The gendered effect of welfare state on the international development cooperation

Abstract

A gender transformative development intervention seeks to challenge given constraints that are deep-seated in a society. Following the cause-and-effect assumptions of theories of change, it is implied that the outcomes of development interventions would be successful if they conceptualize gender as reflecting social relationships and gender division of power. By the outcome being successful, it means having a transformative impact on the society to some extent.

This paper then seeks to explore the question of why two development interventions having the same understanding of gender still result in different outcomes using feminist institutionalism as a methodological framework. By taking the case studies of the USAID and Sida programs conducted in Ethiopia, it attempts to move the attention beyond local realities from the receiving end to the donor side. In doing so, it takes on board an improved understanding of welfare state which contributed to the meaningful evaluation of the relationship between domestic welfare policies and international development assistance.

While the US case represented a liberal model of Esping-Andersens welfare state regime, the Swedish case revealed a social democratic model. In spite of limitations that it focused on one case study for each state of welfare state regime types, this paper provides a meaningful evaluation that outcomes of development interventions which seek to mainstream gender could depend on factors beyond conceptualization of gender. It also provided evidence that the mainstream analysis of the relationship between the domestic welfare state and international development assistance can also be applied even when reinterpreted from a feminist perspective. Given that ties exist between domestic welfare state variations and international development assistance, the findings of this study leads to another important question, whether gender balanced policies can be institutionalized in a mutually reinforcing way in both donors and recipients ends.