Diane Rosemary Elson (born 20 April 1946)^[1] is a British economist, sociologist and gender and development social scientist. She is Professor Emerita of sociology at the University of Essex and a former professor of development studies at the University of Manchester.^[2]

She is noted for her work on issues of development and human rights. A theme in her more recent work is gender inequality and economic and social rights.^[3] She is the author of the books Male Bias in the Development Process,^[4] and Budgeting for Women's Rights: Monitoring Government Budgets for Compliance with CEDAW (Concepts and Tools),^[5] and of many other publications and articles.

She has also worked as a special advisor for UNIFEM and is the chair of the UK's Women's Budget Group.^[6] She was a winner of the Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought for 2016, along with Amit Bhaduri.^[7]

Biography

Elson was born on 20 April 1946 in Bedworth, Warwickshire, England, the daughter of Edwin and Vera Elson.^[1]

In 1968, she gained a degree in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) from St Hilda's College, Oxford University, and her doctorate in economics from the University of Manchester in 1994.^[1]

Elson has a son.^[1]

Career

• 1968 – 1971 Research Assistant, Institute of Commonwealth Studies and St Antony's College, Oxford^[1]
• 1971 – 1975 Teaching fellow, Department of Economics, University of York^[1]
• 1975 – 1977 Research officer, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex^[1]
• 1978 – 1979 Temporary lecturer, University of Manchester^[1]
• 1979 – 1984 Part-time consultant and occasional lecturer, University of Manchester^[1]
• 1984 – 1985 Honorary resident fellow, International Development Centre and Department of Sociology, University of Manchester^[1]
• 1985 – 1991 Lecturer, University of Manchester^[1]
• 1992 – 1995 Reader, Development Economics, University of Manchester^[1]
• 1995 – 1998 Professor of development studies, University of Manchester^[1]
• 1998 – 2000 Special advisor, United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)^[1]
• 1998 – 2000 Member, United Nations Taskforce on Millennium Development Goals^[1]
• 2000 – 2012 Professor of Sociology, University of Essex, now Emeritus^[1]
• 2008 – 2010 Strategic Res. Bd. Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)^[1]
• 2012 onwards Advisor, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)^[1]

Selected publications

Books

• Elson, Diane; Streeten, Paul (1971). Diversification and development: the case of coffee. New York London: Praeger (Pall Mall Press). ISBN 9780275281915.
• Elson, Diane, ed. (1979). Value: the representation of labour in capitalism. London: CSE Books. ISBN 9780906336076.
• Elson, Diane; Pearson, Ruth (1989). Women's employment and multinationals in Europe. Basingstoke England: Macmillan. ISBN 9780333438770.
• Elson, Diane (1995). Male bias in the development process (contemporary issues in development studies). Manchester New York New York: Manchester University Press (USA and Canada – St. Martin's Press). ISBN 9780719042300.
• Elson, Diane; Balakrishnan, Radhika (2011). Economic policy and human rights: holding governments to account. London New York: Zed Books, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781848138759.
• Elson, Diane; Jain, Devaki (2011). Harvesting feminist knowledge for public policy rebuilding progress. New Delhi Thousand Oaks, Calif. Ottawa, ON: SAGE International Development Research Centre. ISBN 9788132107415.
• Elson, Diane; Fukuda-Parr, Sakiko; Vizard, Polly (2012). Human rights and the capabilities approach: an interdisciplinary dialogue. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415681032.
• Elson, Diane, ed. (2015). Value: the representation of labour in capitalism. London, England: Verso Press. ISBN 9781784782290.

Chapters in books

• Elson, Diane (2004), "Human rights and corporate profits: the UN global compact – part of the solution or part of the problem?", in Benería, Lourdes; Bisnath, Savitri (eds.), Global tensions: challenges and opportunities in the world economy, New York: Routledge, pp. 200–214, ISBN 9780415934411
• Elson, Diane; Balakrishnan, Radhika (2011), "Introduction: economic policies and human rights obligations", in Elson, Diane; Balakrishnan, Radhika (eds.), Economic policy and human rights: holding governments to account, London New York: Zed Books, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1–27, ISBN 9781848138759
• Elson, Diane; Aydiner-Avsar, Nursel (2011), "Human rights and public expenditure in Mexico", in Elson, Diane; Balakrishnan, Radhika (eds.), Economic policy and human rights: holding governments to account, London New York: Zed Books, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 73–98, ISBN 9781848138759
• Elson, Diane; Aydiner-Avsar, Nursel (2011), "Trade policy and human rights obligations of the USA: NAFTA", in Elson, Diane; Balakrishnan, Radhika (eds.), Economic policy and human rights: holding governments to account, London New York: Zed Books, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 119–221, ISBN 9781848138759
• Elson, Diane (2015), "Women's empowerment and environmental sustainability in the context of international UN agreements", in Hawley, Jenny (ed.), Why women will save the planet, London: Zed Books, pp. 11–20, ISBN 9781783605804

Journals and booklets

• Elson, Diane; Pearson, Ruth (1980). The latest phase of the internationalisation of capital and its implications for women in the third world (discussion paper). Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
• Elson, Diane (1984). Women's work – women's lives. Third World First.
• Elson, Diane (November–December 1988). "Market socialism or socialization of the market?". New Left Review. 172 (The economy of socialism). Retrieved 1 May 2014.
• Elson, Diane (2006). Budgeting for women's rights: monitoring government budgets for compliance with CEDAW (a summary guide for policy makers, gender equality and human rights advocates). UN Women Headquarters: UNIFEM (UN Women). Pdf version
• Elson, Diane; Balakrishnan, Radhika (July 2008). "Auditing economic policy in the light of obligations on economic and social rights" (PDF). Essex Human Rights Review. 5 (1).
• Elson, Diane; Balakrishnan, Radhika; Patel, Raj (March 2010). "Rethinking macro economic strategies from a human rights perspective". Development. 53 (1): 27–36. doi:10.1057/dev.2009.83. S2CID 86077721.
• Elson, Diane (2012). Be outraged: there are alternatives. Oxfam. Pdf version
• Elson, Diane (2015). Value: the representation of labour in capitalism. London: Verso. ISBN 9781784782313.