Feminism

The politics of literacy and education has thus far remained a marginal concern for the women's movement in India with little effort made to address power issues that form part of the education process. Concerns over ensuring quality in education that are limited to skill improvement and enhancing the learning environment all too easily overlook that educational arenas create boundaries that limit possibilities and reinforce stereotypes, especially long-standing patriarchal constructs. This paper describes three diverse teaching/learning environments that formed part of a women's empowerment programme in a UP district in a bid to examine the way power relations reproduce and transform themselves in literacy programmes, which consciously attempt an empowering and participatory pedagogy.

The European Union recognises equal opportunities for men and women to be at the heart of the reformation of the labour market. Member states have committed themselves to equality for the sexes at the workplace. This should be accompanied by the adoption of a gender mainstreaming approach to improve employability and encourage adaptability of businesses and employees, to reduce the disadvantaged status of women at the workplace.

Philosophy is concerned with the meaning of human life, whether there is any such meaning and whether the human can be made an object of systematic study. Feminist philosophers have shown that the study of the meaning of human life cannot be done without a feminist worldview. Although high brow philosophical theory is a small, indeed elitist, field it is enormously influential in the long run, with lasting effects on the shape of everyday life. It is important that women infiltrate the field of 'high brow' theory and research. Feminism should not only concern itself with fair play/equality but also with changing the rules of the game. Not only politics, economics and science, but philosophy is very important in making and changing the rules. This paper examines feminist philosophy as a process that has influenced the worldview on women and is significant for a continued emancipation process in development cooperation.