Dr Valerie Lipman
DSA Birmingham November 2013
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“She had never dreamt that as soon as her
husband died her own sons would become her
enemies...It was unbearable to her proud
nature to live like an orphan, eating what she
was given, in a house where she had no status
and counted for nothing”
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Premchand ‘Widow with Sons’
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Demographics:
66% of today’s older people live in LDCs - 80% by 2050;
80+ years population growing fastest; more older women*
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Neo-liberalism:
industrialisation, rural/urban migration, out-migration
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Changing environment for older people:
values and traditions changing, older people isolated
* HAI/UNFPA 2012
Older people are absent in the
development models ...
Economic growth
Human development
Human rights
Anti-poverty
Participation
Older women exist
 Ageing is gendered – women experience
poorer education, domestic abuse and
violence, childbirth and caring responsibilities:
they reach old age poorer than men, and will
often live alone
 Older women contribute to society in both the
private and public spheres
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Textual analysis:
• World Conferences on Women: 1975, 1980,1985,1995
• Commission on the Status of Women: in critical years of
the ‘ageing’ calendar: 1982, 1992, 1999, 2002.
Literature review:
• Seminal gender analytical tools: Harvard, Moser, SRA,
Gender Awareness Matrix, Empowerment (Longwe)
• Key shifts in the discourse: efficiency, equity,
empowerment, capabilities, rights.
‘A study of 151 countries unequivocally rejected the idea of older
persons as “dependent retirees”...Hence, approaching elderly
women as a “development asset” reconceptualises them as
active contributors and highlights their value to polity,
economy and society’ (UN, 1999).
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High visibility in CSW and UN General Assembly
Mixed messages from the UN Summits
Absence of old age awareness in the frameworks
Capabilities and rights agendas reflect mainstream
 Older
women are invisible
 Stereotypes replicated of women in
development
 Neo-liberalism dominates
 Building a constituency
Acknowledge the gap
 Adapt and develop new frameworks
 Monitor silence
 Research older women issues
 Gather data in new ways
 Support networks for older women
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Thank you
Questions/discussion
valerielipman2003@yahoo.co.uk
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Fraser N. & Honneth A. (2003), Redistribution or Recognition?: A Political
Philosophical Exchange, (Verso, London).
Green M. (2002), 'Social Development: Issues and Approaches', in U. Kothari and M.
Minogue (eds.), Development Theory and Practice, (Basingstoke: Palgrave).
Kabeer N. (1994), Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought,
(Verso, London).
Lloyd-Sherlock P. (2004), 'Ageing, development and social protection - generalisations,
myths and stereotypes’ in P. Lloyd-Sherlock (ed.), Living Longer: Ageing, Development
and Social Protection, (London: Zed Books).
March, C, Smyth, I & Mukhopadhyay (1999) A Guide to Gender Analysis Frameworks
(Oxfam).
Moser C. (1993), Gender Planning and Development: Theory, Practice, and Training
(Routledge, London).
Nussbaum M. (2000), Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach,
(Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).
Vera-Sanso P. & Sweetman C. (2009), Introduction, Gender and Development (Oxfam)