Microfinance and the politics of empowerment: A critical cultural perspective

article

2014

Journal of Asian & African Studies

49

4

413

425

This article challenges the widely accepted assumption that the provision of microfinance to poor women through organizing them in groups empowers them. The current popular thinking in development studies considers microfinance as the best remedy not only for poverty, but also for social disintegration and women’s subordination. This article argues that such analysis ignores the cultural roots of inequality, subordination and destitution. Drawing on Bourdieu’s sociological frameworks, the article constructs a critical cultural model and elucidates the complexity of gender relations in microfinance process. The article explores gendered cultural norms and expectations that control and influence microfinance practices and contributes towards a more adequate and critical theoretical understanding of its empowerment potential. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0021909613487679

10.1177/0021909613487679

0021-9096

final article published

Microfinance
subordination
discrimination
capital
culture
empowerment

Sage Publications, Ltd.

Peer reviewed

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©2014. Journal of Asian & African Studies. Sage Publications, Ltd.