Challenging the NGOS: Women, Religion and Western Dialogues in India

The image of "Third World Woman" victimhood is one common to discourses in Western feminism, gender and development and also the activities of NGOs. Tamsin Bradley deconstructs this through her exploration of the relationships between NGOs and the people they target, using a unique multi-disciplinary perspective focused on the interfaces between anthropology, development and religion. She argues that dominant approaches in development practice see women as a singular and weak "other" which obscures the complexities of communities and the ability to respond to real needs. Bradley's extensive fieldwork, on grassroots NGOs in rural Indian Rajasthan and Western donor organisations, combines with a compelling critique of development theory and practice. She constructs a more inclusive methodology, to encourage development workers to listen to the needs of those they seek to help.