International Secretariat for Human Development

Introduction

The Broader Context of the Project
This teaching resource presents a variety of  material that represents voices, experiences, and conceptualisations of gender from various structural and geographical locations.  As many scholars have pointed out, there is much pedagogical value in presenting students with the opportunity to 'hear directly" from those they study, rather than through narratives of others. Narratives, as we know typically present a risk of generalization that may impede a deeper understanding of issues.  Even when generalizations are unavoidable, it is critical that we understand the limitations they impose on our knowledge. This concern is particularly important for teaching about the Global South. How can we teach about the Global South where Southern voices, experiences and Southern scholarship are represented?  More importantly, how do we get beyond the North/South binary and think of knowledge that overcomes the power relations that constitute this binary? How do stimulate more participatory and democratic processes of  knowledge production? Given all the problems of language, access, distance, is it still possible to devise a curriculum where different knowledges and perspectives are brought together in a meaningful way? Are there substantial gains to be made from such integration?  How would it impact the policy and practice of development?

 

These are some of the questions which motivate the current project.  It presents material produced primarily (but not only) in the South. At this time, we have a substantial part of the material in Spanish and we are aware that this presents significant challenges for teaching.  We have presented some ideas as to how this material can be used to overcome such challenges. 

 

This resource, as it stands now, is not a stand-alone tool, but is intended to assist those interested in developing courses for various audiences.  The material you will find here will need to be put within the framework of more theoretical discussions as relevant to the topic and the audience.  You can also visit HDRNet for more material on related themes.