Breaking down the question
The phrasing how do you understand invites a reflective, analytical answer that sets out a clear conceptualisation of the relationship between two ideas. At ten marks the response must be economical, but it should still show that the relationship is understood as two-way and complex rather than a simple correlation.
The two terms need brief definition. Patriarchy is a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women; it operates across household, work, culture, sexuality, violence and the state. Social development refers to the broad advancement of human well-being — in health, education, capabilities, equality and participation — beyond mere economic growth.
The core of the answer is the relationship: patriarchy acts as a constraint on social development by excluding and subordinating half the population, while social development in turn tends to erode patriarchy — though not automatically, since development can also coexist with, or even reinforce, patriarchal forms. Capturing this mutual and non-linear connection is what the examiner rewards.
For the related theme, see the note on patriarchy and the sexual division of labour.
How to approach it
Begin with crisp definitions of patriarchy and social development, invoking Sylvia Walby's structural account and Amartya Sen's capability view of development.
Then set out the relationship in two directions: first, how patriarchy obstructs social development through the sexual division of labour, restricted access to education, health and work, and the waste of women's capabilities; second, how genuine social development undermines patriarchy by expanding women's agency.
Close with the qualification that gives the answer depth — the relationship is not automatic, since growth without gender justice can leave patriarchy intact. Conclude that inclusive social development and the dismantling of patriarchy are mutually dependent.
Model answer
Patriarchy may be defined, following Sylvia Walby, as a system of interrelated social structures through which men dominate and exploit women — operating in the household, paid work, the state, culture, sexuality and male violence. Social development, in the sense given by Amartya Sen's capability approach, is the expansion of people's real freedoms and capabilities to live lives they value, encompassing health, education, equality and participation rather than income alone. The relationship between the two is close and runs in both directions.
Patriarchy functions as a fundamental constraint on social development. The sexual division of labour confines women to unpaid domestic and care work, undervaluing their contribution and limiting their entry into education and remunerated employment. Patriarchal norms produce unequal access to nutrition, healthcare and schooling — reflected in adverse sex ratios, higher female illiteracy in many settings, and what Sen termed the problem of missing women. By suppressing the capabilities of half the population, patriarchy directly lowers the level of human development a society can attain; development that excludes women is development crippled at its source.
Conversely, genuine social development erodes patriarchy. As women gain education, health, employment and legal rights, their agency expands: they participate in decision-making within the household and beyond, delay marriage, exercise reproductive choice and enter public life. Female literacy and paid work are consistently associated with lower fertility, better child health and greater bargaining power, loosening the grip of patriarchal control. In this sense, advancing women's capabilities is both an end of development and a means of dismantling male dominance.
Yet the relationship is not automatic, and this qualification is essential. Economic growth alone does not guarantee the retreat of patriarchy: societies can grow richer while gender gaps in wages, property, political representation and safety persist, and new technologies or market forces can even reinforce patriarchal outcomes, as in sex-selective practices. Patriarchy is a structural order that requires deliberate social, legal and cultural intervention to overcome, not merely rising incomes.
The relationship, then, is one of mutual dependence. Patriarchy obstructs social development by wasting and subordinating women's capabilities, while inclusive social development — expanding women's education, health, work and rights — is the surest route to dismantling patriarchy. The two cannot be fully achieved apart: a society cannot be genuinely developed while it remains patriarchal, and it cannot dismantle patriarchy without advancing the human development of women.
Examiner's perspective
At ten marks the examiner is testing conceptual clarity and the ability to see a relationship, not to recite two separate definitions. The commonest weakness is to describe patriarchy at length and mention development only in passing; the marks lie in the connection between them.
The strongest answers make the relationship explicitly bidirectional — patriarchy constraining development, development eroding patriarchy — and anchor it in recognised frameworks, especially Sen's capability approach and the notion of missing women, and Walby's structural account of patriarchy.
A brief but pointed qualification distinguishes a first-class answer: noting that growth alone does not dissolve patriarchy, and that gender justice requires deliberate structural change, demonstrates the analytical maturity examiners look for even within a tight word limit.