Between ‘Empowerment’ and ‘Liberation’

Abstract

Micro-finance and its (purported) capacity to empower women is by now a well-explored field all over the world. We now have several tools by which micro-finance programmes may be assessed. However, here we attempt to critically assess the claims of the Kerala government's poverty eradication programme, the Kudumbashree, which combines a micro-finance model with other elements through critical feminist lenses. Further, we attempt to place this programme within Kerala's own historical experience of empowering the poor. Given the fact that this major effort to popularise micro-finance in Kerala has the twin aims of poverty alleviation and women's empowerment, this seems justified. We try to place the ‘micro-finance revolution’ in Kerala within the larger historical trajectory of successive ‘regimes of empowerment’ in order to understand the different political stakes in each, and their implications for gender politics. While using some of the available tools that employ indicators of gender effectiveness to assess the impact of micro-finance in empowering women is certainly a basic exercise, the present approach allows us to draw lessons for effective gender politics through a comparison with earlier modes of empowering the deprived classes in Kerala.

Postfeminist individuating of a women collective and the strugglesome emergence of a relational collective feminist solidarity: The story of Kudumbashree, a Kerala state‐instituted women empowerment program

“…The other stream acknowledges the program as being different from traditional anti‐poverty programs because of Kudumbashree's explicit focus on participation of target groups in decisions that involve their livelihoods (e.g., Williams et al., 2012). However, they show that even within the BPL groups, those who belong to the lower economic and social strata of the society are excluded (Devika & Thampi, 2007; Williams et al., 2012). These studies have two implications: (i) economic empowerment need not, on its own, result in social and political empowerment and (ii) economic (dis)empowerment needs to be explored as embedded in other forms of (dis)empowerment.…”

“…These studies have two implications: (i) economic empowerment need not, on its own, result in social and political empowerment and (ii) economic (dis)empowerment needs to be explored as embedded in other forms of (dis)empowerment. The critics, for example, contend that the disempowering structures like patriarchy, caste, and gender limit the potential for economic empowerment (e.g., Devika, 2016; Devika & Thampi, 2007; Williams et al., 2012). We join this stream by mobilizing a critical postfeminist approach to comprehend the pluriversal experiences of women who form Kudumbashree as a collective.…”

“…Thus, if we situate these pockets of apparent political empowerment through political subjectivity in the broader scheme of state structures and increasing influence of political parties on Kudumbashree, as Devika (2016) observes, it seems that the overweening power of officials and political parties, while ensuring women's governmental mobilization, makes their collective politicization quite challenging. Further, it individualizes politicization for the gain of political parties (Devika & Thampi, 2007), potentially undermining the solidarity development (Fernandes, 2021). This is especially pertinent for Kudumbashree since the three-tier structure followed in Kudumbashree is similar to the three-tier structure used by local bodies.…”

Transnational Labour Migration and the Renegotiation of Masculinity by Left-Behind Men in Kerala

“…Drawing attention to the symbolic capital of fair skin, Thomas (2018: 84) highlights how any jobs that entailed working in the sun for long periods were ‘extremely frowned upon for “fair” Syrian Christian women’. Educated women could only engage in ‘feminine’ paid work like teaching, which involved ‘gentle feminine power’ like caring and disciplining (Devika & Thampi, 2007). Consequently, educated Nair and Syrian Christian women entered professional jobs to contribute to the family income.…”

Omission of Men from Gender-Development Theory and Praxis: A Pathway for Addressing the Plights of Women?

“…A basic thrust for advancing credit to women is the assumption that it enhances empowerment and selfconfidence among women (Bateman, 2010). This view has been elaborated by Devika and Thampi (2007) who have shown that once economically active, women are able to make independent decisions regarding many household choices. Implicit in this argument is the view that income generating activities possess some gender empowering potentials, capable of restructuring gender relations in favour of women.…”