Bina Agarwal
• Gender equality is both a key measure of development and an important means of achieving it. • Paper traces progress in reducing gender inequality from the mid-1970 s and its limits. • Despite progress on some counts, gender inequality persists in property ownership, employment and institutional governance. • Underlying visible inequalities are hidden ones, as in social norms, social perceptions, and social legitimacy of claims. • Tackling hidden barriers will require shifts from individual to group approaches. Progress towards gender equality − economically, socially and politically − is a key measure of development, as well as a means of achieving it. This essay traces both the advances made (theoretical, empirical and in policy) in reducing gender inequality since the mid-1970s, when it was recognised internationally in development discourse, and the limits to that progress, given the persistence of gender inequality in most forms today. It is argued here that underlying visible measures of inequality, such as in women’s property ownership, labour market outcomes, and the governance of public institutions are hidden inequalities, embedded in biased social norms, social perceptions, and the social legitimacy of claims. Tackling these hidden barriers and their visible outcomes will require charting unconventional pathways, in particular shifting away from the dominant individualistic approaches to development to group approaches and collective action as necessary components for change.