Outline:

1. Introduction
2. Understanding Colonial and Capitalistic Perspectives on Gender
3. How Colonialism Shaped Gender Roles
4. Gender in Capitalist Systems
5. Intersection of Colonialism, Capitalism, and Patriarchy
6. Table: Comparison – Pre-colonial vs Colonial vs Capitalist Gender Orders
7. The Thesis: “Development as the New Name of Coloniality”
8. Gender Implications of Global Development Agendas
9. Emerging Feminist Critiques
10. Recommendations and Alternatives
11. Conclusion

1. Introduction

The relationship between gender, colonialism, and capitalism is foundational to understanding how global systems of power shape identities and perpetuate inequality. Colonial rulers imposed Eurocentric gender norms onto colonized societies, and capitalist economies commodified gender roles for profit. In this context, post-colonial feminist thinkers argue that modern “development” paradigms replicate colonial logic, especially in the way they define and control women’s roles. This essay explores the colonial and capitalist perspectives on gender and examines the thesis that development is the new name of coloniality in light of emerging gender discourses.

2. Understanding Colonial and Capitalistic Perspectives on Gender

• Colonial Perspective: Colonial powers imposed rigid, binary gender structures—typically modeled on European Christian patriarchy—on diverse, indigenous systems where gender was often more fluid or egalitarian.
• Capitalistic Perspective: Capitalism exploited women’s reproductive and productive labor while assigning them subordinate roles in wage economies, underpaying or excluding them from formal labor.

Both systems institutionalized gender inequality and globalized it through political, religious, and economic hegemony.

3. How Colonialism Shaped Gender Roles

Colonial rulers viewed colonized women as both “in need of saving” and morally inferior. Lila Abu-Lughod critiques this as the “white savior complex” in her essay “Do Muslim Women Need Saving?” Colonialism:

• Replaced local power structures (e.g., female chiefs, matrilineal lines) with male-dominated systems.
• Framed native women as oppressed and native men as patriarchal savages.
• Redefined sexuality and modesty, often criminalizing or sexualizing native women.

Example:

• In the Indian subcontinent, British colonialism restricted women’s agency by banning traditional female-led practices (some exploitative, others empowering) while simultaneously excluding them from modern legal protections.

4. Gender in Capitalist Systems

Feminist economists like Silvia Federici and Maria Mies argue that capitalism requires the unpaid labor of women (care work, domestic work) to sustain itself.

Key Impacts:

• Division of labor: Capitalism relegated women to private, unpaid spheres while men participated in paid production.
• Commodification: Women’s bodies, beauty, and emotions became commodified—via advertising, entertainment, and labor markets.
• Exploitation: Women in the Global South became cheap labor in export industries (e.g., garment sector, domestic work abroad).

📊 Table: Comparison – Gender in Pre-colonial, Colonial, and Capitalist Contexts

5. Intersection of Colonialism, Capitalism, and Patriarchy

These three systems reinforce one another:

• Colonialism imposed a patriarchy aligned with the needs of empire-building.
• Capitalism depends on the unpaid domestic labor of women to reduce wage costs.
• Patriarchy normalizes male dominance, enabling both colonial and capitalist control over women.

As a result, postcolonial societies like Pakistan inherited gender orders that are hybrid but still highly patriarchal, with capitalist globalization reinforcing gender inequality.

6. “Development as the New Name of Coloniality” – The Thesis

Coined by scholars like Arturo Escobar and Aníbal Quijano, this thesis argues that the global development agenda continues colonial power structures by:

• Imposing Western values of progress and gender roles.
• Using international aid and policies to reshape local gender norms.
• Treating the Global South as passive recipients of Western solutions.

In gender terms, women are often:

• Portrayed as passive victims needing “empowerment” from outside.
• Targeted for “micro-finance” while structural causes of poverty remain untouched.
• Expected to conform to Western models of success (individualism, market participation).

7. Gender Implications of Global Development Agendas
8. Instrumentalization of Women

• Women are framed as tools to achieve economic goals (“invest in a woman, and you invest in a nation”).
• Their empowerment is measured by income, not agency.

1. NGO-ization of Feminism

• Global funding has reshaped feminist agendas to fit donor interests, sidelining grassroots voices.

1. Erasure of Indigenous Models

• Local forms of communal support, mutual aid, or spiritual empowerment are devalued.

8. Emerging Feminist Critiques

Postcolonial and decolonial feminists resist the “development-coloniality” framework:

• Chandra Mohanty: Critiques how Western feminism universalizes the “Third World woman” as oppressed and powerless.
• Lila Abu-Lughod: Challenges rescue narratives that ignore local agency.
• African and Indigenous feminists: Call for culturally rooted development based on sovereignty and community.

9. Recommendations and Alternatives

1. Decolonize Development: Promote community-led gender models that reflect local realities.
2. Contextual Feminism: Recognize diverse feminist expressions beyond Western liberalism.
3. Structural Reforms: Move beyond microcredit; target land rights, labor laws, and education access.
4. Intersectional Lens: Address how caste, class, and race shape gender in development.
5. Reclaim Indigenous Knowledge: Include local traditions of empowerment in policy discourse.

10. Conclusion

Colonialism and capitalism have jointly constructed a global gender order where women’s labor, identities, and bodies are controlled in the name of progress. As this essay has argued, modern development is often the new face of colonial control, dressing domination in the language of empowerment. Emerging feminist theories urge us to reject one-size-fits-all approaches and to rebuild gender justice from the ground up—rooted in cultural context, intersectionality, and true autonomy.