Authorizing Gender and Development: "Third World Women," Native Informants, and Speaking Nearby

Postmodern and postcolonial feminist theories applied to development have opposed universalizing and essentializing notions of a homogeneous “third world woman” posited as in need of saving by first world experts. Deconstructing development requires a recognition of diverse experiences, which suggests the need to listen to the previously “silenced voices” of third world women. My paper will consider whether this can be done without relying on an equally problematic demand for authenticity from “native informants,” and explores the implications of such an analysis for a postcolonial feminist approach to (post)development