The day-long event brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars to examine various facets of the “business case” for investing in women and girls in the global South. Topics include microcredit “girl effect” campaigns and “girl power,” women in the global garment industry, the rhetoric of the business case in development institutions, and the relationship between feminism and new economic movements such as buen vivir and the solidarity economy. The question examined in each of these cases is whether the business case precludes progressive agendas or if, under certain conditions, it can serve more transformative feminist goals.

Schedule:
9:15 am: Introductory Remarks -
Engendering Development Beyond "Smart Economics"
Suzanne Bergeron (Women’s and Gender Studies, UM Dearborn)

9:30 - 11:30 am: Beyond the Financialization of Gender
Lamia Karim (Anthropology, University of Oregon)
Özlem Altan (Political Science, Koç University, Turkey)
Melissa Fisher (Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University)
Drucilla Barker (Anthropology and Women’s and Gender Studies, University of South Carolina) - moderator

1:30 - 3:30 pm: Beyond Neoliberal Girl Power
Rebecca Dingo (English, University of Massachusetts-Amherst)
Emily Bent (Women’s & Gender Studies, Pace University)
Kathryn Moeller (Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Ruby Tapia (English & Women’s Studies, University of Michigan) - moderator

This symposium is presented by the Institute for Research on Women and Gender.