Diane Elson is Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex (UK). For almost 40 years, she has carried out research on gender and development, and is regarded as one of the 50 key thinkers on development – David Simon, ed., Fifty Key Thinkers on Development (Routledge, 2005). Her current research and teaching interests focus on global social change and the realization of human rights, with a particular focus on gender inequality and economic and social rights. Elson has served as a member of the U.N. Millennium Project Taskforce on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, and as vice-president of the International Association for Feminist Economics. From 1998 to 2000, she occupied the post of Special Advisor to the Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women.