ENGENDERING ORGANIZATIONAL-CHANGE - THE BRAC CASE

This article analyses the first phase of an ongoing structural interve ntion which works at the nexus of gender relations, organizational cha nge, and quality improvement, with a large rural development NGO in So uth Asia. Identifying this new issue, and acquiring and deploying know ledge around it within the organization has involved definition and co ntinuous reiteration of basic premises concerning gender, individual l earning and systems development; an organization-wide knowledge buildi ng exercise facilitated by a series of structured diagnostic processes ; negotiating premises and visions, transferring ownership, and contri buting to BRAC's ongoing organizational exercises in strategic visioni ng and planning. The article reflects on these processes and discusses some critical dilemmas: expanding parameters versus boundary maintena nce, the prerequisites for innovation versus institutional bargaining, and change options versus change realities, that is, distinguishing b etween what is theoretically desirable and what is programmatically po ssible at what costs and with what effect in a socio-political environ ment wherein demand for changing gender relations is weak, fundamental ist forces are increasingly dominant, and where existing structural re alities ensure that the process of women's empowerment is both non-add itive and non-linear.