Gender and the Multilateral Development Banks: From WID to GAD to Retroliberal WID

Multilateral development bank (MDB) engagement with ‘gender’ is controversial in review and uneven in practice. The authors analyse 1,928 gender-focused projects financed by the World Bank and regional development banks between 1967 and 2021. We propose three eras into which MDB gender engagement di...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Progress in development studies 2024-04, Vol.24 (2), p.165-184
Main Authors: Bazbauers, Adrian Robert, Madkour, Nadeen
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Multilateral development bank (MDB) engagement with ‘gender’ is controversial in review and uneven in practice. The authors analyse 1,928 gender-focused projects financed by the World Bank and regional development banks between 1967 and 2021. We propose three eras into which MDB gender engagement divides and argues that isomorphic pressures have aligned their approaches. The article concludes that gender is not an investment priority and projects have conceptually narrowed over time to focus on private entrepreneurship at the expense of addressing systemic gendered inequalities. This is significant for what the MDB finance signals to investors the feasibility of development projects.
ISSN:1464-9934
1477-027X
DOI:10.1177/14649934231210100