Women’s empowerment and the will to change: evidence from Nepal

A static and apolitical framing of women’s empowerment has dominated the development sector. In contrast, we assess the pertinence of considering a new variable, the will to change, to reintroduce dynamic and political processes into the way empowerment is framed and measured. This article uses a ho...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Buisson, Marie-Charlotte, Clement, Floriane, Leder, S.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/119986
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author Buisson, Marie-Charlotte
Clement, Floriane
Leder, S.
author_browse Buisson, Marie-Charlotte
Clement, Floriane
Leder, S.
author_facet Buisson, Marie-Charlotte
Clement, Floriane
Leder, S.
author_sort Buisson, Marie-Charlotte
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description A static and apolitical framing of women’s empowerment has dominated the development sector. In contrast, we assess the pertinence of considering a new variable, the will to change, to reintroduce dynamic and political processes into the way empowerment is framed and measured. This article uses a household survey based on the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) and qualitative data collected in Nepal to analyze how critical consciousness influences women’s will to change the status quo and the role of visible agency, social structures, and individual determinants in those processes. A circular process emerges: women with higher visible agency and higher critical consciousness are more willing to gain agency in some, but not all, of the WEAI empowerment domains. This analysis advances current conceptualizations of empowerment processes: the will to change offers valuable insights into the dynamic, relational and political nature of women’s empowerment. These findings support the design of development programs aiming at increasing visible agency and raising gender critical consciousness and argue for improving the internal validity of women’s empowerment measurement tools.
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spelling CGSpace1199862025-03-11T09:50:20Z Women’s empowerment and the will to change: evidence from Nepal Buisson, Marie-Charlotte Clement, Floriane Leder, S. women's empowerment gender social consciousness leadership political aspects indicators agriculture households decision making villages A static and apolitical framing of women’s empowerment has dominated the development sector. In contrast, we assess the pertinence of considering a new variable, the will to change, to reintroduce dynamic and political processes into the way empowerment is framed and measured. This article uses a household survey based on the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) and qualitative data collected in Nepal to analyze how critical consciousness influences women’s will to change the status quo and the role of visible agency, social structures, and individual determinants in those processes. A circular process emerges: women with higher visible agency and higher critical consciousness are more willing to gain agency in some, but not all, of the WEAI empowerment domains. This analysis advances current conceptualizations of empowerment processes: the will to change offers valuable insights into the dynamic, relational and political nature of women’s empowerment. These findings support the design of development programs aiming at increasing visible agency and raising gender critical consciousness and argue for improving the internal validity of women’s empowerment measurement tools. 2022-08 2022-06-30T18:06:43Z 2022-06-30T18:06:43Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/119986 en Open Access Elsevier Buisson, Marie-Charlotte; Clement, F.; Leder, S. 2022. Women’s empowerment and the will to change: evidence from Nepal. Journal of Rural Studies, 94:128-139. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2022.06.005]
spellingShingle women's empowerment
gender
social consciousness
leadership
political aspects
indicators
agriculture
households
decision making
villages
Buisson, Marie-Charlotte
Clement, Floriane
Leder, S.
Women’s empowerment and the will to change: evidence from Nepal
title Women’s empowerment and the will to change: evidence from Nepal
title_full Women’s empowerment and the will to change: evidence from Nepal
title_fullStr Women’s empowerment and the will to change: evidence from Nepal
title_full_unstemmed Women’s empowerment and the will to change: evidence from Nepal
title_short Women’s empowerment and the will to change: evidence from Nepal
title_sort women s empowerment and the will to change evidence from nepal
topic women's empowerment
gender
social consciousness
leadership
political aspects
indicators
agriculture
households
decision making
villages
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/119986
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