Transnational feminisms and the politics of international development in Ghana

Abstract

International development organizations have been argued to be sites of contestations where power is invoked to maintain the othering of developing countries. Guided by Western liberal feminist ideas, international development projects are argued to situate in the othering of African women. Critiques have called for an alternative development that ensures accountable practice. The study used critical discourse analysis and in-depth interviews to examine how power is invoked and assumed when development projects are implemented in Ghana and how African feminist scholars and Ghanaian women development workers navigate and interrupt such power relations. Informed by a transnational, intersectional African feminist theoretical framing, the study found that international development was perceived as a social control mechanism through its hierarchy, governance, rhetoric, political positioning, and conceptualization. It highlighted how women resisted, negotiated, and strategized within international development spaces. The study recommends synergizing African feminist scholarship and development practice to ensure accountable development.