Unruly Others: Language Teachers and the Policing of Gender in International Development

Abstract

This paper considers the policing of gender as a dimension of English language teachers` experiences in international development work. I argue that international development zones have tended to reproduce the patriarchal regimes of an earlier colonial era and provide a challenging context for a (mostly) feminised language teaching profession. Just as colonial space, away from the safety of home, was primarily constructed as a domain of masculine endeavour, so too contemporary development missions, particularly in areas designated as politically unstable, produce a masculine domain that marginalises =unruly others` defined by gender and race.