Authored by Gita Sen and Caren Grown for the Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) network, this Portuguese edition examines the impact of global economic processes on women in the Global South. Developing a Third World feminist perspective, the book argues that integrating women into existing development models is insufficient, as these frameworks often reproduce inequalities and fail to address the structural conditions shaping women’s lives. Instead, it calls for the restructuring of macroeconomic and political processes around the priorities of equity, basic needs, and sustainable resource management.

Linking gender subordination to class, race, and national oppression, the text critiques dominant development approaches and rejects universalising frameworks that overlook women’s diverse lived experiences. A central focus is the critique of integrationist development strategies and economic policies that shift the costs of crisis onto women. The volume also examines the interconnected effects of debt, food insecurity, environmental degradation, and militarisation, while highlighting grassroots women’s organising as a key response to these challenges. Through this analysis, the book outlines an alternative action programme for more equitable and self-reliant development.