The term 'empowerment' is much used by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other agencies involved in development. It signifies a wide variety of agendas for countering gender bias and other inequalities in development. Research published in a new Oxfam book explores different connotations of the term and questions its use in certain contexts. It argues for a view of empowerment of women, not as a product to be acquired at a stroke but as a dynamic process of change, progressively raising levels of respect for women in society at large and building a growing sense of self-confidence and worth among women themselves.

The concept of empowerment took conspicuous hold among development practitioners in the 1980s and early 1990s, as attention to grassroots activity and 'bottom-up' development approaches assumed growing importance. It overlapped with concerns among sociologists and others over the role of women in development. How have these trends unfolded and how do they relate to one another? A health promoters' training programme and a grassroots educational programme for women, both in Honduras, provided a basis for assessing how ideas of empowerment match up to practice in real development projects. In both cases, research took the form of personal interviews with women. Different aspects of empowerment were defined, from power over and within personal relationships to power over and within social interactions. Three types of change affect these, namely:

• 'contextual' or 'material' change that modifies the environment or setting
• 'structural' change that transforms the nature of organisations and their activities
• 'inner' psychological or psychosocial processes that affect individual morale.

The study revealed that different combinations of circumstances and personalities create different profiles of empowerment. Nonetheless, there are common yardsticks that indicate progress towards empowerment:

• an increasing sense of self-confidence and self-esteem among women
• a growing sense of agency and of the 'self' within a wider context
• a sense of being worthy of and having a right to respect from others.

The study found that dynamic empowerment thinking can help development agencies cater better to women's needs. The needs of men and the hurdles they can raise also need to be tackled. Regardless of the actual 'content' of development activities, empowerment calls for approaches that demonstrate utmost respect for women and seek to build women's self-esteem and self-confidence. Open-ended programmes and management structures that allow for women to devise and take on leadership roles can help to boost empowerment. The role of outsiders as change agents can be pivotal but they must adopt appropriate attitudes of respect, humility and willingness to learn. Supporting agencies need to devise 'performance indicators' to track progressive change in power relations, along with pro-empowerment attributes such as:

• an open-ended approach (although this can often be hard where project funding is of short duration)
• determination to couple empowerment with other development approaches and on-the-ground changes
• willingness to examine internal organisational cultures and power relations, to root out gender bias.

Source(s):
Questioning Empowerment. Working with Women in Honduras. Oxfam, UK. By J. Rowlands (1997)

Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), UK (1991-1995)

id21 Research Highlight: 1998-June-05

Further Information:
Jo Rowlands
Voluntary Service Overseas
317 Putney Bridge Road
London
SW15 2PN
UK

Tel: (0181) 780 7279
Fax: (0181) 780 7300
Contact the contributor: jrowlands@vso.org.uk

Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), UK

Oxfam GB