ABSTRACT
Development is a process that began well before the written record; it takes different shapes in different places and times. Women have contributed to this process as well as men, though their efforts have received less recognition or remuneration. The academic field of economic development is a much more recent phenomenon; it became an area of economic inquiry after World War II, as international trade expanded and many former colonies gained independence. Dissatisfaction with neoclassical emphasis on markets fuelled government planning to increase the pace of development. Policy-makers promoted state planning, employment programs and rapid capital accumulation (Sen 1984; Hirschman 1981). Most development economists focused on growth as necessary and sufficient for development in the early years, rarely noticing the existence of gender disparities in programs and policies.
