Gender equality, law, and social norms in development

Development institutions are increasingly interested in the role of social norms. This article asks what that interest means for law’s role in gender equality. Using seven leading examples of social norms measures, I identify i. a tendency to use state law as a proxy for social norm change, despite conceptual confusion about why or how law should function in this way ii. a failure to adequately measure or analyse the role of contentious politics and collective action in fostering law reform and social norm change; and iii. a largely uncritical celebration of the private sector’s progressive role in shifting social norms and laws, even in the face of compelling counter-evidence. I then explore how social norms, governance standards, and laws were framed in a recent investigation into the World Bank International Finance Corporation’s role in child sexual abuse. I argue that social norms have become such a dominant concept in gender and development that they risk crowding out discussion of the governance standards and laws by which development actors can be held accountable. To avoid this, we need to hold on to the key role that law can play in allocating accountability for gendered injustice.