Gender, Power and Knowledge for Development

Lata Narayanaswamy is a Lecturer in International Development in the School of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) at the University of Leeds, UK.

"A brave intervention in the sadly under-theorized arena of knowledge diffusion in international development! Debunking myths about the 'Southern Women’s NGO' as an agent for diffusing (disembedded) information for development, Narayanaswamy underscores how intersectional power shapes the movement and work of knowledge. The book calls for facilitating agency through listening in dialogic context-sensitive conversations." - Richa Nagar, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, USA"In this important book, Lata Narayanaswamy offers a hugely impressive analysis of gender, power and knowledge in international development. This exceptionally well written book critically explodes some of the comfortable assumptions made about promoting Southern voices, translating material, working with the ‘grassroots’ and ensuring user-friendly ICT access for facilitating improved development outcomes." - Emma Mawdsley, Reader in Human Geography, University of Cambridge, UK

• Introduction: problematising knowledge as a driver of development Knowledge for development as an exercise in power The knowledge-brokering business: NGOs and feminisms in development Anatomy of a knowledge broker ‘The language is difficult’: interrogating progressive information-production processes ‘Very clearly there is no strategy’: interrogating progressive information-dissemination practices ‘If you want to start a new project, then you pray that funders are on the same wavelength!’: interrogating Southern-based knowledge intermediaries and systemsConclusion: reflecting on the study: what have we learned?