Activist, Entrepreneur, or Caretaker? Negotiating Varieties of Women in Development

Abstract

Most studies examining gender and development programs in international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) consider how these organizations construct global policy agendas, or how such policies are implemented in local contexts. However, INGOs originate in specific countries. Drawing on the varieties of capitalism literature, this article analyzes the impact of “national gender imaginaries” on gender and development programs implemented by INGOs in Cambodia. Based on 43 in-depth interviews, I argue that INGOs from Scandinavia, the United States, and South Korea, informed by different gender imaginaries, pursue different ways of promoting women in development. Local Cambodian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), aware of this variation in national models among INGOs, employ distinct strategies to appeal to donors while adapting the models to the Cambodian context.