JBS Vol 06. Num 1-2. 2004 - “DEVELOPMENT” REVISITED: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN BANGLADESH

This article explores the policy areas of education, microcredit, and family planning, long regarded internationally
and within Bangladesh as being among the most important areas of intervention to help the poorest women. While
these areas are indeed of immense significance, I argue that it is essential that we delve deeper into each of these
areas and problematize the manner in which they have been conventionally understood. Not only do the muchpublicized
success stories of high rates of loan repayment, school enrollment and contraceptive acceptance distract
us from many problems associated with these very arenas of development, but they also forge a sense of
complacency and obscure the importance of alternative ways of measuring “progress” or positive change and of
other arenas that merit immediate attention in order to help millions of disprivileged women of Bangladesh lead
truly decent, dignified and meaningful lives. I first examine the debates surrounding each of these three areas of
development as well as linkages among them both within Bangladesh and in the wider international context. I show
that in all three areas, there is no hegemonic position, permitting multiple perspectives to coexist. I then turn to the
areas of democratic rights and personal security, which generally have received far less attention and recognition
that they deserve, but which I believe are essential to any attempts to “empower” the women of Bangladesh, the vast
majority of whom are impoverished, illiterate and live in rural area.