Contextualising the Economic Pathways of Women's Empowerment
Women’s paid work has featured in the development literature for two main reasons. The instrumental reason relates to its potential to contribute to make a variety of development goals, from poverty reduction to human development to economic growth. The intrinsic reason is its potential to transform the lives of women and girls by addressing gender inequalities on a wide variety of fronts. However in both cases, paid work is most likely to achieve this potential if it empowers women; since it is women’s capacity to exercise voice and influence in the key arenas of their lives that provides the impetus for change. It was this rationale that provided the point of departure for Pathways research into the empowerment potential of paid work for women.
Download 'Contextualising the Economic Pathways of Women's Empowerment: Findings from a Multi-Country Research Programme, Pathways Policy Paper, Naila Kabeer (pdf file 1 MB)
Further Reading
Darkwah, A. K. (2010) ‘Education: Pathway to Empowerment for Ghanaian Women?’, IDS Bulletin 41.2: 28-36
Heintz, J. (2006) ‘Globalisation, Economic Policy and Employment: Poverty and Gender Implications’, Employment Strategy Papers No. 3: ILO Geneva
Kabeer, N. (2007) ‘Marriage, Motherhood and Masculinity in the Global Economy: Reconfigurations of Personal and Economic Life’, IDS Working Paper 290, Brighton: IDS
Kabeer, N. (2011) ‘Between Affiliation and Autonomy: Pathways of Women’s Empowerment and Gender Justice in Rural Bangladesh’, Development and Change 42.2: 499-528
Kabeer, N., Mahmud, S. and Tasneem, S. (2011) ‘Paid Work and Other Pathways to Women’s Empowerment and Citizenship in Bangladesh: Findings from a Survey’, IDS Working Paper 375, Brighton: IDS
Kabeer, N. A, Khan and N. Adlparvar (2011) ‘Faith, Freedom and Microfinance: Gendered Narratives of Submission and Subversion in Urban Afghanistan’, IDS Working Paper, Brighton: IDS
Khan, A. (2011) ‘Lady Health Workers and Social Change in Pakistan’, Economic and Political Weekly Vol XLVI, No. 30
Klasen, S. (1999) ‘Does Gender Inequality Reduce Growth and Development? Evidence from Cross Country Regressions’, Policy Research Report on Gender and Development. Washington: World Bank
Mahmud, S. and Tasneem, S. (2011) ‘The Under-reporting of Women‘s Economic Activity in Bangladesh: An Examination of Official Statistics’, BDI Working Paper No 1, Dhaka: BDI
Oya, C. (2010) ‘Rural Inequality, Wage Employment and Labour Market Formation in Africa: Historical and Micro-level Evidence’, Working Paper No. 97. Policy Integration Department. ILO: Geneva
Partners: