Gender, Culture and Development: In the Paradigm of Gross National Happiness in Bhutan A THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS IN SOCIOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY By TSHERING YANGDEN Sociology Programme SCHOOL OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY 2009 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to offer my deepest gratitude to both my supervisors, Nabila Jaber and Alison Loveridge for keeping me going with their enthusiasm and commitment. I have no words to show my appreciation for their patience and dedication they have shown me during some of the darker moments. My most sincere thanks go to the staff of International Student Support namely, Sarah Beavens, Eunice Mckessar, Lawrence Teo, Mary Funari and Mary Thomas for being supportive during my problematic moments. I thank Brenda Mackie and her husband Colin for helping me with the structuring and arranging table formats and other forms of help which are too numerous to mention. I would also like to thank my husband and children for being patient with me and being supportive throughout this thesis. Most importantly, I would like to thank the Government of New Zealand (NZAID) for the financial support without which I would not have been able to undertake this research. My gratitude also goes to all the research participants, 20 households from the rural area and 22 participants from the urban area. I offer my special thanks to Mr Dorji Penjor of the Centre for Bhutan Studies, Thimphu, for providing me with many research materials and for responding very promptly to any enquiries I made regarding my research through emails. I am thankful to Mr Dawa Tshering of the National Statistics Bureau and Mr Damcho Rinzin of the Tourism Authority of Bhutan for being very helpful in providing me with vital statistics and information for my thesis. 2 ABSTRACT This study of women in Bhutan is based on the country’s unique development concept known as Gross National Happiness (GNH). Whereas in most countries, a western approach to development concentrates on increasing Gross Domestic Product to improve a country’s economy, Bhutan follows a different approach based on improving the general well-being of the people. The thesis argues that Bhutan has relegated Gross Domestic Product to the background where it can be used as a means to enhance “happiness” but not as an overall goal of development and that the impacts of this on women require separate study. There are four elements that form the core of the Gross National Happiness concept: good governance, environmental conservation, cultural preservation and socio-economic development. This thesis has focused on only two elements of the GNH concept, questioning the nature of cultural preservation and socio-economic development. This is because cultural preservation is one of the areas that affects women particularly. In the path of development, many socio-economic policies inadvertently discriminate against women although their intentions are gender neutral. Thus, the overall purpose of this thesis is to explore women’s position, especially in the education sector and the impact of tradition and culture on Bhutanese women. The relationship between women in Bhutan and the government policy of preserving culture is analysed in order to determine if there is conflict between preserving culture and sustaining happiness against the backdrop of the fast pace of economic development. The methodological approach for this thesis is both qualitative and quantitative. Because of the limited written material on Bhutan, it was important to talk to members of the public to explore general perceptions, feelings and opinions relating to government policies and the impact of development activities and culture on their lives and also to bring in unofficial perspectives. Participants consisted of twenty households in the village and twenty-two participants from the urban area to address urban/rural differences. Literacy is less in rural areas as is access to information and exposure to western influences. Official documents, newspapers, on-line discussion forums, school curricula and films were also drawn on to explore the role of culture and the impact of development policies on the Bhutanese people. The thesis concludes that cultural preservation, particularly when followed uncritically, remains a major obstacle to women’s empowerment towards achieving their development goals. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 2 ABSTRACT 3 1. INTRODUCTION 7 Research Question...........................................................................................................8 Aims and Objectives ........................................................................................................9 Results............................................................................................................................11 Background on Gross National Happiness (GNH) .........................................................12 Methodology .................................................................................................................15 Introduction ..................................................................................................................15 Methodological Approach ............................................................................................16 Constraints.................................................................................................................20 Literature Analysis .........................................................................................................21 Rationale....................................................................................................................21 Gender Analysis Framework......................................................................................21 Boserup’s development approach ............................................................................24 Caroline Moser’s Critical Strategy Framework..........................................................27 Naila Kabeer’s Development Approach ....................................................................34 Thesis overview .............................................................................................................38 2.OVERVIEW OF BHUTANESE DEVELOPMENT PLANS 40 Government...................................................................................................................43 Modern Government.................................................................................................45 Administration...........................................................................................................47 Economy ........................................................................................................................49 Agricultural Sector .........................................................................................................50 Industrial Sector.............................................................................................................52 Tourism..........................................................................................................................53 Developmental Programmes.........................................................................................56 Five Year Plans ...........................................................................................................57 Poverty reduction ......................................................................................................64 Impacts of development on women in rural areas ...................................................64 Gross National Happiness and Development................................................................65 Importance of Gross National Happiness..................................................................69 Has the GNH concept made Bhutanese happier?.....................................................71 Relevance of GNH to the thesis.................................................................................75 Summary........................................................................................................................76 4 3. GENDER AND EDUCATION 77 Introduction...................................................................................................................77 Education Overview.......................................................................................................77 Indian education and its relation to the Bhutanese education system....................78 Gender Disparity in Enrolments.................................................................................81 Perception towards Education...................................................................................90 Education and Employment.....................................................................................102 Summary......................................................................................................................108 4. CULTURE, DEVELOPMENT AND GENDER IN BHUTAN 111 Introduction.................................................................................................................111 Culture and development............................................................................................112 Can culture be neutral in development? .................................................................116 Women and Culture ....................................................................................................118