In the 1960s, Irene Spry served as the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada (FWIC) representative to the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW). In 1967 she accepted an offer to be the ACWW deputy president, a post that she held until the mid-1970s. During this time, the ACWW and its member societies engaged in international development efforts around the world. This was a critical moment in the history of international development. The Canadian movement for development was propelled by domestic and global politics, as well as a changing society that embraced a sense of global citizenship. Arising out of this context and armoured with her own socialist politics, Spry carefully navigated the development efforts of the ACWW. These efforts straddled grassroots ideals and mainstream pressures from the United Nations (UN). As a women's Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), the ACWW was part of the initial force behind the global shift in the approach to development referred to as Women in Development (WID). Contemporary research, however, suggests that WID has not succeeded in addressing the concerns of women in "developing" countries. As a case study, this paper examines some of the historical roots of WID and identifies the historical continuities that persist in today's development discourse. Analyzing Spry's documents from the Library and Archives Canada through the lens of feminist postcolonial theory reveals the dominance of Eurocentric ideologies within the development practices of the ACWW. The impetus to reach out to help people in developing countries became socially and politically part of the Canadian identity and, as Spry's navigation through the discourses of the international agencies and ACWW members reveal, such sentiments of international benevolence were inherently neo-colonial. In much the same way that Himani Bannerji suggests that subjects are "invented," women involved in this movement intersected discourses of modernity and "race" with essentializing notions of gender, which contributed to a standardized practice of development. This case study ultimately demonstrates that good intentions were not enough to decolonize western women's efforts to "develop" parts of Africa in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

In the 1960s, Irene Spry served as the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada (FWIC) representative to the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW). In 1967 she accepted an offer to be the ACWW deputy president, a post that she held until the mid-1970s. During this time, the ACWW and its member societies engaged in international development efforts around the world. This was a critical moment in the history of international development. The Canadian movement for development was propelled by domestic and global politics, as well as a changing society that embraced a sense of global citizenship. Arising out of this context and armoured with her own socialist politics, Spry carefully navigated the development efforts of the ACWW. These efforts straddled grassroots ideals and mainstream pressures from the United Nations (UN). As a women's Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), the ACWW was part of the initial force behind the global shift in the approach to development referred to as Women in Development (WID). Contemporary research, however, suggests that WID has not succeeded in addressing the concerns of women in "developing" countries. As a case study, this paper examines some of the historical roots of WID and identifies the historical continuities that persist in today's development discourse. Analyzing Spry's documents from the Library and Archives Canada through the lens of feminist postcolonial theory reveals the dominance of Eurocentric ideologies within the development practices of the ACWW. The impetus to reach out to help people in developing countries became socially and politically part of the Canadian identity and, as Spry's navigation through the discourses of the international agencies and ACWW members reveal, such sentiments of international benevolence were inherently neo-colonial. In much the same way that Himani Bannerji suggests that subjects are "invented," women involved in this movement intersected discourses of modernity and "race" with essentializing notions of gender, which contributed to a standardized practice of development. This case study ultimately demonstrates that good intentions were not enough to decolonize western women's efforts to "develop" parts of Africa in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Submitted by Valquíria Barbieri (kikibarbi@hotmail.com) on 2017-05-23T16:58:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2014_Gloria Maria Mendes Curvo Gugelmin.pdf: 1982495 bytes, checksum: 671c4979ac85214c338c5509e0084024 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Jordan (jordanbiblio@gmail.com) on 2017-05-24T15:51:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2014_Gloria Maria Mendes Curvo Gugelmin.pdf: 1982495 bytes, checksum: 671c4979ac85214c338c5509e0084024 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-24T15:51:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISS_2014_Gloria Maria Mendes Curvo Gugelmin.pdf: 1982495 bytes, checksum: 671c4979ac85214c338c5509e0084024 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-27 / CAPES / Esta dissertação trata do Projovem Campo Saberes da Terra, programa fomentado pelo Ministério da Educação com o propósito de ampliar o acesso e a qualidade da educação aos jovens do campo, historicamente excluídos do processo educacional. Levando em conta que os princípios do Projovem chamam atenção para o escopo de orientar o currículo pelo respeito às características, necessidades e pluralidade dos povos do campo, este estudo buscou compreender como ocorreu o diálogo entre os saberes escolares e os saberes locais a fim de identificar situações de aprendizagem que potencializassem a atuação político-social no campo e para além dele. Partiu-se do pressuposto de que o currículo é uma prática discursiva e, portanto, uma prática de poder, de significação, de atribuição de sentidos. O cenário do estudo aqui apresentado foi uma escola do campo situada no município de Nobres, Mato Grosso. Considerando que a complexidade do contexto analisado optou-se por um método de investigação que permitisse uma imersão em situações pedagógicas reais. O material empírico foi extraído de observação participante, de entrevistas e de conversas informais. Deu-se destaque para a dinâmica educativa em sala de aula e em outras circunstâncias curriculares que evidenciasse esforços de diálogo entre saber escolar e saberes locais. A análise dos dados indicou que, se por um lado os jovens do campo (público alvo) manifestaram pouco interesse pelo programa, por outro, as mulheres do campo viram nele uma oportunidade de acesso à educação uma vez que a configuração do currículo permitiu a conciliação de afazeres domésticos e atividades escolares. Isso explica porque designamos o Programa de Promulher do Campo. Os dados indicaram também que embora os docentes tenham manifestado certo desconhecimento das orientações curriculares expressas nos documentos oficiais para o Projovem do campo, na prática, alguns princípios se fizeram presente, sobretudo no que se refere à adoção da agricultura familiar como eixo articulador no processo educacional. Traços marcantes da agricultura familiar (produção da subsistência, solidariedade, cooperação mútua, comercialização do excedente, etc.) foram observados em atividades pedagógicas realizadas no âmbito da escola. Isso pode ser ilustrado pelo Projeto “Feira de Produtos da Nossa Terra” e pela criação de uma Associação de Mulheres camponesas. Os achados deste estudo reiteram a tese de que as políticas educacionais não são processos conclusos colocados em prática de uma forma mecânica e descontextualizada. Políticas tendem a ser recontextualizadas de acordo com a história dos sujeitos e das instituições que nelas são envolvidos. / This dissertation is about the program Projovem Campo Saberes da Terra which is promoted by the Ministry of Education in order to increase quality and access to education to the rural youth, historically excluded from the educational process. Taking into account the principles of Projovem turn the attention to the scope of guiding the curriculum about respect to characteristics, needs and pluralities of country people, this study sought to understand how occurred dialog between scholar knowledge and local wisdom in order to identify learning situations which would increase politic-social act in countryside and beyond it. It was assumed the curriculum is a discursive practice, therefore, is also a power, meaning and assigning meaning practice. The scenery of the present study was rural school located in city of Nobres, Mato Grosso. Considering the analyzed context complexity, it was opted by an investigation method which would allow an immersion in real pedagogic situations. The empirical material was extracted from participating observation, interviews and informal conversations. It was taken emphasis to educative dynamics in classroom and to other curricular circumstances that could evidence the efforts of dialogue between school knowledge and local knowledge. Data analysis indicated that, on the one hand the rural young people (target audience) expressed little interest to the program, on the other hand, rural women saw on it an opportunity to access education since the curricular configuration allowed a reconciliation between housework and school activities. This explains why we named the Program Promulher do Campo. The data also indicated that although teachers have expressed certain ignorance about the curricular orientations expressed in official documents for Projovem do campo, in practice some principles made themselves present, especially about adoption of family farming as a pivotal point in the educational process. Remarkable features of family farming (subsistence production, solidarity, mutual cooperation, trade surplus, etc.) were observed in pedagogical activities performed within the school. This can be illustrated by the Project “Feira de Produtos da Nossa Terra” and by the creation of an Association of Peasant Women. The findings of this study reinforce the thesis that educational policies are not concluded processes put in practice in a mechanical and decontextualized manner. Policies tend to be contextualized according to the history of the subjects and institutions that are involved in them.

In the 1960s, Irene Spry served as the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada (FWIC) representative to the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW). In 1967 she accepted an offer to be the ACWW deputy president, a post that she held until the mid-1970s. During this time, the ACWW and its member societies engaged in international development efforts around the world. This was a critical moment in the history of international development. The Canadian movement for development was propelled by domestic and global politics, as well as a changing society that embraced a sense of global citizenship. Arising out of this context and armoured with her own socialist politics, Spry carefully navigated the development efforts of the ACWW. These efforts straddled grassroots ideals and mainstream pressures from the United Nations (UN). As a women's Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), the ACWW was part of the initial force behind the global shift in the approach to development referred to as Women in Development (WID). Contemporary research, however, suggests that WID has not succeeded in addressing the concerns of women in "developing" countries. As a case study, this paper examines some of the historical roots of WID and identifies the historical continuities that persist in today's development discourse. Analyzing Spry's documents from the Library and Archives Canada through the lens of feminist postcolonial theory reveals the dominance of Eurocentric ideologies within the development practices of the ACWW. The impetus to reach out to help people in developing countries became socially and politically part of the Canadian identity and, as Spry's navigation through the discourses of the international agencies and ACWW members reveal, such sentiments of international benevolence were inherently neo-colonial. In much the same way that Himani Bannerji suggests that subjects are "invented," women involved in this movement intersected discourses of modernity and "race" with essentializing notions of gender, which contributed to a standardized practice of development. This case study ultimately demonstrates that good intentions were not enough to decolonize western women's efforts to "develop" parts of Africa in the late 1960s and early 1970s. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate