Abstract

Girls’ empowerment programmes have been celebrated as the ‘Smarter Economics’ of pulling girls and families out of poverty; and critiqued as neoliberal strategies for ‘delivering gendered equality through responsibilised selves. These oppositional accounts, conceptualised within institutions of the Global North, present girls as ‘victims’ in different ways, adopting narrow, liberal conceptions of agency and empowerment. Analysing a girls’ empowerment programme from south India, we argue that agency is a relational quality embedded within social relationships. Based on this understanding, we present the ethical need and possibilities for going beyond frameworks that individualise empowerment and position it as ‘rescue’ and ‘responsibilisation.’

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.