Feminist Economics

Module description

Feminist economics is a burgeoning field of economics that focuses on a critical, gender aware and inclusive approach to economic inquiry. This module helps students to gain proficiency in feminist economics and develop a critical understanding of its central concepts, ideas and debates. It covers the theory, empirics and epistemology of feminist economics. It provides tools to analyse the economy using an intersectional gendered lens and identify factors that contribute to the persistence of inequalities. The module aims to encourage a critical dialogue about how feminist economics can contribute to building more equitable economies and societies and transforming economics. Throughout the term, we engage with various historical and contemporary feminist debates such as those on the gender division of labour, the care economy, the feminization of poverty, and gender sensitive climate justice. The module begins with an introduction to feminist epistemology and the role of power relations in knowledge production, which provides the foundation for feminist analysis. We then cover feminist critiques of standard economic theory and explore alternative feminist frameworks on topics such as discrimination, social reproduction and development. Building on the knowledge gained thus far, the module then turns to empirical and policy questions. We explore empirical phenomena such as the gender wage gap, occupational segregation, poverty, informality and sustainability in this part of the module to understand how economies are gendered. We place these phenomena in context by enquiring how they are related to development policy, globalization and climate change using studies from different countries. We end the term by reflecting on the contours of the discipline while posing the question: what is feminist about feminist economics?

Assessment details

Mid-term Essay 1,000 words (30%); Final Essay 2,000 words (70%)

Please note, this assessment information is subject to change for 2025/26

Teaching pattern

2 hour workshop over 10 weeks or 1 hour lecture plus 1 hour seminar over 10 weeks

Module description disclaimer

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Please note that modules with a practical component will be capped due to educational requirements, which may mean that we cannot guarantee a place to all students who elect to study this module.

Please note that the module descriptions above are related to the current academic year and are subject to change.