Aruna Rao
Biographic Data
| ID | 3697281 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Aruna Rao |
| GIVEN NAMES | Aruna |
| FAMILY NAME | Rao |
| SIGNATURE | RAO A |
| AFFILIATIONS | A co-founder and Executive Director of Gender at Work (www.genderatwork.org), an international feminist network committed to ending discrimination against women and advancing cultures of equality. |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 59 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Wildlife tourism and local communities
This paper examines the impact of wildlife tourism on the livelihoods of local population around the Ranthambhore National Park in India which is popular for tiger sighting. A detailed household questionnaire elicited information on demographic details, income sources and consumption expenditure from 224 households. An empirical assessment of the economic impacts of tourism reveals that tourism development has failed to provide tangible benefits …
Advancing Gender Equality in Bangladesh
In 1994, BRAC, the world's largest NGO, made headlines by putting women's rights centre stage in Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world. The Gender Quality Action Learning (GQAL) Programme was one of the very first large-scale efforts to mainstream gender equality and aimed to weave objectives of gender equality throughout its own microfinance, education and health services. Advancing Gender Equality in Bangladesh describes the his…
No Shortcuts to Shifting Deep Structures in Organisations
In the late 1990s an international feminist network, Gender at Work, wrote about the ‘deep structure’ of organisations through which gender discriminatory norms and power relations are reproduced. In this article, the authors reflect on the evolution since the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 of Gender at Work's theory and practice on approaches to shift deep structure. The Gender at Work Analytical Framework, used by doze…
The elephant in the room and the dragons at the gate
The ominous vision of elephants and dragons in the title of this article represents the perplexing equation of progress and backlash that characterises work on gender equality and women's rights. This article advocates a move away from the ongoing debates about gender mainstreaming, towards re-framing strategies for ending gender discrimination. Synthesising the analysis and priorities for action shared by 40 gender and development activists and …
Is there life after gender mainstreaming
development agencies. We argue for changes which re-delineate who does what, what counts, who gets what, and who decides. We also argue for changes in the institutions that mediate resources, and women’s access, voice, and influence. We outline key challenges, as well as ways to envision change a n d strengthen the capacity of State and development organisations to deliver better on women’s rights
Institutions, organisations and gender equality in an era of globalisation
Development organisations can play a significant role in supporting women in the communities where they work to challenge unequal gender relations. The authors of this article argue that the majority of development organisations fail to do so because they pay insufficient attention to the importance of social institutions in perpetuating inequality. Two prominent approaches to gender mainstreaming emphasise organisational infrastructure and cultu…
Human Security
On May 12, 2002, Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP), an international nongovernmental organization dedicated to empowering women living in the global South, organized a conversation to map out an approach to a definition of the concept of human security. The participants— Mahnaz Afkhami (Iran/U.S.), Kumi Naidoo (South Africa), Jacqueline Pitanguy (Brazil), and Aruna Rao (India), co-chair and commissioners of the…
Leadership for social transformation
This article affirms the importance of changing the rules, not playing by them, if we are to transform institutions so that they reflect and promote gender equality. It describes how institutions block efforts to promote gender equality, and suggests that recent efforts to 'professionalise' NGOs have exacerbated this tendency. However, NGOs are also currently concerned with 'organisational learning', and this may offer them a 'third way' which co…
Gender lost and gender found
The Gender Quality Action-Learning (GQAL) Programme of BRAC, a large rural development NGO in Bangladesh, is described and analysed. This Programme works with male and female field-staff and managers in a process of issue-analysis, action planning, and implementation (the GQAL cycle) to address organizational change and programme quality concerns in a way that is informed by an understanding of gender. Gender, meaning women or the relations betwe…
Rethinking organisations
Organizational transformation was the theme of a 1996 meeting in Canada of men and women from Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, and Europe concerned with more equitable power relations between men and women. Gender parity policies and initiatives are necessary but not sufficient as long as the organizational culture remains antithetical to gender equality and adequate resources are withheld. Three salient structural aspects of organizat…
Engendering Institutional Change
Engendering Organizational Change
This article analyses the first phase of an ongoing structural intervention which works at the nexus of gender relations, organizational change, and quality improvement, with a large rural development NGO in South Asia. Identifying this new issue, and acquiring and deploying knowledge around it within the organization has involved definition and continuous reiteration of basic premises concerning gender, individual learning and systems developmen…
Is there life after gender mainstreaming
development agencies. We argue for changes which re-delineate who does what, what counts, who gets what, and who decides. We also argue for changes in the institutions that mediate resources, and women’s access, voice, and influence. We outline key challenges, as well as ways to envision change a n d strengthen the capacity of State and development organisations to deliver better on women’s rights
The elephant in the room and the dragons at the gate
The ominous vision of elephants and dragons in the title of this article represents the perplexing equation of progress and backlash that characterises work on gender equality and women's rights. This article advocates a move away from the ongoing debates about gender mainstreaming, towards re-framing strategies for ending gender discrimination. Synthesising the analysis and priorities for action shared by 40 gender and development activists and …
Institutions, organisations and gender equality in an era of globalisation
Development organisations can play a significant role in supporting women in the communities where they work to challenge unequal gender relations. The authors of this article argue that the majority of development organisations fail to do so because they pay insufficient attention to the importance of social institutions in perpetuating inequality. Two prominent approaches to gender mainstreaming emphasise organisational infrastructure and cultu…
Leadership for social transformation
This article affirms the importance of changing the rules, not playing by them, if we are to transform institutions so that they reflect and promote gender equality. It describes how institutions block efforts to promote gender equality, and suggests that recent efforts to 'professionalise' NGOs have exacerbated this tendency. However, NGOs are also currently concerned with 'organisational learning', and this may offer them a 'third way' which co…
Engendering Organizational Change
This article analyses the first phase of an ongoing structural intervention which works at the nexus of gender relations, organizational change, and quality improvement, with a large rural development NGO in South Asia. Identifying this new issue, and acquiring and deploying knowledge around it within the organization has involved definition and continuous reiteration of basic premises concerning gender, individual learning and systems developmen…
Gender lost and gender found
The Gender Quality Action-Learning (GQAL) Programme of BRAC, a large rural development NGO in Bangladesh, is described and analysed. This Programme works with male and female field-staff and managers in a process of issue-analysis, action planning, and implementation (the GQAL cycle) to address organizational change and programme quality concerns in a way that is informed by an understanding of gender. Gender, meaning women or the relations betwe…
Wildlife tourism and local communities
This paper examines the impact of wildlife tourism on the livelihoods of local population around the Ranthambhore National Park in India which is popular for tiger sighting. A detailed household questionnaire elicited information on demographic details, income sources and consumption expenditure from 224 households. An empirical assessment of the economic impacts of tourism reveals that tourism development has failed to provide tangible benefits …
Human Security
On May 12, 2002, Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP), an international nongovernmental organization dedicated to empowering women living in the global South, organized a conversation to map out an approach to a definition of the concept of human security. The participants— Mahnaz Afkhami (Iran/U.S.), Kumi Naidoo (South Africa), Jacqueline Pitanguy (Brazil), and Aruna Rao (India), co-chair and commissioners of the…
Rethinking organisations
Organizational transformation was the theme of a 1996 meeting in Canada of men and women from Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, and Europe concerned with more equitable power relations between men and women. Gender parity policies and initiatives are necessary but not sufficient as long as the organizational culture remains antithetical to gender equality and adequate resources are withheld. Three salient structural aspects of organizat…
Engendering Organizational Change
This article analyses the first phase of an ongoing structural intervention which works at the nexus of gender relations, organizational change, and quality improvement, with a large rural development NGO in South Asia. Identifying this new issue, and acquiring and deploying knowledge around it within the organization has involved definition and continuous reiteration of basic premises concerning gender, individual learning and systems developmen…
Engendering Institutional Change
Rethinking organisations
Organizational transformation was the theme of a 1996 meeting in Canada of men and women from Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, and Europe concerned with more equitable power relations between men and women. Gender parity policies and initiatives are necessary but not sufficient as long as the organizational culture remains antithetical to gender equality and adequate resources are withheld. Three salient structural aspects of organizat…
Gender lost and gender found
The Gender Quality Action-Learning (GQAL) Programme of BRAC, a large rural development NGO in Bangladesh, is described and analysed. This Programme works with male and female field-staff and managers in a process of issue-analysis, action planning, and implementation (the GQAL cycle) to address organizational change and programme quality concerns in a way that is informed by an understanding of gender. Gender, meaning women or the relations betwe…
Leadership for social transformation
This article affirms the importance of changing the rules, not playing by them, if we are to transform institutions so that they reflect and promote gender equality. It describes how institutions block efforts to promote gender equality, and suggests that recent efforts to 'professionalise' NGOs have exacerbated this tendency. However, NGOs are also currently concerned with 'organisational learning', and this may offer them a 'third way' which co…
Human Security
On May 12, 2002, Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP), an international nongovernmental organization dedicated to empowering women living in the global South, organized a conversation to map out an approach to a definition of the concept of human security. The participants— Mahnaz Afkhami (Iran/U.S.), Kumi Naidoo (South Africa), Jacqueline Pitanguy (Brazil), and Aruna Rao (India), co-chair and commissioners of the…
Institutions, organisations and gender equality in an era of globalisation
Development organisations can play a significant role in supporting women in the communities where they work to challenge unequal gender relations. The authors of this article argue that the majority of development organisations fail to do so because they pay insufficient attention to the importance of social institutions in perpetuating inequality. Two prominent approaches to gender mainstreaming emphasise organisational infrastructure and cultu…
Is there life after gender mainstreaming
development agencies. We argue for changes which re-delineate who does what, what counts, who gets what, and who decides. We also argue for changes in the institutions that mediate resources, and women’s access, voice, and influence. We outline key challenges, as well as ways to envision change a n d strengthen the capacity of State and development organisations to deliver better on women’s rights
The elephant in the room and the dragons at the gate
The ominous vision of elephants and dragons in the title of this article represents the perplexing equation of progress and backlash that characterises work on gender equality and women's rights. This article advocates a move away from the ongoing debates about gender mainstreaming, towards re-framing strategies for ending gender discrimination. Synthesising the analysis and priorities for action shared by 40 gender and development activists and …
No Shortcuts to Shifting Deep Structures in Organisations
In the late 1990s an international feminist network, Gender at Work, wrote about the ‘deep structure’ of organisations through which gender discriminatory norms and power relations are reproduced. In this article, the authors reflect on the evolution since the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 of Gender at Work's theory and practice on approaches to shift deep structure. The Gender at Work Analytical Framework, used by doze…
Advancing Gender Equality in Bangladesh
In 1994, BRAC, the world's largest NGO, made headlines by putting women's rights centre stage in Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world. The Gender Quality Action Learning (GQAL) Programme was one of the very first large-scale efforts to mainstream gender equality and aimed to weave objectives of gender equality throughout its own microfinance, education and health services. Advancing Gender Equality in Bangladesh describes the his…
Wildlife tourism and local communities
This paper examines the impact of wildlife tourism on the livelihoods of local population around the Ranthambhore National Park in India which is popular for tiger sighting. A detailed household questionnaire elicited information on demographic details, income sources and consumption expenditure from 224 households. An empirical assessment of the economic impacts of tourism reveals that tourism development has failed to provide tangible benefits …
Political science (11 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Public relations (8 works) · Gender Studies (7 works) · Gender Politics and Representation (5 works) · Gender Diversity and Inequality (4 works) · Gender equality (4 works) · Gender Studies (4 works) · Psychology (4 works) · Economic growth (3 works)