IP0607 Is economic empowerment the most important route to gender equality?

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-cjhth-1ab1aeb

Is economic empowerment really the fastest route to gender equality — or have we reduced liberation to a market strategy? 
In this episode of Intersectional Psychology, we unpack one of the biggest debates in gender and development: whether increasing women’s economic participation is enough to dismantle inequality. 

From microfinance and entrepreneurship to land ownership, migration, climate change, and unpaid care labour, this episode explores the gap between economic inclusion and actual power. We also explore the limits of neoliberal “empowerment,” the persistence of patriarchal power structures, and why representation without structural change can become little more than optics. 

🎁 Support the podcast and get exclusive bonus content at Patreon.com/IntersectionalPsychology. In this week’s bonus segment, we connect these ideas to current legal debates, including a landmark case before the Supreme Court of the United States on transgender girls in school sports.

📄 Download a transcript of this episode on IntersectionalPsychology.com.

⏳ Chapter Timestamps

00:00:00 Short introduction 
00:01:19 Land acknowledgement 
00:01:47 Title credits: S06E07 Is economic empowerment the most important route to gender equality? 
00:02:20 Welcome and introduction continued 
00:03:59 Gender and development: What are we actually talking about? 
00:06:25 Neoliberal feminism: When empowerment comes with fine print 
00:08:34 Agriculture, migration, and the multiple layers of exclusion 
00:10:41 Climate change: Gendered, political, and not accidental 
00:12:05 Women’s issues… or power relations? 
00:14:06 So… is economic empowerment the answer? 
00:16:00 Beijing Platform: Progress, but not enough 
00:17:05 What still needs to change? 
00:21:30 End credits 

Stay connected

🔗 Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
📮 Got feedback or questions? Reach out at @IntersectionalPsychology or IntersectionalPsychologyPod[@]gmail.com
🌈 If this episode resonates, please share it, rate the show, and send us your thoughts. 

You can contribute to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund at https://www.pcrf.net/ 

References 

Arun, S., Annim, S., Bose, U., & Arun, T. (2023) ‘Gendered Financial Behaviour in Ghana: A Comparative Study with South Africa’, In J.A. Peprah et al. (eds.), Financial Sector Development in Ghana. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Chant, S. & Sweetman, C. (2012). Fixing women or fixing the world? ‘Smart economics’, efficiency approaches, and gender equality in development’, Gender & Development, 20(3), pp. 517-529.
Coles, A., Gray, L., & Momsen, J. (2015). Gender and the environment. In Coles, A., Gray, L., & Momsen, J. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of gender and development. pp. 151-163. Routledge.
Cornwall, A. (2016) ‘Women’s empowerment: What works and why?’, Journal of International Development 28, pp. 342–359.
Dineen, K. & Le, Q.V. (2015). The impact of an integrated microcredit program on the empowerment of women and gender equality in rural Vietnam’, The Journal of Developing Areas, 49(1), pp. 23-38.
Ellis, A., Manuel, C., & Blackden, C.M. (2006) Gender and Economic Growth in Uganda: Unleashing the Power of Women. Washington: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank.
Etale, L. & Simatele, M. (2023) ‘Mapping contradictions within the legal frameworks and cultural norms on women’s right to land and agriculture in Western Kenya’, In B.S. Nayak (ed.), Political Economy of Gender and Development in Africa: Mapping Gaps, Conflicts and Representation. pp. 1-19. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Greed, C. (2015) ‘Gender and urban planning’, In Coles, A., Gray, L., & Momsen, J. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of gender and development. pp. 207-216. Abingdon: Routledge.
Hill Collins, P. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Abingdon: Routledge.
Hunting, G. & Hankivsky, O. (2020) ‘Intersectionality in addressing gender and health inequities: Balancing power and equity in a post-pandemic world’, Global Public Health, 15(8), 1209-1221.
Kevane, M. (2015). Gender, power, and politics in rural Africa. In Coles, A., Gray, L., & Momsen, J. (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Gender and Development. pp. 34-47. Abingdon: Routledge.
Khan, S.R. & Khan, S.R. (2016) ‘Microcredit in South Asia: Privileging women’s perceptions and voices’, Progress in Development Studies, 16(1), 65-80. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1464993415608083 (Accessed 24 September 2024)
Kofman, E. & Raghuram, P. (2015) ‘Gendered migrations and global social reproduction’, In Coles, A., Gray, L., & Momsen, J. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of gender and development. pp. 218-228. Abingdon: Routledge.
Nair, M. (2018) ‘Gendered impacts of climate change’, World Development, 108, pp. 27-38.
Nayak, B.S. (2023) ‘Introduction: Political economy of gender and development in Africa’, in Nayak, B.S. (ed.), Political Economy of Gender and Development in Africa: Mapping Gaps, Conflicts and Representation. pp. 1-19. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Phiri, A.T., Toure, H.M.A.C., Kipkogei, O., Traore, R., Afokpe, P.M.K., & Lamore, A.A. (2022) ‘A review of gender inclusivity in agriculture and natural resources management under the changing climate in sub-Saharan Africa’, Cogent Social Sciences, 8(1) [online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2021.2024674 (Accessed 24 September 2024)
Posel, D. & Casale, D. (2019) ‘Gender and the economy in post-apartheid South Africa: Changes and challenges’, Agenda, 33(4), pp. 3-10 [online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2019.1679439 (Accessed 25 September 2024)
Rai, S. (2018) ‘Rethinking gender and environmental sustainability’, Global Environmental Politics, 18(2), 67-87.
Smith, L. (2018) ‘Decolonizing knowledge: Feminist approaches to development’, Feminist Review, 120(1), 33-49.
Soetan, F. & Akanji, B. (2018) ‘Conclusion: A centenary of economic development policies — A gender balance sheet and future strategies’, in Soetan, F. & Akanji, B. (eds.) Gender and Development in Nigeria: One Hundred Years of Nationhood. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Spring, A. (2015) ‘Women’s roles in urbanization and development’, In Coles, A., Gray, L., & Momsen, J. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of gender and development. pp. 175-190. Abingdon: Routledge.
Thomas-Hope, E. (2015) ‘Gender and sustainable development in the Caribbean’, In Coles, A., Gray, L., & Momsen, J. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of gender and development. pp. 279-290. Abingdon: Routledge.
Varley, A. (2015) ‘Gender, housing, and migration’, In Coles, A., Gray, L., & Momsen, J. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of gender and development. pp. 144-158. Abingdon: Routledge.
Yeboah, T., Arhin, A., Kumi, E., & Owusu, L. (2015) ‘Empowering and shaping gender relations? Contesting the microfinance–gender empowerment discourse’, Development in Practice, 25(6), pp. 895-908 [online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2015.1064361 (Accessed 24 September 2024)

See Privacy Policy at https://intersectionalpsychology.com/privacy-policy/