Nature Of Empowerment Research Articles

Empowered, thy name is woman: lite feminism and Hindi SVOD platforms in India

ABSTRACT This essay problematises representations of Indian women on the SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) platforms. The oft-invoked image of Indian woman as the repository of traditional values and feminine virtues has undergone a phenomenal transformation in recent years owing to several factors such as economic liberalisation, globalisation and technological revolution. Female characters in most of the SVOD contents are often depicted as independent, agentic and empowered. Nevertheless, the nature of empowerment that these contents uphold is highly controversial from a feminist standpoint. Employing critique of postfeminism as an analytical tool, this paper argues that the representation of Indian women on SVOD platforms as empowered subjects is an outcome of a negotiation between postfeminism, patriarchy and neoliberal culture of consumption.

Open dialogue and co-production: promoting a dialogical practice culture in the co-production of teaching and learning within nurse education

PurposeThe evidence base associated with Open dialogue (OD) continues to develop. However, much of the literature associated with this “whole system philosophy” is focussed within therapeutic clinical practice. The purpose of this paper is to explore another key aspect of OD within a higher education context, the creation of “dialogical practice culture” and the application of key OD principles to enable an open, empowering ethos which permeates all aspects of teaching and learning and supports co-production.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a collective auto ethnographic approach to reflect on their experiences of developing and delivering a series of co-produced seminars within pre-registration mental health nurse education over a period of 4 years. This paper explores the data produced through this process focussing on the pedagogical impact and challenges of applying OD principles to teaching and learning practice.FindingsThe paper highlights the way in which two core principles of OD, resonate with the co-production process within teaching design and delivery. Moreover, the paper illustrates the impact that threading these principles throughout teaching practice can have: enhancing the learning environment and facilitating mutual empowerment, and thus supporting the students’ development of empowering therapeutic practice with service users. A significant theme in these reflections has been the nature of empowerment and the necessity to openly address power differentials and relationships.Originality/valueThis innovative paper is the first to explore the application of OD principles within a nurse education context; considering how they support co-production and enable an empowering culture. This exploration helps to provide a foundation for further inquiry and research.

Partners or Rivals? Exploring the Relationship between Men’s and Women’s Empowerment in Bangladesh

The aim of this study is to investigate the statistical relationship between husbands’ empowerment and wives’ empowerment. Using panel data from Bangladesh that include over 4,000 husband-wife pairs, we regress husband’s empowerment on wife’s empowerment and a set of covariates. We use a domain-based framework, similar to the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index, to capture the multidimensional nature of empowerment. The findings reveal that the interplay between spouses’ empowerment varies across domains. Husbands and wives act as partners with regard to community influence and daily workload adequacy. Yet, they act as rivals with regard to input in productive decisions and ownership of assets. Additionally, we identify variables that are consistently associated with husbands’ and wives’ empowerment. For wives, their income and employment are positive correlates of empowerment. For husbands, their wives’ employment is a negative correlate, whereas household wealth is a positive correlate. Notably, the results also suggest that the gender asset gap rises with household wealth.

Empowerment through Decentralization: Conceptions, Contrivances and Connections

The coupling of empowerment with decentralization is a relatively new preoccupation, as the rethinking and understanding of empowerment and decentralization have transformed into new connotations and dimensions within the global development community in globalized age. The meaning and nature of empowerment and decentralization mostly depend on the context in which it is being used. There is a growing conception that delivering efficient and effective goods and services is not possible without transforming authority and resources from central government to the local level. Decentralization is the means of providing effective and efficient services to the people at grass roots level as well as the mechanism of empowerment. Moreover, the notion of empowerment is to focus on the elimination of socio-economic and political barriers through the transformation and distribution of power between the government, institutions and community. However, the efficiency and quality of decentralization in terms of empowerment largely depend on, decentralized policy of the central government, institutional and managerial capacities of local agencies and local political power structure. The degree of empowerment differs from situation to situation, depending on the availability of information, implementation of decisions, mechanisms of peoples ’participation and accountability. This paper is a comprehensive study of the empowerment and decentralization considering the conceptual framework and practical implications. In this regard, this paper reviews the conceptions and dimensions of empowerment and decentralization as well as explains the rationale for adopting a decentralization policy in developing countries. This paper also illustrates the mechanisms that are important to empower people and the mechanisms in which form decentralization initiatives are undertaken in developing countries. Finally, this paper measures the impacts of empowerment and decentralization and demonstrates their interrelationships.

Durability and Diffusion of Women's Empowerment: A Panel Data Analysis from India

Does women’s empowerment sustain over time? Does empowerment diffuse from empowered women to other women in the household and within the close social network? This study empirically tests the durability and diffusion of women’s empowerment using representative and rich individual-level panel data from India for the years 2004−2005 and 2011−2012. A domain-based framework is used to capture the multidimensional nature of empowerment. We find that durability varies across empowerment domains. Individual capabilities, asset endowment, and the opportunity structure within which women operate are significantly associated with durability of empowerment. Additionally, a significant diffusion effect of empowerment from empowered women to the other women in the household is observed across all domains. The diffusion effect is significant even when the respondents do not reside in the same household as their empowered female kin. Our findings suggest that investing in women’s empowerment thus has the potential to generate a ripple effect that can continue and strengthen over time.

Empowerment Theory: Clarifying the Nature of Higher‐Order Multidimensional Constructs

Development of empowerment theory has focused on defining the construct at different levels of analysis, presenting new frameworks or dimensions, and explaining relationships between empowerment-related processes and outcomes. Less studied, and less conceptually developed, is the nature of empowerment as a higher-order multidimensional construct. One critical issue is whether empowerment is conceptualized as a superordinate construct (i.e., empowerment is manifested by its dimensions), an aggregate construct (i.e., empowerment is formed by its dimensions), or rather as a set of distinct constructs. To date, researchers have presented superordinate models without careful consideration of the relationships between dimensions and the higher-order construct of empowerment. Empirical studies can yield very different results, however, depending on the conceptualization of a construct. This paper represents the first attempt to address this issue systematically in empowerment theory. It is argued that superordinate models of empowerment are misspecified and research that tests alternative models at different levels of analysis is needed to advance theory, research, and practice in this area. Recommendations for future work are discussed.

The nature of empowerment in a consumer education program initiated by a supermarket chain

This article aims to contribute to an understanding of the phenomenon of the commercialization of education, through an analysis of the messages of a consumer education curriculum which was initiated by the Ribua Ha-kahol chain of supermarkets for junior high schools in Israel. The fieldwork included an ethnographic study and revealed two prominent images of the consumer in the program’s contents and activities: “the wise consumer” and “the enterprising self.” The article reflects upon the nature of empowerment that is presented through the utilitarian–individualistic figure of the consumer and probes the way the consumer choice ideology masks power relations. Conversely, the article presents an alternative, feminist approach that places emphases on the “relational self” and rejects the assumption that people act first and foremost as selfish and efficient agents. Finally, the article calls for a relational approach that will inspire an “encumbered empowerment” to consumer education and will urge pupils to infuse their self-reflecting thoughts, based on their own consumer experiences.

The Empowerment of Persons with Special Needs for Independent Living in a Developing Nation

Over the years, exceptional persons have contributed immensely to national development. Their inputs have been felt or noticed in the areas of education, health, commerce, community service, music, industry, sports and social development, law and diplomacy, politics and the like. This paper discusses the concept and nature of empowerment, goals and strategies for empowering persons with special needs, and factors militating against their empowerment in Nigeria. Finally, some fundamental recommendations for effective empowerment of persons with special needs for independent living are suggested. Developing nations should adopt the strategies towards the improvement of the lot of persons with special needs as obtains in advanced countries of the world.LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 5 2008: pp. 28-36

Empowerment through Critical Pedagogy

In any multilingual country, it is imperative that the curriculum provide for a critical dialogue on thepolitics of language. Educators must address questions of linguistic and cultural identity especially inthe context of the spread of English. Contrary to popular and academic conceptions, English has neverbeen just a ‘link’ or ‘library’ language, and the epithets non-native speaker teacher/learner and secondlanguage teacher/learner echo a sense of marginality and displacement (Browne. 2005.Cummins.1996. Kachru.1982. Rampton.1990.Shondel.2005). For "…language itself is content, areferent for loyalties and animosities, an indicator of social statuses and personal relationships, amarker of situations and topics as well as of the societal goals and the large-scale value-laden arenasof interaction…"(Fishman.1972: pp.4). In this context, the need to understand the nature ofempowerment and evolve formal educational interventions for negotiating it becomes an urgentconcern.

High‐involvement work practices and employee bargaining power

High involvement work practices (HIWPs) may empower employees to do their jobs better, and also empower them at the bargaining table. This paper considers whether non‐universal adoption of productivity‐enhancing work practices may, at least in part, be explained by this dual nature of empowerment. It examines the case of a customer service programme in the Northern California division of Safeway stores, its affect on the outcome of a strike against Safeway, and the subsequent pattern of adoption (and non‐adoption) of similar programmes among Safeway's competitors. It concludes that the dual nature of empowerment can help explain the apparent paradox posed by empirical studies; that although HIWPs improve the performance of all sorts of organisations, most organisations do not adopt HIWPs.

Fostering empowering participation in prevention programs for disadvantaged children and families: lessons from ten demonstration sites.

Empowering participation is relevant to many prevention programs. Yet many attempts at empowerment proceed without any clear understanding of the nature of empowerment or the practical requirements of an empowering process. This paper draws on the extensive program-development research for two Canadian prevention projects for disadvantaged children and families: the Parent Mutual Aid Organizations in Child Welfare Project and the Better Beginnings. Better Futures Prevention Project. The lessons learned in these projects about fostering empowering participation are summarized. The paper emphasizes the necessity to respect the demanding and complex requirements of successful empowering participation as well as the need to balance empowering participation with other priorities in prevention programs and projects.

Empowerment in New Zealand firms: insights from two cases

Using a qualitative methodology, the present research attempts to understand members’ perceptions of empowerment in two New Zealand organizations that have undergone various reforms in the workplace. In a departure from the literature, our study reveals the context‐specific nature of empowerment and offers probable reasons for the lack of a unified (or universal) definition. From our case data, we also identify several factors that either facilitate or inhibit the empowerment process, and that have significant implications for organizations seeking to empower their employees.

Teacher Empowerment, Consultation, and the Creation of New Programs in Schools

In this article, I discuss implications of empowerment theory, as developed by community psychologists, for consultants involved in the development of new programs in schools. I consider the nature of empowerment, including the distinction between psychological and political empowerment. Factors in the planning process and the organizational environment that influence empowerment are specified, including clear and meaningful roles, self-efficacy, self-determination, impact, political and socio-emotional support, access to strategic information and resources, inspiring and shared leadership, and a strengths-based work culture. I present data from a study of teachers showing how these factors contribute to greater openness to change, and I summarize two other studies that highlight dilemmas encountered in pursuing empowerment. I conclude with action guidelines for consultants who wish to increase teacher support for new programs.

Empowering Students: A Pragmatic Philosophical Approach to Management Education

This paper explores issues concerning the empowerment of students of management. In so doing, analogies are drawn between empowerment in particular educational and managerial contexts. There is a focus on the relationship between the educational implications of empowering students and the post-educational experiences of interacting within, more often than not, hierarchical organizations. The author acknowledges the contradictions he feels exist and the disquiet these contradictions lead to in his purporting to practise student empowerment in what he personally experiences as a disempowering world. Consequently he employs the writing of a wide range of authors to deconstruct his own experiences as a lecturer in a school of management. Reference is made to personal experience, and underlying issues are explored through the thoughts of writers from the following traditions: neo-Lukacsian, determinist-Marxist, existential, radical and postmodern. The aim is not to provide prescriptive answers but to adopt a philosophical approach in the sense of philosophy as a `battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language' (Cooper, 1990: 21). The suggestion is that educationalists have too readily `talked into existence' the concept of empowerment without sufficient investigation into the nature of empowerment as an empirical reality.

Power Relationships and Empowerment in Hotels

Discusses the main approaches to power and power relationships and uses this discussion as the basis for analysing how power relationships evolve between employees at the lower level of an organizational hierarchy (traditionally perceived as the least powerful) and customers of a service organization. Derives analysis from data collected during a period of observation on a “luxury” hotel in a major city in England. Finally, evaluates current approaches to “empowerment” in the hotel and catering industry within the context of the preceding sections; and argues that many of the strategies for empowering employees are misdirected, since they have a mistaken and simplistic conception of the nature of empowerment.

Empowerment in Primary Health Care: The Challenge for Nurses

The experience of families of children with persistent middle ear problems supports the notion that when families become empowered, they manage their own health more effectively. Findings from the present study indicate that families engage in predictable processes of acquiescing, helpless floundering, and becoming experts in their efforts at learning to manage the course of their child's disease symptoms within the context of an often cavalier health care system. Questions are raised about the nature of empowerment and the changing role of the nurse.