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Emeritus Professor Diane Elson

Gender and Macroeconomics Policy

I began research on gender equality and macroeconomic policy by focussing on the structural adjustment policies which the World Bank made a condition of access to loans to developing countries to address the economic crises of the 1980s and 1990s. I argued that the theory underlying the policies was subject to male bias and the impact of the policies put disproportionate burdens on women, especially women living in poverty.

‘Male Bias in Macroeconomics: The case of structural adjustment’ in (D. Elson ed.) Male Bias in the Development Process, Manchester University Press, Manchester, First Edition 1991. Second Edition 1995.

‘Male Bias in Structural Adjustment’ in H. Afshar and C. Dennis (eds.) Women, Recession and Adjustment in the Third World, Macmillan, London, 1992.

‘From survival strategies to transformation strategies: women’s needs and structural adjustment’ in L. Beneria and S. Feldman (eds.) Unequal Burden: Economic Crisis, Persistent Poverty and Women’s Work, Westview, Boulder, 1992.

‘Micro, Meso, Macro: Gender and Economic Analysis in the Context of Policy Reform’ in I. Bakker (ed.) The Strategic Silence: Gender and Economic Policy, Zed Books, London, 1994.

In Spanish translation ‘Micro,Meso, Macro: Genero y Analisis en el Contexto de la Reforma de Politicas’ Con/textos No. 6, Programa de Estudios de Genero, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, Lima, 2000.

I collaborated with Nilufer Cagatay and Caren Grown in analysing macroeconomic policy with a focus on developing countries in two special issues of World Development in 1995 and 2000.

(with N. Cagatay and G. Grown) ‘Introduction: Gender, Adjustment and Macroeconomics’, Special Issue of World Development, 23 (11) 1995.

‘Gender Awareness in Modelling Structural Adjustment’, World Development, 23 (11)1995. Reprinted in L. Beneria and S. Bisnath (eds.) Gender and Development: Theoretical, Empirical and Practical Approaches, Vol.2, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2001.

In Spanish translation, Con/textos No. 7, Programe de Estudios de Genero, Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Peru, Lima, 2000.

(with N. Cagatay and G. Grown) ‘Introduction to Special Issue-Growth, Trade, Finance and Gender Inequality’, World Development, 28 (7) 2000.

(with N. Cagatay) ‘The Social Content of Macroeconomic Policies’, World Development, 28(7)2000.

Reprinted in L. Beneria, A.M. May and D. Strassmann (eds.) Feminist Economics, Vol.III, Global Perspectives on Gender, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2011. In Spanish translation in P. de Villota (ed.) Economia y Genero, Icaria, Barcelona, 2003.

I have also considered macroeconomic policy and gender in the context of Europe.

‘The economic, the political and the domestic: businesses, states and households in the organisation of production’, New Political Economy, 3 (2) 1998.

‘Gender at the macroeconomic level’ in G. Waylen, J. Cook and J. Roberts (eds.) Towards a Gendered Political Economy, Macmillan, London, 2000.

‘Towards a Gender Equitable Macroeconomic Framework for Europe’ in H. Bargawi, G. Cozzi, and. S. Himmelweit (eds.) Recovery for whom? Austerity policies, gendered impacts and policy alternatives for Europe, London, Routledge, 2017.

For teaching I constructed a visualisation of the macroeconomy through a gender lens.

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