ABSTRACT
Essentially this is a book about planning and planning procedures. Nevertheless, underlying the detailed description of gender planning, its methodology and practice have been two important themes. First, gender planning is both political and technical in nature; as with all other planning traditions, the context in which it is situated determines its content. The differentiation between practical and strategic needs provides the most important principle of gender planning, allowing for the distinction between two sets of planning needs. The planning methodology to meet practical gender needs is primarily ‘technical’ in nature, requiring the necessary tools and techniques to assist women to do better what they are already doing. In contrast, the planning methodology required to meet strategic gender needs is clearly ‘political’ in nature. Secondly, as a transformative planning tradition, gender planning assumes conflict in the planning process.
