Work intensity, gender and sustainable development

Palmer Jones, Richard and Jackson, Cecile (1997) Work intensity, gender and sustainable development. Food Policy, 22 (1). pp. 39-62.

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Abstract

Is labour-intensive employment compatible with social justice and environmental sustainability? This paper examines the question of how far small-scale, intermediate technology based on energy-intensive human work, which is central to prescriptions for poverty alleviation and sustainable development, is compatible with development objectives emphasizing gender equity. Work intensity is a neglected characteristic of labour but significant in the determination of human well-being and in the intra-household distribution of welfare. The intensification of energy expenditure does not affect men and women in a uniform way and needs to be gender disaggregated in order to reveal potential trade-offs between development strategies based on ‘labour intensive growth’ and the well-being of men and women. The paper draws upon the experience with treadle pumps for irrigation in Bangladesh as an illustration of such potential trade-offs and argues for more rigorous analyses of gender divisions of labour, which include work intensity in combination with time allocation.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Gender and Development Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Experimental Economics (former - to 2017)
Depositing User:	Abigail Dalgleish
Date Deposited:	15 Jul 2011 13:44
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2023 11:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/33824
DOI:	10.1016/S0306-9192(96)00030-9

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