THE CURIOUS QUESTION OF FEMINISING POVERTY IN COSTA RICA: THE IMPORTANCE OF GENDERED SUBJECTIVITIES Sylvia Chant Issue 22, January 2008 New Working Paper Series London School of Economics, Gender Institute ISSN No:1470-8515 New Working Paper Series Editor:Wendy Sigle-Rushton (
[email protected]) Issue 22, January 2008 This new working paper series is designed to bring new ideas and new findings in the field of gender studies into the public arena. The author/s welcome comments. Sylvia Chant is Professor of Development Geography at the London School of Economics. She has worked in Costa Rica, Mexico, The Philippines and The Gambia on a range of issues relating to gender and development, including migration, poverty, employment, household livelihood strategies, lone parenthood, youth, and men and masculinities. Her most recent books are Mainstreaming Men into Gender and Development: Debates, Reflections and Experiences (with Matthew Gutmann) (Oxfam, 2000), and Gender in Latin America (in association with Nikki Craske) (Latin America Bureau/Rutgers University Press, 2003). Under the auspices of a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship (2003-2006), Professor Chant has recently published a book entitled Gender, Generation and Poverty: Exploring the ‘Feminisation of Poverty’ in Asia, Africa and Latin America (Edward Elgar, 2007). (
[email protected]) The Gender Institute was established by the London School of Economics in 1993 to address the major intellectual challenges posed by contemporary changes in gender relations. The Director is Dr Diane Perrons. The research work of the Institute is informed by the belief that all social processes are ‘gendered’, and that understanding gender relations is therefore a crucial component in any social science research.