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MPOWERMENT AS A
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RINCIPLE IN
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EVELOPMENT
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September 2017
Heidi Dumreicher, Oikodrom
– The Vienna Institute of Urban Sustainability, Austria; Heidi.dumreicher@oikodrom.orgBettina Kolb,
Institute of Sociology, University of Vienna, Austria; Bettina.kolb@univie.ac.atBettina Prokop,
Independent Researcher; Bettina.prokop@gmx.atMichael Anranter, Oikodrom
– The Vienna Institute of Urban Sustainability, Austria;
michael.anranter@oikodrom.org
The aim of this policy brief is to identify dependencies between public aid and
subjective and collective empowerment strategies in aid projects. Based on the
evidence provided in six qualitative case studies in Vietnam, Mexico and
Botswana, the authors find women empowerment, innovation-led capacity
building and support of self-organized associations and their engagement in
community mobilization and advocacy to stand up for their rights to be the
most efficient way to ensure longevity and voluntary extension of aid projects.
The research shows that concentrating on empowerment provides a unique
setting for collective learning and supports the articulation of one`s own
perspective within a broader context. New ideas and strategies for how to act
provide knowledge and strengthen the overall efforts to create a ―good life‖
for all.
Our research shows that empowerment enables the participants to define a
goal for their activities: they realize that there are not only problems in their
lives, but also spaces of possibilities for the poor.
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Since the failure of the trickle-down approach as a strategy for poverty alleviation in Southern countries, only in 1995, large parts of the development industry followed the suggestions made by women activists (i.e. at the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing), social scientists and development field workers: to empower and integrate the societies at stake. Together, this rather heterogeneous group of people started arguing that anti-poverty policies and projects only work when based upon the knowledge of people living in poverty and ensure participation in their own development endeavors.
The incorporation of the vocabulary, concepts and notions about ‗empowerment of the poor‘ into the development sector requires a critical evaluation of what various concepts of empowerment mean and how to relate them to the contexts of poverty alleviation (Hennink e.a. 2012, Kabeer 2003/ 2008, Peterson e.a. 2004, Raju 2005). The research studies the specific empowerment approaches of selected EU-funded CSOs to allow for an analysis of empowerment strategies and their impact on beneficiaries in the context of urban poverty alleviation.
Based on the research, this policy brief for upcoming strategic papers in the field of development politics recommends a definition of empowerment as an open process that enables the participants to define a goal for their activities: they realize that there are not only problems in their lives, but also personal success. Such a definition allows for having in mind the community as a whole and leaving behind the economic and social restraints of a single person. A geographical community, a community of traders, a community of informal workers share common experiences under equal legal and local conditions and give members of the collective a chance to understand and change one‘s own position.
The study developed hypotheses concerning the view of the addressees of six aid projects in three countries (Vietnam, Mexico, and Botswana). The qualitative research design is embedded in the case study approach (Yin 2008) and combined with the paradigm of grounded theory to support the generation of theses within the research process. Results show common but also context-specific realities, meanings and strategies of empowerment.
The evidences show that empowerment can be successful on individual, collective as well as on combined individual and collective levels. What turns out to be a basis for the success and endurance of all aid projects that were analyzed is to comprehend women as agents, not as victims as this is the only chance to understand and change one‘s own perspective. Indeed, aid projects with a strong empowerment character open spaces of possibilities for all the participants. They become aware of their present and future potentials; see themselves participating in local networks and self-organizations to stand up for their rights. Indeed, participants see particular potentials, e.g. improving working conditions, but also more comprehensive situations, like the question of living a decent, life in happiness in a sustainable context. To emphasize these developments basic structural conditions need to be changed: Empowerment depends on existing hegemonic relations of power and exploitation.
INTRODUCTION
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“I chose this photo because it shows my accomplishments after I struggled greatly to start my business. No one except my mother supported my dream to own a business and now I can take photos of my
accomplishments and show them to you.” (Olivia, photo interview, Gaborone 2015)
1. New perspectives
A first result deriving from the case studies refers to the necessity of differentiation individual empowerment and capacity building with a group; integrative and subjective learning. Research participants created new perspectives and supported a critical understanding of economic and societal situations. Differentiating between the subjective phases of individual and collective learning of participants, it turned out that project group members extended new acting with individual reflections and learnings. New capacities include the development of problem solving ideas, advocacy strategies and action plans on local, national and interregional level to improve the rights of small traders and vendors (BOISA, SACBTA), the moderation of group discussions, and strongly supported trust-building (LIGHT). Furthermore candidates involved in aid projects strongly contributed to the protection of the environment (Cooperativa de Mujeres Ecologistas de la Huizachera) and mobilized for equal gender relations (Stepping Sones) and prevention from abuse of power at the workplace (LIGHT).
2. Cooperative approaches for new solutions
A second result addressed the social inclusion of female workers charged with hard liabilities: physically (long distances, overnight work) and mentally (little recreational breaks, competitiveness of the sectors). Research participants further reported on conflicts with the local executive forces and organized workshops on how to proceed with common opponents. Through these workshops, beneficiaries could significantly improve working conditions with regards to safety and health. Also, they managed to progressively reduce informal conditions at the workplace. As a consequence of immediate involvement, research participants from one of the Vietnam case study imagined and implemented cooperative approaches towards work instead of working on an individual basis. The endeavor of establishing collective administrative urban cooperatives concerns the NGOs work in the urban context and is challenging for the women in terms of empowerment, capacity building and energy for new solutions.
3. Pending residential status
Thirdly – and evidenced only for Vietnam– the pending living and residence status of women that migrate into urban settings with the ambition to work and/ or perform trade. In this precarious situation, women showed awareness about their status of and quickly learn and adapt to different
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lifestyles in which the village is equally important as the economic vibrancy of the city. In fact, research participants contribute with time and money to village activities, like theatres or dancing groups. Living under poor housing conditions in the cities, female migrants back home live in large beautiful houses with modern facilities and clean, nice surroundings. In the villages, they are still part of the social net-works and family relationships bonding in social capital.
7 Key Findings about Empowerment in Aid Projects for Women
1. Empowerment projects open spaces of possibilities for the participants. The poor become aware of their present and future potentials.
2. Empowerment supports and develops decision-making capacities of addressees. Instead of following the definition and aim of an aid project, local participants took part in an open process re-interpreting capacities to decide about their activities and futures.
3. The women‘s views of their state of living is characterized by ever-growing complexity – from direct needs like garbage collection to health questions and improved working conditions, including complex decent life approaches and happiness (Mexico: ‗alegria‘).
4. Interview partners saw themselves as part of a larger environment. In research projects they join for the family, neighborhood, city and/or rural settlement, region, country.
5. Individual and collective transformative power was evidenced in all three countries. The context of daily life and labor showed a) self-empowerment processes on individual and collective levels based on mutual support and non-competitive networks, and b) collective transformative empowerment processes (mobilization, political self-organization on local, national and supranational level and policy advocacy interventions).
6. Space is a source for action and the appropriation of space is conducted individually and/ or by groups. Space as a ―common good‖ allocates meanings with regards to work, leisure, and future-oriented development
7. The women‘s individual experience in a supported empowerment process grows ever more fruitful when embedded in a long-lasting context. To perceive women as agents, not as victims was a major achievement on the collective scale.
Finally the combination of individual and collective empowerment processes leads to new knowledge about how opinion leaders in a group are selected, supported and backed-up by a group and every single person within the collective. Some of the women quickly integrated themselves into the process of research urging their collaborators to undertake further reflection rounds with researchers. Indeed, being a member of aid groups supported new experiences with individual reflection and collective learning. This creates future oriented scenarios supporting critical understanding of economic and societal situations.
For the collective level, the creation of self-governed meeting spaces in protected groups is a demand that supports the collective problem-sharing and solving process. Counselling and comforting each other and about the development of projects is a first most important tool that derives from individual empowerment. Whenever these first collective steps have been implemented, collective empowerment quickly leads to the alternative organization for better mobilization, political representation on local, national and supranational level and policy advocacy. Political representation, capacity-building, networking, access to information, and the development of risk mitigation plans on local including involvement into national and supranational policy debates are at the top of these developments.
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On an individual level instead, the business start-up proved to be the most evident first step of empowerment and the first step towards a less precarious situation due to unemployment. Mutual support and non-competitive networks in the context of work (e.g. information exchange, saving groups, emotional support) are the first associations to provide support and strengthen each of the women‘s positions individually. The step into financial and economic independence further stimulates psychosocial wants: women (re)gain self-esteem, self-confidence and capacity for action. Finally the women – all on their own – engage with identifying alternatives to further socio-economic prosperity that exceed their primary intentions. With starting-up a business most women became conscious about having the ability to make choices and even extend the limits of – previously restricted – range of options regarding education and income generation. But empowerment has also a societal dimension. Marginalized women cannot largely be held responsible for the task of creating social and gender equality. Hence there is the need that donor agencies, governments and NGOs support the demands and recommendations of their associations, improve their rights and build up an enabling environment for social change and justice in a more sustainable future.
Programs and policies adopted in the field of people-driven poverty alleviation should integrate a strong bottom-up approach and perspective that draws on the agency of the people concerned by a policy. It is therefore a necessity to involve the recommendations made by CSO‘s that come out from the decision-making process to correctly determine the needs and aspirations of people addressed. The policy recommendations for donor countries and organizations are clear: Avoid further victimization of the poor and make empowerment a demand for development projects with respect to the needs, aims and concerns of the local societies. Holistic approaches across the various policy fields (i.e. education, work, gender equality, health), effective multi sectorial partnerships, economic and political empowerment and the effective support of community engagement and mobilization processes for a more equal support of advocacy strategies are all political duties to be fulfilled by state authorities in the receiving countries.
For donors instead a wide range of recommendations and established knowledge include a) a holistic approach supporting the aspiration of a decent life for all, b) an approach that seeks for social equality and a fair distribution of goods and means on a global scale that affects the success of subsequent interventions into the daily life of recipients (incl. donor countries strengthening the rights of workers, peasants and traders and stopping the exploitation of resources in the framework of trade agreements), and c) continuity and long term planning in order to assure the development of capacities on a personal and collective level. Furthermore, the research results advise to strictly tie up empowerment processes and strategies with individual and collective capacity building for advocacy on a policy level. Further research has shown that empowerment of women and people living under precarious conditions cannot be achieved with approaches that integrate them within the existing systems by facilitating them to gain access to resources and employment without questioning and fighting the unequal power dynamics that create inequality in the first place (Batliwala 1994, Kabeer 2003/ 2008, Pradhan 2003, Raju 2005, Cornwall e.a. 2010). Hence, there is the need for the creation of an enabling environment for women‘s and poor people‘s empowerment and on struggles for social change: it provides recipients with access to resources and power, and facilitates a productive debate about power dynamics.
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In the case studies, researchers initiated a participatory process with researchers and interviewees joining in common interpretation taking advantage of subjective perspectives to examine the individual life context as well as future scenarios. As the photo interview includes images combined with interviews, it incorporates the spatial aspects of life and supports the study of social situations in urban or rural contexts. The research method is itself an empowerment tool and supports individual reflection and activation, developing a consistent view of the beneficiaries of aid projects in a participatory process, respecting the position and views of the global and local conditions. The aim of research was to study the specific empowerment approaches of EU-funded CSOs in Vietnam, Mexico and Botswana to enrich research on the impacts of empowerment strategies on beneficiaries in the context of urban poverty alleviation. The research design was based on qualitative methods, like the photo-interview as a participatory visual method (Kolb 2008), studying the empowerment process of participants and beneficiaries. In addition the study conducted expert interviews, which provide deeper insights of CSO's and aid organisation's perspective. Beside the material which is produced in the empirical research process, research includes existing local written material and participatory observations of researchers. The study developed hypotheses concerning the view of the addressees of the aid project and compared these empirical data with the results from the cases in the two other countries. Results show common but also context-specific realities, meanings and strategies of empowerment.
Participants took part in photo interviews where they took photos of their daily lives and personal surroundings. Following this was a verbal interview in which participants provided narratives about the sites they photographed. With this method, individuals were empowered on an individual level by illustrating their personal lives and exploring the impact of the aid project on collective action. The resulting material was interpreted by an interdisciplinary group of sociologists, anthropologists, philologists and a future scenario expert. In selected countries, we had research experts sharing our interpretation loops, thereby combining the ―view from outside‖ (the Europeans) and the ―view from inside‖.
The applied methods of participatory research raised new topics and new dimensions of poverty such as empowerment, self-organisation, future concepts and strategies that go beyond the usual research on poverty alleviation. All case studies were completed within 2013 and 2015 together with “We are the Women” organized by Ánh Sáng - LIGHT, Institute for Development and Community Health” (Vietnam); “Cooperativa de Mujeres Ecologistas de la Huizachera”, “Fundación Comunitaria Del Bají” and ―Red de Mujeres del Bajío" organized by IMDEC (Mexico); “Botswana Informal Sector Association” (BOISA), ―Southern Africa Cross Border Traders’ Association” (SACBTA) and “Stepping Stones International”.
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Batliwala, Srilatha. 1994. ―The Meaning of Womenʹs Empowerment: New Concepts from Action.‖ In G. Sen, A. Germain and L. C. Chen (eds.). Population Policies Reconsidered: Health, Empowerment and Rights. Boston: Harvard University Press, 127‐38.
Cornwall, Andrea and Edwards, Jenny. 2010. ―Introduction: Negotiating Empowerment.‖ In IDS Bulletin, 41(2), 1–9.
Dlamini, Khanyisile D. 2013. Final Report. Organisational Arrangement for Women in Informal Cross Border Trade in Swaziland. Access on 14-04-2015.
Hennink, Monique / Kiiti, Ndunge / Pillinger, Mara and Jayakaran, Ravi. 2012. ―Defining empowerment: perspectives from international development organizations.‖ In Development in Practice, Volume 22 (2), 202-215.
Kabeer, Naila (2003): Gender Mainstreaming in Poverty Eradication and the Millennium Development Goals. A handbook for policy-makers and other stakeholders, London.
Kabeer, Naila (2008): Paid Work, Women‘s Empowerment and Gender Justice: Critical Pathways of Social Change, Working Paper 3, Pathways of Women's Empowerment, IDS, Sussex, Online unter: http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/PDF/Outputs/WomenEmp/PathwaysWP3-website.pdf Kolb, B. (2008). Involving, Sharing, Analysing—Potential of the Participatory Photo Interview.
Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 9(3). Retrieved
September 15, 2017, from
http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1155.
Peterson, N.A. / Zimmerman, M.A. (2004): Beyond the Individual: Towards a Nomological Network of Organizational Empowerment. In American Journal of Community Psychology, Vol. 34, Nos. 1/2, 129-145.
Pradhan, Bina. 2003. ―Measuring empowerment: A methodological approach.‖ In Development 46, 51-57.
Raju, Saraswati. 2005. ―Limited Options – Rethinking Women‘s Empowerment ‗Projects‘ in Development Discourses: A Case for Rural India.‖ In Gender Technology and
Development 9, 253-271. Access on September 7, 2017.
http://gtd.sagepub.com/content/9/2/253
Yin, Robert K. 2008. Case study research: Design and methods (Applied social research methods) - Fourth Edition. London: Sage Publications, Inc.
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PROJECT NAME NOPOOR – Enhancing Knowledge for Renewed Policies against Poverty
COORDINATOR Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Paris, France
CONSORTIUM CDD The Ghana Center for Democratic Development – Accra, Ghana
CDE Centre for Development Economics – Delhi, India
CNRS (India Unit) Centre de Sciences Humaines – New Delhi, India
CRES Consortium pour la Recherche Èconomique et Sociale – Dakar, Senegal GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies – Hamburg, Germany GRADE Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo – Lima, Peru
IfW Kiel Institute for the World Economy – Kiel, Germany IRD Institut de Recherche pour le Développement – Paris, France
ITESM Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey – Monterrey, Mexico LISER Luxemburg Institute of Socio-Economic Research – Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxemburg OIKODROM - The Vienna Institute for Urban Sustainability – Vienna, Austria
UA-CEE Université d‘Antananarivo – Antananarivo, Madagascar UAM Universidad Autónoma de Madrid – Madrid, Spain UCHILE Universidad de Chile – Santiago de Chile, Chile
UCT–SALDRU University of Cape Town – Cape Town, South Africa UFRJ Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil UNAMUR Université de Namur – Namur, Belgium
UOXF-CSAE University of Oxford, Centre for the Study of African Economies – Oxford, United Kingdom
VASS Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences – Hanoi, Vietnam
FUNDING SCHEME FP7 Framework Programme for Research of the European Union –SSH.2011.4.1-1:
Tackling poverty in a development context, Collaborative project/Specific International Cooperation Action. Grant Agreement No. 290752
DURATION April 2012 – September 2017 (66 months)
BUDGET EU contribution: 8 000 000 €
WEBSITE http://www.nopoor.eu/
FOR MORE
INFORMATION Xavier Oudin, Scientific coordinator, IRD-DIAL, Paris, France, Delia Visan, Manager, IRD-DIAL, Paris, France delia.visan@ird.fr oudin@dial.prd.fr
Tel: +33 1 53 24 14 66 Contact email address: info@nopoor.eu
EDITORIAL TEAM
Edgar Aragon, Laura Valadez (ITESM) Heidi Dumreicher (OIKODROM) Xavier Oudin (IRD-DIAL)
The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the European Commission.
