Problematizing empowerment in global health: Disrupting universalisms and challenging power inequities

Abstract

This commentary is a call for problematizing the concept of “empowerment” as it is often used in global health. The authors urge that scholars and policymakers use the concept as it is defined in specific contexts, particularly within communities in low to middle‐income countries. The authors also interrogate universalized assumptions about the use of “empowerment” as a political concept, as well as the use of social categories such as “women”. Finally, the authors challenge and complicate the notion that empowerment is a concept which can be delivered from donors in high‐income countries to so‐called disempowered recipients in low‐income contexts.