Women, girls and world poverty: empowerment, equality or essentialism?

Chant, Sylvia

doi:10.3828/idpr.2016.1

Cited by 153 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Women are pushed into entrepreneurship, but juggle household chores, childcare and production. Moreover, rather than being empowered (Chant, 2016); typically lacking resources and knowledge, they struggle to make a livelihood.…”

Section: Poor Women Entrepreneurs In Rural Nigeriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiencing microfinance

Ukanwa

Xiong

Anderson

2017

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of why the poorest, most disadvantaged groups such as rural African women, benefit less from microfinance. The authors focus on the perception and experiences of ordinary rural entrepreneurial women on microfinance in a context of extreme poverty and where family responsibility and economic activities are closely intertwined. Design/methodology/approach The authors purposefully sampled 15 poor females with small businesses in two Nigerian villages. The key characteristic guiding the sampling was that the respondents had to be poor. The authors held two focus groups and ten interviews to capture their experience and understanding of microfinance. The authors used thematic analysis to establish patterns in the data. Findings For poor entrepreneurial women, a livelihood for survival, putting food on the table and paying school fees are priorities, not business growth. They see microcredit as debt and a great risk that could lead to irreversible losses. Family responsibilities for basic consumption needs of the household can affect their ability to repay loans; perceived dangers of microcredit may outweigh potential benefits. Research limitations/implications The theories, especially functionalist economic theory, do not take account of microfinance users’ experiences. Practical implications Microfinance should be aware that the poorest perceive microcredit differently and should eliminate the intimidating barriers raised to them. Instead of providing a means for the poor to alleviate poverty or coping strategies for them to manage cash flows and risks, microfinance causes fear and anxiety by demanding high rate of return in a very short period of time. Social implications The very poorest, who should be the beneficiaries of microfinance, are less likely to be able to benefit. The condition of poverty creates different realities for those at the base of the pyramid. Originality/value This research questions the neoliberal rationality assumptions that microfinance rest on; the paper fills a gap in the literature, i.e. how the potential borrowers themselves living in deep-rooted poverty perceive and experience microfinance.

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Section: Poor Women Entrepreneurs In Rural Nigeriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiencing microfinance

Ukanwa

Xiong

Anderson

2017

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“…It highlights the importance of financial security, self‐confidence and control over decision‐making. But whether microfinance genuinely changes power relations and structural inequalities is being questioned (see Chant, for a critical review). While microfinance can assist women to economically survive or to accumulate surplus, it may be ineffective unless accompanied with specific interventions that work with both women and men to address structural barriers, including restrictive gender norms and challenging the underlying reasons why the gender inequality exists (Chant, ; Cornwall, ).…”

Section: Naming Domains Creating Indicators and Developing Measuremementioning

confidence: 99%

“…But whether microfinance genuinely changes power relations and structural inequalities is being questioned (see Chant, for a critical review). While microfinance can assist women to economically survive or to accumulate surplus, it may be ineffective unless accompanied with specific interventions that work with both women and men to address structural barriers, including restrictive gender norms and challenging the underlying reasons why the gender inequality exists (Chant, ; Cornwall, ). Our research also identified that while women may seek ways to individually empower themselves (such as through earning and controlling an independent income), this is not enough to achieve the broader goal of gender equity.…”

Section: Naming Domains Creating Indicators and Developing Measuremementioning

confidence: 99%

Creating community‐based indicators of gender equity: A methodology

Carnegie

McKinnon

Gibson

2019

Asia Pacific Viewpoint

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It appears that an almost unquestioned development pathway for achieving gender equity and women's empowerment has taken centre stage in mainstream development. This pathway focuses on economic outcomes that are assumed to be achieved by increasing women's access to material things, including cash income, loans, physical assets, and to markets. Gender equity indicators, which measure progress towards these outcomes, cannot escape reinforcing them. We argue that far from being neutral, indicators are embedded in political and ideological agendas that serve as guides to the appropriate conduct of those whose performance or behaviour is being measured. Drawing on participatory feminist, diverse economies and strengths based approaches, we outline a research methodology for developing community-based indicators that recognises women's and men's participation and relationships in all spheres of life, including the 'non-economic'. If indicators are grounded in local meanings and realities, we propose that community members can use them to identify aspirational goals for gender equity, and measure progress towards these goals.

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“…For instance, in some contexts, programmes promoting economic empowerment of women have unintentionally increased women's work burden relative to men, and even led to increased incidences of marginalization and domestic violence (Bradshaw, ; Federici, ; Hidrobo & Fernald, ; Molyneux, ; Roy et al ., ). Similarly, Chant () provides a feminist critique of many such approaches for increasing the work load of women and girls rather than addressing the underlying gendered inequalities. To better design programmes that address inequalities in gendered power relations, emphasis should be placed on local understandings of power relations.…”

Section: Review Of the Theoretical And Empirical Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Gendered perceptions of power and decision‐making in rural Kenya

Aberman

Behrman

Birner

2018

Development Policy Review

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Development policies and programmes rest on assumptions about what constitutes power and how to change power dynamics. However, they rarely consider local understandings of power. In this article we ask how these common assumptions correspond with socially and culturally specific ideas about what power is, who can hold power, and how power can be transferred, in rural communities in Kenya's lake region. We find that men and women are constantly negotiating for power in the household, within the bounds of their gendered limitations. And the predominant zero‐sum conception of power may undermine common development approaches to empowerment. However, the results also highlight some exceptions to this conceptualization, as well as the value of taking a whole‐family approach to empowerment.

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Women, girls and world poverty: empowerment, equality or essentialism?

Cited by 153 publications

References 41 publications

Experiencing microfinance

Experiencing microfinance

Creating community‐based indicators of gender equity: A methodology

Gendered perceptions of power and decision‐making in rural Kenya

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