Gender, development, and sex work in Lesotho

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the intersections of gender, development and globalization through an investigation of the ways in which a large-scale, internationally financed multi-dam development project, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), impacts gender relations through its physical presence in the highlands of Lesotho, Southern Africa.Design methodology approach - Field research including interviews with men and women impacted by the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) in Lesotho in 1997 and 2000-2001.Findings - The paper finds that, by positioning themselves as sex workers for foreign development workers, non-elite women are able to access development monies indirectly. The devaluation of women's labor on farms and in the household excludes them as legitimate receivers of "development", reproducing male ownership and patriarchal authority, and ultimately pushing some women into work that is precarious, low wage, risky, and often demeaning.Research limitations implications - This research highlights the complicated and contradictory gendered gains and losses in the development context and how they mirror larger globalization processes and their effects on gender inequality. Further research with sex workers is needed.Originality value - Feminist inquiries into globalization, particularly those focused on militarization and economic restructuring, have revealed the gendered effects of globalizing processes as they take place in particular locales (military bases, industries, corporations, factories). The ways in which the presence of sites of development creates particular gendered dynamics have been understudied. Incorporating analysis of the presence of large-scale development projects in local areas offers opportunities to link the investigation of development in a larger context of globalization, and reveals a more nuanced reading of the gendered politics of development.