Decolonising Methodologies: Towards Alternative Approaches to Studying Women’s Unpaid Care Work in the Global South

Abstract

This paper problematises dominant methodologies and epistemologies in research on unpaid care work in Global South contexts. Women’s unpaid work is often called a ‘burden’ in Gender and Development (GAD) discourse, particularly by actors designing policies and practical interventions who cite evidence produced by feminist economists. Drawing on post-colonial feminist critique of Western feminists universalising their experiences of oppression, this paper argues feminist economists must incorporate the complex lived realities of unpaid care work into methodologies. Recognising the diversity of women in the Global South, and their ability to theorise their own oppression and the value of their labour is essential. Care scholars are encouraged to reflexively engage with decolonial perspectives, and design methodologies which elevate women’s voices. This is imperative given the discursive power of feminist economics in shaping GAD agendas, policies, and interventions. Qualitative and interpretive approaches are proposed as one path to broaden knowledge production on unpaid care work.