The universalist and therefore reductionist approach in development thinking and practice ignored the historical and cultural diversity of the various local environments targetted as its `beneficiaries'. The many failures of large scale development programmes, however, have slowly awakened a certain awareness of the need for a more culture-sensitive approach to problem resolution.

The United Nations Decade for Cultural Development (1988-1997) which (significantly) followed the UN Decade for Women and Development and coïncided with the UN Conference in Rio de Janeiro on Environment and Development, bears witness to the inevitable recognition that `development' remains a myth as long as it is not tailored to fit Our Creative Diversity, the title given by the World Commission on Culture and Development, chaired by Pérez de Cuellar, to its final report.

Many development projects for women were initiated from outside by governmental or non-governmental agencies with a view to improving women's socio-economic situation. Experiences with these projects have made it more and more evident that women in different parts of the world, belonging to different cultural contexts, social classes and religions, may perceive their womanhood and their life (partly) differently, may act on that perception (partly) differently, and may even resist `integration' into a development model which does not respond to their own perception of their own aspirations. Key issues in such resistance are so-called `development' programmes which violate natural resources, as demonstrated by the Chipko movement in India, where women came out of the forests to embrace the trees which were to be destroyed by development bulldozers.

The trend towards further differentiation can be seen as characteristic of a new phase. Initially, the `women's issue' (like the `development issue') tended to be stated in universal terms: it was thought to be the only way to make the point sufficiently powerfully. Now that the general analysis has to be applied to specific micro-levels, it is the diversity of situations which becomes more apparent, and — perhaps even more importantly — the differences in perceptions and appreciations of these situations. It is an attempt to explore this latter phenomenon and its implications that has led to the production of this book. This exploration has been conducted in a spirit of trying to understand rather than to explain. (…)