Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Gender, irrigation, and environment: Arguing for agency

  • Published:
Agriculture and Human Values Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper is not a critique of waterpolicies, or an advocacy of alternatives, but rathersuggests a shift of emphasis in the ways in whichgender analysis is applied to water, development, andenvironmental issues. It argues that feministpolitical ecology provides a generally strongerframework for understanding these issues thanecofeminism, but cautions against a reversion tomaterialist approaches in reactions to ecofeminismthat, like ecofeminism, can be static and ignore theagency of women and men. The paper draws attention tothe subjectivities of women and their embodiedlivelihoods as a more useful approach to understandingthe ways in which women relate to water in bothirrigated agriculture and domestic provisioning.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Athukorala, K. (1996). “The need for gender analysis in strategic planning for effective water management in Sri Lanka,” Water Resources Development12(4): 447–459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Akuoko-Asibey, A. and H. McPherson (1994). “Assessing hygiene and health related improvements of a rural water supply and sanitation programme in northern Ghana,” Natural Resources Forum18(1): 49–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agarwal, B. (1992). “The gender and environment debate: lessons from India,” Feminist Studies18(1): 119–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bey, O. (1988). “Women and water supply development in Sierra Leone,” Journal of Rural Development(Korea) 11(1): 97–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhatt, M. (1995). “Women in water management: The need for local planning,” Development in Practice5(3): 254–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhople, R. S. and A. Patki (1992). “Correlates of role performance and training needs of farm women labor,” Journal of Rural Development(India) 11(1): 49–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryceson, D. and M. Anderson (1993). “Reducing the burden on African women?” Appropriate Technology20(1): 14–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryceson, D. and M. McCall (1997). “Lightening the load on rural women: How appropriate is the technology directed towards Africa?” Gender, Technology and Development1(1): 23–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buvinic, M. (1986). “Projects for women in the Third World: Explaining their misbehaviour,” World Development14(5): 653–664.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cairncross, S. (1980). Evaluation for Village Water Supply Planning. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carney, J. and M. Watts (1990). “Manufacturing dissent: Work gender and the politics of meaning in a peasant society,” Africa60(2): 207–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carr, M. and R. Sandhu (1988). “Women, technology and rural productivity: An analysis of the impact of time and energy saving technologies on women,” UNIFEM Occasional Paper 6, UN Development Fund for Women, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleaver, F. (1998). “Incentives and informal institutions; gender and the management of water,” Agriculture and Human Values15(4): 347–360 (this issue).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleaver, F. (1997). Personal communication. Development and Project Planning Centre, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.

  • Cleaver, F. and D. Elson. (1995). Women and Water Resources: Continued Marginalisation and New Policies, Gatekeeper Series No. 49, London: International Institute for Environment and Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dankelman, I. and J. Davison (1988). Women and Environment: Alliance for the Future. London: Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, C. and S. Baden (1995). “Integrated water resources management: a gender perspective,” IDS Bulletin26(1): 92–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heath, C. (1996). Hidden Currencies: Women, Weaving and Income Generation in Oman. PhD dissertation submitted to School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.

  • Hirshman, M. (1995). “Women and development: A critique,” in M. Marchand and J. Parpart (eds.), Feminism, Postmodernism, Development(pp. 42–55). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hitchcox, L. (1992). “A water programme in Vietnam and its impact on women,” Development in Practice2(2): 23–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, L. (1992). “Women handpump mechanics in Kenya,” Waterlines11(2): 19–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, C. (1985). The Kano River Irrigation Project. Kumarian Press Case Studies Series: Women's Roles and Gender Differences in Development. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, C. (1993a). “Environmentalisms and gender interests in the Third World,” Development and Change24(4): 649–677.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, C. (193b). “Doing what comes naturally? Women and environment in development,” World Development21(12): 1947–1963.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, C. (1996). “Rescuing gender from the poverty trap,” World Development24(3): 489–504.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, C. (1986). “Intra-household bargaining in response to the introduction of new crops: A case study form north Cameroon,” in J. Moock (ed.), Understanding Africa's Rural Households and Farming Systems. Boulder, CO: Westview.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leach, M. (1991). “Engendered environments: Understanding natural resource management in the West African forest zone,” IDS Bulletin22(4): 17–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leslie, J. (1989). “Women's time: A factor in the use of child survival technologies,” Health Policy and Planning4(1): 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipton, M. and S. Maxwell (1992). “The New Poverty Agenda: An overview.” Discussion Paper No. 306, Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mbanyiman, E. S. (1997). The Impact of Improved Rice Farming on Gender Divisions of Labor: A Case Study of Mangga/ Badde Villages of Northern Nigeria, MA dissertation, School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia.

  • McGuire, J. and B. Popkin (1988). “Beating the zero sum game: women and nutrition in the ThirdWorld,” Food and Nutrition Bulletin10(3): 27–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehretu, A. and C. Mutambirwa (1992). “Gender differences in time and energy costs of distance for regular domestic chores in rural Zimbabwe: A case study in the Chiduku Communal Area,” World Development20(11): 1675–1683.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meinzen-Dick, R. and M. Zwarteveen (1998). “Gendered participation in water management: Issues and ilustrations from water users' associations in South Asia,” Agriculture and Human Values15(4): 337–345 (this issue).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellor, M. (1992). Breaking the Boundaries: Towards a Feminist Green Socialism. London: Virago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohanty, C. (1988). “Under western eyes: Gender scholarship and colonial discourses,” Feminist Review30: 61–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, H. (1988). Feminism and Anthropology. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, H. (1994). A Passion for Difference. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moser, C. (1993). Gender Planning and Development: Theory, Practice and Training. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nanda, M. (1991). “Is modern science a western, patriarchal myth? A critique of the populist orthodoxy,” South Asia BulletinXI(1&2): 32–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niger Ministry of Water and Environment (Ministere de l'Hydraulique et de l'Environnement) (1992). “Programme d'hydraulique villageoise,” Department de Dosso: contribution au Seminaire d'Auto-gestion villageoise de pompesa motricite humaine.

  • Page, B. (1996). “Taking the strain–the ergonomics of water carrying,” Waterlines14(3): 29–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer-Jones, R. and C. Jackson (1997) (with R. Palmer-Jones). “Work intensity, poverty and gender in sustainable development,” Food Policy22(1): 39–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perrett, H. (1985). “Involving women in sanitation projects,” TAG Discussion Paper 5. Washington, DC: UNDP/World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, P. (1984). “Struggles over water, struggles over meaning: Cattle, water and the state in Botswana,” Africa54(3): 29–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rathgeber, E. (n. d.). “Women, water and resource management in Africa,” Mimeo of IDRC Publication.

  • Roark, P. (1984). “Women and water,” in P. Bourne (ed.), Water and Sanitation: Economic and Sociological Perspectives(pp. 49–67). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rocheleau, D. (1995). “Gender and biodiversity: A feminist political ecology perspective,” IDS Bulletin26(1): 9–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scarry, E. (1985). The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shiva, V. (1989). Staying Alive: Women, Technology and Development. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skjonsberg, E. (1989). Change in an African Village: Kefa. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stamp, P. (1989). Gender, Technology and Power in Africa. Technical Study 3. Ottawa: IDRC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittington, D., X. Mu, and R. Roche (1990). “Calculating the value of time spent collecting water: some estimates for Ukunda, Kenya,” World Development8(2): 269–280.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Wijk-Sijbesma, C. (1985). “Participation of women in water supply and sanitation: Roles and realities,” Technical Paper 22, IRC, International Water and Sanitation Centre, the Hague.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (1992). World Development Report. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (1993). Water Resources Management: A World Bank Policy Paper. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Resources Institute and International Institute for Environment and Development (1986). World Resources 1986. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zwarteveen, M. (1998). “Identifying gender aspects of new irrigation management policies,” Agriculture and Human Values15(4): 301–312 (this issue).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zwarteveen, M. (1995). “Water: From basic need to commodity. A discussion on gender and water rights in the context of irrigation,” Paper prepared for GENDER-PROP International E-mail Conference on Gender and Property Rights, May–December 1995, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zwarteveen, M. (1997). “A plot of one's own: Gender relations and irrigated land allocation policies in Burkino Faso,” Research Report 10 IMMI, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zwarteveen, M. and N. Neupane (1996). “Free riders or victims?: Women's nonparticipation in irrigation management in Nepal's ChhattisMauja Irrigation Scheme,” Research Report 7 IIMI, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4, 7TJ, UK

    Cecile Jackson

Authors
  1. Cecile Jackson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cecile Jackson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jackson, C. Gender, irrigation, and environment: Arguing for agency. Agriculture and Human Values 15, 313–324 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007528817346

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007528817346

Search

Navigation