Women's empowerment : power to act or power over other women ? Lessons from Indian microfinance
/Guérin, Isabelle
Kumar, S.
Agier, I.
ACCES AU CREDIT
CONDITION FEMININE
INDEPENDANCE
AUTONOMIE
POUVOIR
ROLE DES FEMMES
PROMOTION FEMININE
TRAVAIL DES FEMMES
SOCIETE RURALE
ENTRAIDE
RELATION DE GENRE
INTERDEPENDANCE
DOMINATION
RAPPORTS SOCIAUX
BUDGET FAMILIAL
MICROFINANCE
MICROCREDIT
SOLIDARITE
ENTREPRENEURIAT
In the microfinance industry, empowerment is often described as a means to facilitate female emancipation from male domination. This paper draws on women's testimonies to highlight the fundamental importance of women's relationships with one another in this process. Women continuously negotiate a position between their kinship groups and neighbours, in a context where dependence on men is considered natural. Micro-credit uses are shaped by, and embody, relationships between women, including power relationships. We recommend revising current understandings of female agency to take into account the complex relationship between agency and power and challenge the conventional polarity of power as domination (power over) and power as agency (power to). In many cases, even where there is solidarity between women, women having agency require or imply domination over other women.
2013
text
https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010060476
oai:ird.fr:fdi:010060476
Guérin Isabelle, Kumar S., Agier I.. Women's empowerment : power to act or power over other women ? Lessons from Indian microfinance. 2013, 41 (Suppl. 1), S76-S94
EN
INDE
TAMIL NADU