Negotiating gender equality in development organizations:The role of agency in the institutionalization of new norms and practices

Abstract

This article considers how, in the context of development, the negotiation of meanings and individual values can create a crucial link between an awareness of gender relations and actual changes in the norms and practices of an organization. I use the concept of institutional agency to question whether as gendered individuals, development practitioners can challenge how development organizations go about their work? Or whether we are all trapped in a ‘meta structure’ of norms, practices and meanings that ultimately block both our own agency and the changes we are trying to bring about?