| By definition, sustainable development policies and projects are to meet the needs of present and future generations without harming the environment. Surprisingly, sustainable development efforts rarely, to date, bring children, multiple generations, and future points into the center of conceptualizations and analyses. Cutting edge equity frameworks and analyses in sustainable development often focus on one generation (adults) and one temporal dimension (now). Existing frameworks of understanding and empirical research rarely move beyond adults as the unit of analysis and consideration.; The focus on equity among current adults is evident within gender equity literature despite the known matrix of gender discrimination that begins in childhood and continues often unchecked into the future. Perpetuated gender inequities, through life spans and across generations, impede the normative, social equity objectives of sustainable development. An approach to consider multiple generations and genders, as well as the changing and contradictory nature of these relations, at various points in time, would advance equity in policy and practice.; To this end, a new method of conceptualizing and operationalizing equity—within, between, and across generations, and through life events—is proposed. The various temporal and relational dimensions of the multidimensional gender equity framework allow for comparisons of various generations over their life spans (childhood, adolescence, marriage, parenthood, widowhood and so on). The framework allows speculation about the capacity of sustained equity and the long-term benefits of policies and projects to children and future generations of children.; Applying this framework analytically—through field research of a documented “success” in rural India and an analysis of the larger socio-economic, cultural, and patriarchal structures in which it is embedded—exposes the incorrect assumption of gender equitable impacts and gender-fair trickle down to children. Interviews with girls and women reveal a clear trend of inequities. Improving the natural and economic resource base, without addressing the persistent systemic roots of gender inequities, both perpetuates and increases the gender gap in resource access and control across generations. The dissertation outlines a research agenda and strategies for multidimensional gender justice within sustainable development. |
