose a program for the betterment of women a one but one for all, developed from women's perspectives. Although the Decade that proclaimed so bravely "Development, Equality and Peace" has given so little of these to the majority of people, what we have learned in its course has already empowered us for the long haul ahead.

The DAWN Secretariat is located at Inslituto Universitario de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Paulino Fernandes no. 32, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil 22.270.