Disarticulated networks and neoliberal agendas: how insights from GAD theory became disconnected from work on gender, girls’ education and international development

Abstract

This article outlines some of the ways in which expanding provision of girls’ education from around 2010 was linked with neoliberalism, but how few writers, reflecting on this process, have made use of the ideas of Gender and Development (GAD) theorists of the 1980s and 1990s. In considering some of the reasons for this, the analysis looks at ways in which selected GAD writers discussed education, and interpretations of GAD ideas made by writers in the field of gender, education and development. The discussion outlines some of the disarticulated networks and missed opportunities for connection in play. Some consequences are sketched for how a neoliberal agenda around girls’ education as a simple ‘answer to everything’ emerged. The discussion concludes that the multifaceted challenges associated with gender inequalities in education in the 2020s require attempts to make connection between the insights of GAD theorists and the policy, practice and research engagements of communities working on gender, education and development. Some routes to achieve this include strategic interventions in key networks, building solidarities with women’s movements, challenging misogyny, violence and post truth politics.