In 1987 the Program on International Development and Women (PICW) was founded to institutionalize a set of interests and activities that had been part of Cornell since the mid-1970's. This early period focused on increasing our understanding of women's activities worldwide. In recognition of changing intellectual commitments and the growing complexity of theoretical and methodological formulations, the program was renamed Gender and Global Change (GGC) in 1993.
From its beginning, the program has been committed to international perspectives that emphasize analyses of rural and industrial contexts as well as their dynamic interactions across and within countries. The program focuses attention on southern or 'developing' countries but has an explicit concern with processes of change in northern or 'developed' countries as well. A commitment to spatial and temporal change grounds the program in a comparative and historical perspective.
In addition to on-going workshops, seminars, and funding of graduate student research, the Program on Gender and Global Change has sponsored major conferences at Cornell on important topics. Recent conferences include:
- "Rethinking Labor Market Informalization: Precarious Jobs, Poverty and Social Protection," October 18-19, 2002. Participants came from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. A book of papers from the conference, edited by Professors Lourdes Beneria and Neema Kudva, is set for publication by Cornell e-publications in 2005.
- "Gender, Race, and Incarceration," April, 2003. The two-day workshop, organized by Professors Barry Maxwell and Mary Katzenstein, drew participants from academic as well as activist organizations, such as the Los Angeles-based organization, Stop Prisoner Rape.
