Abstract:
This thesis traces the outcomes of a legal reform enacted in Bali to address unintended consequences of a World Bank policy that undermined women’s economic, legal and human rights. This qualitative exploratory inquiry emphasizes how cultural concepts of gender structurally influenced the legal reform; both the construction of the policy, and the outcomes stemming from its implementation. The analysis suggests that policy measures intended to ‘empower’ women which fail to address the influence of gender in the formation and functioning of social institutions reinforce conceptualizations of gender that constrain women’s autonomy and reify patriarchal sociocultural institutions. This work seeks to allow women’s voices to reflect back on and reciprocally transform social theories and practices. This thesis is intended to contribute to theoretical understandings of the influence of gender in legal reform efforts.
