ABSTRACT
The World Bank’s policy research report, Engendering Development is a worthwhile and timely study for developing countries. Not only because it is written by a powerful international development institution that with this report attempts to grapple with the intersection of gender issues and development concerns, but more so because of the multiplier or demonstration effect of this premier Western, development institution devoting time and resources to gender analysis. Governments and other institutions in developing countries may be more willing to engage with the ideas in the World Bank’s publication if only because of moral suasion and their dependence on this institution for long-term development financing and the Bank’s ongoing involvement in influencing subsequent development planning. Similarly, governments may be more inclined to ignore academic or feminist analyses of the same concerns if only because of the absence of the political will to engage with more progressive or alternative discussions, and the absence of a critical mass of feminist thinkers within government bureaucracies. It is precisely because of these considerations that the publication has to
be scrutinized and critiqued. It has the potential to be cited as an authoritative source of information on engendering the development agenda in regions such as the Commonwealth or Anglophone Caribbean.
