Dilemmas of difference : indigenous women and the limits of postcolonial development policy /

Radcliffe (Latin American geography, Cambridge) rethinks Ecuadorian Indigenous women's relationships to development by examining both the central highland province of Chimborazo and the Tsáchila community along the coast. Development projects, she asserts, have focused around single dimensions of social difference (gender, race, or poverty), whereas Indigenous women's problems and needs are complex based on their intersectional position relative to all of these categories. In fact, the single-dimension focus of past development policies reinforced the very colonial and postcolonial social hierarchies that development leaders sought to remedy. Moreover, development programs wrongly assumed homogeneity rather than diversity of experience among Indigenous women. By examining varied issues, including participatory democracy, programs for female leadership, and reproductive health, Radcliffe reveals how Indigenous women took advantage of the spaces open to them in order to cultivate their own voices and critiques of development as a whole. Indigenous women simultaneously pursue gender equality, economic rights, and equal treatment to mestizos. In short, they seek to thrive as active agents in their communities, the economy, and the nation rather than survive as recipients of aid. Radcliffe's book, well grounded in theory and research, is an important read for scholars of Latin American development and gender. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Scholars and graduate students. --Erin E. O'Connor, Bridgewater State University