Ester Boserup: Women and Development on the Margins

This chapter presents a portrait of Danish economist Ester Boserup, whose work came to trigger a fundamental shift in international economic law and development. Positing the then radical idea that women made a significant economic contribution to both their households and the macro-economy, and were thus fundamental to national development, Boserup’s pioneering book Woman’s Role in Economic Development heralded the start of a reassessment of international economic legal frameworks and activities, including helping to inspire the UN Decade for Women (1976–1985), ultimately providing the foundation for the Women in Development (WID) framework, and four world conferences on women from 1975 to 1995. This portrait is thus a picture of an outsider, both in her chosen field—economics—and in international law—whose refusal to be bound by disciplinary dogma and professional restraints, came to have a profound impact on women’s lives.