Empowerment, Citizenship and Gender Justice: A Contribution to Locally Grounded Theories of Change in Women's Lives

Abstract

Struggles for gender justice by women's movements have sought to give legal recognition to gender equality at both national and international levels. However, such society-wide goals may have little resonance in the lives of individual men and women in contexts where a culture of individual rights is weak or missing and the stress is on the moral economy of kinship and community. While empowerment captures the myriad ways in which intended and unintended changes can enhance the ability of individual women to exercise greater control over their own lives, it does not necessarily lead to their engagement in collective struggles for gender justice. This paper argues that ideas about citizenship, as both legal status and potential for action, can help bridge this gulf between institutional and individual change. It draws on empirical research from Afghanistan and Bangladesh to explore the extent to which efforts to empower women by development organisations have also encompassed discourses of citizenship which allow them to articulate, and act on, their vision for a just society.

Keywords:

• Gender Justice
• Empowerment
• Citizenship
• South Asia
• Development Organisations

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Professors Hilary Standing and Christine Koggel for comments on earlier drafts of this paper. The research drawn on in this paper was funded by the Department for International Development, UK.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Naila Kabeer

Naila Kabeer is Professor of Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She has been involved in research, teaching and advisory work in the field of gender and development, with a special focus on poverty, livelihoods, labour markets, social exclusion and citizenship